In his first couple of seasons in the NFL, Chicago Bears running back Jordan Howard has established himself as one of the young rising stars at his position.

However, there have been questions about his role in the offense heading into the 2018 season that has been spearheaded by the changes to the coaching staff that has implemented a new offensive scheme and the presence of second-year running back Tarik Cohen. According to Brad Biggs of The Chicago Times, head coach Matt Nagy has voiced that Howard will be their three-down tailback.

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“We’ll do different things with (Howard) and we’ll keep him on the field on third down — I’ve told you that before. Whoever it is, however we do it, running the ball’s important.”

Nagy has reiterated this point throughout the offseason that he has a firm belief that Howard can be their primary option out of the backfield despite Cohen being in the mix. The 23-year-old has been an extremely reliable source of production since entering the league for the Bears stepping in seamlessly taking over the starter job after the departure of former Pro Bowler Matt Forte.

Howard is coming off back-to-back 1,000 rushing yard campaign in his first two seasons in the league. This past year, he finished sixth with 1,122 rushing yards, third with nine rushing touchdowns and ninth with 70.1 rushing yards per game. This also includes toppling 100 rushing yards on the ground five times that was highlighted by a career-high 167 yards against the Baltimore Ravens on Nov. 15. Howard has also become the first player in franchise history to rush for at least 1,000 yards in each of his first two seasons while his 12 games with more than 100 rushing yards surpassing Hall of Famer Walter Payton (nine) for the most over the first two years in the league.

This new offensive scheme under Nagy and expected huge role in the offense should set the table for Howard for put together another highly productive campaign while helping the Bears compete for the playoffs.