Jordan Howard caught 29 passes for 298 yards during his standout rookie season, when he established himself as one of the NFL's premier young running backs. His production as both a runner and a pass-catcher decreased over the following two seasons, though, leading to his departure from the Chicago Bears in late March.

The Philadelphia Eagles traded a sixth-round pick to Chicago in exchange for the former Pro Bowler, confident they could rehabilitate his career in Doug Pederson's offense. Running the football will still be Howard's primary use with the Eagles. Just weeks into offseason training with his new team, though, Howard has already learned that Chicago stifled his development as a pass-catcher in ways that directly conflict with his role for Philadelphia, according to Eliot Shorr-Parks of 94WIP.

As a rookie in 2016, the former fifth-round pick rushed for 1,313 yards and six touchdowns on 252 rushes, good for a league-leading average of 5.2 yards per carry. He wasn’t quite as effective as a sophomore, as a runner or receiver, but nevertheless seemed firmly entrenched as the Chicago Bears’ primary back of the present and future. That status proved short-lived, however, as Howard received the fewest carries and catches of his career last season while Chicago gave more of its backfield workload to electric playmaker Tarik Cohen.

With Carson Wentz fully healthy and the addition of veteran speedster DeSean Jackson, the Eagles are poised to have one of the most explosive offenses in the league in 2019. Philadelphia used a second-round pick on Penn State running back Miles Sanders, but will nevertheless give Howard ample opportunity to prove his worth as a dual-threat option out of the backfield.