Has Howard checked out?

i've been critical of Xavien Howard in the last two editions of JMP's "Game Thoughts" thread.  so is there a problem with X?

Among 106 qualifying cornerbacks ranked by Pro Football Focus for performance this season, those who have played the most snaps for the Dolphins are ranked 91st (Rowe), 96th (Howard) and 102nd (Wiltz).

Howard’s play has been particularly puzzling. Last season, he led all NFL cornerbacks in passer rating against at 61.9. This season, among cornerbacks who have been targeted at least 15 times, his 141.2 passer rating against is fifth worst.

He has allowed 14 of 18 passes thrown against him to be caught, for 162 yards and two touchdowns, per PFF.

He entered the season with 11 interceptions in his previous 17 games but doesn’t have one in four games.

https://www.miamiherald.com/sports/spt-columns-blogs/barry-jackson/article235688357.html

i know, i know...we don't trust PFF metrics.  but hey, while they may not be 100% accurate, where there is smoke, there is usually fire.  and yes, i know the other excuse..."Howard is covering some top WRs."  great.  he should be.  he's getting paid to be a top shutdown corner.  its his job to shutdown top WRs.  but the problem is...he isn't doing it.  so what is wrong?

“I want light at the end of the tunnel,” Howard told ESPN two weeks ago. “I want something to look forward, for our work to get rewarded. I do worry about that. I don’t feel like my prime is being wasted, but I feel like a season is important. My main focus right now is staying healthy. I’m trying to win and be better with the people we have in the locker room. It is what it is... They ended up paying me. I’m here. Just gotta deal with it.”

wow, does that sound like a guy whose heart is in it?  he's "just gotta deal with it"?  his "main focus right now is staying healthy"...as opposed to actually giving his all to try and win?  perhaps the coaches are trying to change the way Howard plays (despite his previous success) and its just not working.

“At times, when he uses his hands and he tackles well, that’s been really good for us,” [cornerbacks coach] Boyer said. “The things that he struggled with, we’re working hard to improve those.”

it wouldn't be the first time this coaching staff asking a DB to do something he's comfortable doing.

perhaps even his fellow CB recognizes Howard's less-than-shutdown effort and lack defensive scheme comfort.

“I want to be here; I would love to get an extension,” Rowe said. “I love playing with Flo. I love the defense, know how it works.”

“I’ve been on the other side of lot of Pro Bowl corners — Malcolm Butler, Stephon Gilmore, [Howard]. I see it as an opportunity for me to be a Pro Bowl corner. I feel I cover just as well as X.”

and unfortunately the stats backup Rowe's assertion.

No doubt Howard must be struggling mentally with the "tank" and all the garbage players around him, but has he really played poorly? I don't agree at all.

From the article: "He has allowed 14 of 18 passes thrown against him to be caught, for 162 yards and two touchdowns, per PFF."

One of those TDs and almost half the yardage all came against Amari Cooper. The other TD was a 20-yarder by Antonio Brown, who pushed off and should have been flagged but wasn't. Other than that one catch, Brown caught only half of his targeted passes for just 36 yards.

What I've seen is one bad game from Howard - against Cooper. He shut down Keenan Allen last week, who dominated the competition in his previous three games...Allen had 8 catches for 123 yards and a TD against Indy, 8 catches for 98 yards against the Saints, and 13 catches 183 yards and 2 TDs against Hosuton. Against Miami, with Howard covering him all day, Allen had 5 catches for 48 yards (9.6 yards per catch) and 0 TDs. Furthermore, it was the first time Allen was held under 10 yards per catch since week 11 of 2018.

