There was only one basis for the Jordan Howard trade rumors that scared Chicago Bears fans to death the past couple months. It centered around a crisis of player fitting scheme. New head coach Matt Nagy likes to run a variation of the West Coast offense. Something he's picked up after years working under Andy Reid. One of the cornerstones that makes this offense so successful is having a running back that can catch the football.
San Francisco 49ers great Roger Craig started that trend back in the 1980s. He became the first man to go for 1,000 yards rushing and 1,000 receiving in a season. Since then every coach who runs the West Coast or some variation of it constantly seek a back who can be a receiver out of the backfield. This created a certain issue the moment Nagy took over the Bears.
Howard is one of the best pure runners in the NFL. He's topped 1,000 yards in each of his first two seasons, made a Pro Bowl and is still just 23-years old. Yet he's struggled to prove reliable in any way as a pass catcher. In two years he's totaled 12 dropped passes, including some at the worst possible time.
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Some thought this liability might be enough to get him shipped out. Instead, it seems the coaches are hell-bent on correcting the problem instead.
Bears are drilling Jordan Howard relentlessly on pass catching
It seems Nagy and his staff have a novel idea. Rather than dump a player because he happens to be not-so-good at something, why not try harder to make him better at it. Running backs coach Charles London explained to the Chicago Sun-Times about the process they're taking to do just that with Howard. It's not just about his hands. It is a greater variety of factors than people realize.“That’s one area that both Jordan and I identified when I got here, that he wanted to get better at,” London said. “And he’s put in the work.” It involves catching passes before, during and after practices. But London also identified some of Howard’s issues that resulted in his drops. London’s predecessors, at least publicly, didn’t do that. “We’re working on hand placement … just his focus and concentration, hand-eye coordination and things like that,” said London, who is Howard’s third position coach in as many seasons. Overall, London said there are “a lot of factors” to address. “How he needs to position himself. How he needs to have his hands to catch the ball,” London said. “And I think he’s getting a better understanding of that. I’ve seen progress.”People might choose to think this sort of dedicated work is pointless, but that's not true. Some Bears fans should remember cornerback Tim Jennings. For the first six seasons of his career, he never had more than two interceptions in a season. So in 2012, he hit the jugs machine harder than ever before, putting in extra time whenever and wherever possible. The effort paid off. He delivered nine interceptions that year and went to his first Pro Bowl. London and the other coaches are using this same process with Howard. If he accepts the work it will take, people shouldn't be surprised if positive results follow.
