Jordan Howard

[adam]

It was interesting to see that Jordan Howard has not played since the Bears game several weeks ago. Also, looking at his stats, he is actually on pace for less yards per game on the ground, less targets, receptions, and receiving yards than he had with the Bears. I was actually surprised to see this.

Remember, one of the big storylines for him this offseason was how he was going to be more involved in the passing game in Philly, which just hasn't happened. He will more than likely end the season with career lows in rushing attempts, yards, Y/G, targets, receptions, and receiving yards. 

I am assuming with this lower production that there is no way the comp pick will go from a 6th to a 5th rounder. Which makes it seem like the Bears made the right decision. Can you imagine how many negative plays he would have behind this Bears O-Line (29th)?

On a side note, he only has two plays more than 20 yards, a 20 yard run and a 20 yard reception. He only has 69 receiving yards on the year and 20 came on 1 catch. 

 

[Alaskan Grizzly]

To be fair, he did play behind this same (or nearly same) oline last  year...and managed 935 yards with a 3.7 yard average.  His overall average total yards (receiving and rushing) has remained constant for his three years with Chicago and the one year with Philly at 3.6.  This time last year (after 10 games) he had 523 rush yards which is only 2 yards less than where he's at right now.  

And with regards to his being out (CBS Sports):

"Jordan Howard: It’s now been over three weeks since Jordan Howard suffered a stinger against the Bears and he still hasn’t been cleared for contact, according to Pederson. Howard has missed the two games since the bye week and is in danger of missing another one this weekend. He won’t be allowed to play until he’s cleared for contact.  Howard will again be limited in practice to start this week. “It’s day to day. It is progressing,” Pederson said. “It’s trending, obviously, in the right way. We just gotta make sure that he gets his strength back (in his shoulder) before we put him back out there.”"

[adam]

2 hours ago, Alaskan Grizzly said:

To be fair, he did play behind this same (or nearly same) oline last  year...and managed 935 yards with a 3.7 yard average.  His overall average total yards (receiving and rushing) has remained constant for his three years with Chicago and the one year with Philly at 3.6.  This time last year (after 10 games) he had 523 rush yards which is only 2 yards less than where he's at right now.  

And with regards to his being out (CBS Sports):

"Jordan Howard: It’s now been over three weeks since Jordan Howard suffered a stinger against the Bears and he still hasn’t been cleared for contact, according to Pederson. Howard has missed the two games since the bye week and is in danger of missing another one this weekend. He won’t be allowed to play until he’s cleared for contact.  Howard will again be limited in practice to start this week. “It’s day to day. It is progressing,” Pederson said. “It’s trending, obviously, in the right way. We just gotta make sure that he gets his strength back (in his shoulder) before we put him back out there.”"

The biggest takeaway was the receiving stats. I just thought it was interesting that not only did he have less receiving stats, but his rushing stats will also be career lows. 

For the receiving stats, there were several articles and interviews where the Eagles said he would be more involved in the passing game, and even Howard was interviewed and excited for his "expanded" role. It's interesting that it never happened and in some way, he has regressed from when he was with us.

Don't get me wrong, I liked Howard and he was the only offense we had when we had no one, which was impressive, but in regards to the trade, I don't think it worked out too bad in the end. He will be a free agent after the year, so it will be interesting to see where he ends up next year.

On another note, what about Jeffery? He also has not played since the Bears game. He is on pace for career lows outside of his rookie year for receptions and yards. He has 34 receptions and 353 yards, with 3 TDs and has missed 4 games. With the Eagles, he has never had more than 65 receptions and 843 yards (both highs last year). His best game of the season was 10 receptions for 76 yards and 1 TD. His only game with more than 7 receptions and 70 yards. That's crazy. Also, his contract makes him unmovable for the next two years:

2020 Cap hit: $15.7M, Dead Money: $26.1M (Age 30)
2021 Cap hit: $18.5M, Dead Money: $10.6M (Age 31)

[Bears4Ever_34]

It's weird to see how Howard has gotten worse every year he's been in the league. After his rookie season, it looked like he was already a top 3 RB in all of football, and perhaps well on his way to becoming a perennial pro bowler. I'm not sure how much weight he gained since his first year, but he definitely looked a lot slower as time went on. For a guy who was never a speedster in the first place, losing even a little bit of speed probably killed any chances of him ever getting back to the level he was at as a rookie. 

 

Alshon has always been a moody guy, and he's made it pretty clear that he'd rather be playing with Nick Foles. Not sure how much of an effect that has had on his play, but he hasn't been an elite receiver since he left Chicago, minus that historic playoff run with Nick Foles where he looked incredible.