Iggles Blitz

by Tommy Lawlor

More on Jordan Howard

Posted March 30th, 2019 | Comments Off on More on Jordan Howard

The Eagles traded for RB Jordan Howard on Thursday. Some people loved the move.

Some did not.

You have to understand the Howard deal to appreciate it. Jordan Howard isn’t here to be the next Brian Westbrook or Shady McCoy. This isn’t a RB you build an offense around. That’s part of the reason the Eagles were able to get him for a sixth round pick.

Howard was brought in to be part of the offense. He’s not the answer, but is part of the solution.

We’d all love to see an elite RB paired with Carson Wentz for the next five years, but that doesn’t have to happen. Tom Brady has had a slew of RBs to feed the ball to. None of them were elite players. The Eagles offense in 2017 didn’t have an elite RB.

This can work if you have a smart, creative coaching staff and a talented, versatile offense. I think the Eagles are good in both of those areas.

Think of Howard as a less explosive, but more durable version of Jay Ajayi. There is absolutely value in a RB like that. The Eagles only ran for 100 or more yards in a game in consecutive weeks twice last year. And both times it was just two games. The 2017 team ran for 100 or more yards 10 weeks in a row. There is more to that than the play of the RBs, but consistency was a big issue in 2018.

Sheil Kapadia wrote a fantastic piece focusing on the numbers for Howard, both good and bad.

One of the confusing aspects to the trade is the Matt Nagy angle. Nagy worked with Doug Pederson and Andy Reid in KC. Nagy’s offense is going to be similar to Pederson’s. But Nagy never saw Howard as a fit for his offense. Why would Pederson?

Pederson seems to like big, physical players. Start with RB. In 2016, the feature runner was 220-pound Ryan Mathews. The Eagles then signed 250-pound LeGarrette Blount prior to 2017. They traded for 225-pound Jay Ajayi. Now they’ve traded for 225-pound Howard.

The Eagles signed Brandon Brooks in 2016 (340). They drafted Big V (320) in 2017. Last year they drafted Jordan Mailata (346) and Matt Pryor (329).

The Eagles added Dorial Green-Beckham (225) in 2016. They signed Alshon Jeffery (218) in 2017. They drafted Mack Hollins (221).

With a trio of Carson Wentz, Nick Foles and Nate Sudfeld, the Eagles had one of the biggest QBs rooms you’ll find. All of them were at least 6-5, 230.

Doug Pederson and Howie Roseman like big players. Jordan Howard fits what they want to do. They don’t’ think he’s going to come in and magically turn into Jim Brown. The Eagles see a RB who can help their offense. For the cost of a sixth round pick and $2M in salary, that’s a good deal.

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Some of you have asked about Howard as a pass blocker.

I have no idea if that stat is accurate.

I did watch Howard as a pass protector in multiple games and thought he did a good job. I just can’t vouch for those specific stats.

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The more I look at the RBs in this draft class, the more I like them.

With Howard in place, I hope the Eagles focus on finding someone with speed and pass-catching ability.

Texas A&M star Trayveon Williams says the Eagles are showing a lot of interest. And they should. He only ran 4.50 at the Combine, but put on the tape and you see an explosive player.

https://twitter.com/fanaticsview/status/1079944788282089472

I’d love to add someone with that kind of burst and big-play ability.

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Howie Gets a RB

Posted March 28th, 2019 | 2 Comments »

The wait is over. The Eagles have added a RB.

Young. Durable. Productive. Oh yeah…and talented.

This gives the Eagles their best RB heading into a season in several years. They now have the makings of a pretty dynamic offense.

Here is what I said about him in a recent post.

Trading for Howard would make sense financially. He’s under contract for 2019 for just under $2.1M. That’s cheap for someone who can be a workhorse RB.

Howard is 225 pounds and he’s averaged 260 carries a year. He is a tough, physical back. He might remind you of a healthier, more durable version of Jay Ajayi.

One concern with Howard would be his ability as a receiver. The Eagles prefer complete RBs. Howard has never caught more than 29 passes in a season. To put that in perspective, Wendell Smallwood caught 28 passes last year.

I would have interest in Howard, but only at the right price. The Eagles could use a big, physical runner, but you can’t overpay for him due to his contract situation. You’re only guaranteed to have Howard for one more season.

There is also the question of use. The Eagles like to use a group of RBs. Howard averages 16.6 carries per game for his career. It doesn’t seem likely that he would get nearly that much work with the Eagles. That has to be factored in when thinking about his value.

If you could pair Howard with Corey Clement, Josh Adams, Wendell Smallwood and/or a rookie, you could have a good set of RBs. As we see with the Patriots and the 2017 Eagles, you don’t need a star RB. You need the right group of RBs.

The compensation was reasonable.

If Howard has a great season, you’re fine giving up the fifth rounder. If you only have to give up a sixth, that’s even better. While you would rather have a player who is signed long term, there is an interesting angle. If the Eagles lose Howard in free agency, they could possibly get a comp pick in return for him.

If Howard turns out to be a good fit, the Eagles could look at re-signing him.

This isn’t a perfect move, but it does make a lot of sense. The team now has a lot of freedom in the draft. They can still add a RB if they want to, but there is no pressure to add a starting-caliber RB with Howard already in place.

It is exciting to add a talented RB to this offense.

Howard lacks great speed. He isn’t going to make dynamic cuts. He will hit the hole and run over defenders. He can make some guys miss so he’s not just LeGarrette Blount Part II. Howard has run for 6, 9 and 9 TDs in his three seasons. He is very good in the Red Zone, something all teams need. If Howard can develop into a solid receiver, he could be terrific for the Eagles.

One thing you can’t argue with…Howard’s production.

The Eagles have not had a durable RB in a few years. It would be nice to have someone out there, play after play, game after game.

The Eagles will still do a lot of Running Back By Committee. They believe in that approach. If Corey Clement can come back healthy, that would give the Eagles a good 1-2 punch at RB. I still think they’ll add a rookie. And then we’ll see what Wendell Smallwood, Josh Adams, Boston Scott and Donnel Pumphrey can do.

We knew Howie Roseman had another move to make. He wasn’t going into the 2019 season without adding a serious talent at RB. Now he’s done that and the Eagles have one impressive offense.

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Speaking of adding weapons…

Joking aside, Rodgers is a good #3 TE. This gives the Eagles more quality depth. They still could take a TE, but I only think that would be a late pick.

Good day for the Eagles.

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