Chicago Bears: Trading away Jordan Howard was a mistake

Many fans have debated if Jordan Howard really did fit in Matt Nagy’s offense or not. Those same fans debated if the Chicago Bears should have traded Jordan Howard.

Coming into the 2018 NFL season, Jordan Howard was the Chicago Bears‘ top Running Back and Tarik Cohen was their second. Early in the year, Matt Nagy fell in love with Tarik’s style of play and saw more potential in him rather than using Jordan Howard both equally.

From the start of last year, Howard and Cohen should have split carries. Jordan Howard needed to be on the field half of the time for teams to not assume they are running when he is out there, he needed to be looked at as a threat. Nagy would call Howard in the game when the Bears needed a few extra yards.

Howard is a powerful runner and to be successful in the NFL, you need to have a guy that can run the ball powerfully and kill time off the clock. That is what made Howard so special, he had the ability to run guys over with his power, was very tough to tackle, and helped the Bears hold on to wins by running out the clock.

Cohen isn’t that guy, he is more flashy, can catch the ball out of the backfield, and speedy. He is very exciting to watch play but Jordan Howard was just as important. The Chicago Bears in the offseason went out added Mike Davis and David Montgomery.

Davis just doesn’t seem like a good fit so far, we haven’t seen or heard much from him. Davis isn’t a Running Back like Howard that can run through you and fight for the extra yards like Howard does.

Montgomery on the other hand is undecided. The Bears haven’t used much of him at all but it has only been 3 games. There is a lot of football left to see what he can do. Montgomery looked promising in preseason and played well Week 3 against the Redskins.

Howard throughout his first two seasons in the NFL rushed for just under 2,500 yards and 15 touchdowns. Once Nagy took over, Howard’s rushing numbers dipped but were still solid. He rushed just under 1,000 yards and had 9 rushing touchdowns.

That is what Howard is good for, running the ball in the Red Zone and punching the ball in the End Zone. Without a guy like Jordan Howard, the Bears will continue to struggle in running situations and when they need to kill clock late in games. Trading away Howard was taking a secret weapon away from Mitch Trubisky, a weapon that could kill clock, fight for extra yards, and score touchdowns when called upon.

Not everyone will agree or even buy into this. Hopefully Montgomery can fill that role but if he can’t, just wait and watch the Bears struggle to kill clock and run the ball in December.