Chicago Bears: Why Jordan Howard will be voted a top-100 player in 2017

The Bears will give Howard more red-zone touches

After struggling to hit paydirt last year inside the 20, look for Chicago to give Howard more scoring opportunities.

It took longer than it should have for the Bears to realize Howard was their best back last season. And even once they did, it’s my opinion that they didn’t give him enough touches, regardless of the “flow of the game” argument. Particularly in the red zone, the lack of consistent commitment to Howard was troubling.

Now that they know what they have in Howard, he’s likely to get way more chances near the goal line.

Howard’s six rushing touchdowns tied for 19^th in the league last year, which is odd considering how much yardage he racked up. Also, it’s strange because he proved that he was an absolute bull. He averaged more yards after contact of any rookie rusher last season and was among the league’s best at powering through tackles in short yardage situations.

He didn’t get chances to show this near the end zone enough, though. Last year, he had 31 red zone attempts, which ranks behind the likes of Philadelphia’s Ryan Mathews and Washington’s Robert Kelley. And inside the five yard line? Just eight. Just speculating here, but that might have factored into the Bears’ 51.02% red-zone touchdown percentage (23^rd overall).

Put Howard down for 10 or more rushing touchdowns this year. That will get peoples’ attention.