When the Eagles traded a 6th round pick for Howard, people raised eyebrows as to why the Bears would give him up for such a small price. The conclusions were in large parts a statistical decline in running ability, that he didn’t fit the scheme, and that Cohen would take over anyway.
Taking a look at the production since 2016, it’s evident that the numbers decline. While still producing over 1.000 yards in each of his first 3 seasons, his yards per touch and total yards went down:
| 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | |
| Total yards | 1611 | 1247 | 1080 |
| Yards/touch | 5. |