Everybody knows why Matt Nagy was hired. His job, aside from making the Chicago Bears a winner, is to turn Mitch Trubisky into a franchise quarterback. That’s 70% of the reason Ryan Pace sought out his services. His history as a quarterback in his playing days and superb work with Alex Smith in Kansas City show this is a job he can do.
However, the quarterback is only as good as the pieces around him. That’s why the Bears spent wildly in free agency and the draft on guys like Allen Robinson, Taylor Gabriel, Trey Burton and Anthony Miller. They want to give Trubisky as many weapons as possible. This also includes the making the weapons he already had better.
Chief among them is Jordan Howard. Already a Pro Bowler with two 1,000-yard seasons under his belt, Howard is still growing as a player and leader in Chicago. Yet there was a brief fear Nagy might try to usher him out due to his not being a natural fit for the new offensive scheme. The coach has since denounced such rumors.
He has a vision for what Howard can be in his system, and is even taking extra time and effort to make it a reality.
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Howard says Matt Nagy is taking a personal interest in fixing his biggest issue
The one complaint that led to the Howard trade rumors in the first place was his penchant for dropping passes. He’s done so 12 times over his first two seasons. Given how much Nagy likes to throw the ball to the backs, this presents a problem. So there were two choices. Find somebody to replace Howard or work to see if they could improve his receiving prowess.
Nagy chose the latter and seems to have undertaken the job personally according to Howard.
“He throws the ball to me himself. He helps me work on my [catching].”
It’s easy to pick on Howard for his drop issues, and also fair. That said it’s not like he’s totally incapable of being a receiver out of the backfield. In two years he’s caught 52 passes for 423 yards and a touchdown. So it’s not that he can’t catch. It is a matter of making sure he catches consistently.
As for his overall role in the offense, Nagy didn’t change much from what’s been the case almost since Howard was drafted.
“He already said I’m going to be the main guy.”
This comes as no shock. Howard is one of the best running backs in football from a pure running standpoint. If the Bears can get him involved in the passing game, that will make it even harder for defenses to stop what they try to do moving forward. Howard is 23-years old and has such a bright career still ahead of him. With Nagy guiding the way, there’s no telling how much better he can get.