So don't believe the agenda-driven bullshit storyline: in reality, Howard is having a very good season, despite the fact that this team has zero pass rush.

i'm not trying to say that i think Howard sucks. but i do indeed think he is struggling. and this is indeed another example of this coaching staff getting less-than-optimal results out of a player who previously played well.

you're right, he did hold Allen to 5 catches. you know how many times Allen was thrown at? 5 times. so, Howard gave up a 100% catch rate at nearly 10 yards per reception. the Chargers were abusing the Phins with short passes to the RBs (Ekeler and Pope) and over the middle (with 2nd and third string WRs and TE). they were hitting the high percentage stuff so they didn't need to test Howard anymore than they did. but a 100% catch rate tells me they could've done a lot more damage against Howard if they had needed/wanted to. notice the 14 of 18. he's giving up a completion percentage of 78% at more than 11 yards per catch with absolutely no interceptions.

yes, he struggled awfully against Dallas and i think he struggled against the Chargers - he's just lucky they went elsewhere with the ball. honestly, his first two games weren't that bad. i just think its these last two games. not because he doesn't have talent, but probably because he sees the direction of this season and decided to preserve his health (his own words) in a meaningless season. while perhaps the 4 games thus far aren't enough to assign guilt just yet, i do think its something that bears watching as the season goes on.

mercury22nathan wrote:i'm not trying to say that i think Howard sucks.  but i do indeed think he is struggling.  and this is indeed another example of this coaching staff getting less-than-optimal results out of a player who previously played well.

I really don't see him struggling at all, outside of the Cowboys game.

mercury22nathan wrote:you're right, he did hold Allen to 5 catches.  you know how many times Allen was thrown at?  5 times.  so, Howard gave up a 100% catch rate at nearly 10 yards per reception.

 

I'll take those stats every time against Allen. Looking deeper, Allen's long was 20 yards...meaning that the rest of the day, he caught 4 passes for 28 yards. That is what I call dominance by Howard...completely shutting down one of the NFL's top receivers - who has absolutely destroyed every other team he played this season.

mercury22nathan wrote:the Chargers were abusing the Phins with short passes to the RBs (Ekeler and Pope) and over the middle (with 2nd and third string WRs and TE).  they were hitting the high percentage stuff so they didn't need to test Howard anymore than they did.  

Point taken, but the fact is, when they did test Howrad he answered the call and contained Allen.

mercury22nathan wrote:but a 100% catch rate tells me they could've done a lot more damage against Howard if they had needed/wanted to.  notice the 14 of 18.  he's giving up a completion percentage of 78% at more than 11 yards per catch with absolutely no interceptions.

I'll give Allen a 100% catch rate every game if he's not doing much with those catches. Great receivers are going to catch passes - the key is to limit the damage they do when they catch those passes, and that's exactly what Howard did.

The 14 of 18 is, again, misleading. Most of that was against Cooper and Allen...Howard really hasn't been targeted that much this season. Which of course is a result of having Rowe on the other side.

mercury22nathan wrote:yes, he struggled awfully against Dallas and i think he struggled against the Chargers - he's just lucky they went elsewhere with the ball.  

Completely disagree with that Chargers take. Watch the Chargers week to week and you'll see that Allen is Rivers' top target. Allen has had targets of 10, 15 and 17 in his first 3 games - and just 5 against the Phins. You'd have to go all the way back to week 7 of the 2018 season to find a game where Allen played the whole game and was targeted that few times. Rivers looked elsewhere against the Phins becuase Howard was covering Allen all day.

mercury22nathan wrote:honestly, his first two games weren't that bad.  i just think its these last two games.  not because he doesn't have talent, but probably because he sees the direction of this season and decided to preserve his health (his own words) in a meaningless season.  while perhaps the 4 games thus far aren't enough to assign guilt just yet, i do think its something that bears watching as the season goes on.

The biggest issue with this defense in coverage is that there is no pass rush. That's not Howard's fault, at all. But beyond that, I've seen nothing whatsoever to suggest that Howard is struggling or having a down season.

Keep in mind, too...Howard is all sorts of overrated. He is probably a top 10 corner...but he is not now and never was top 5. He has trouble with speed receivers, and his bloated INT numbers last season were more a result of poor passes and 'right place right time' than Howard's skill IMO. That said, he's a very good player and he will be a huge part of the turnaround when it happens. There are a multitude of veteran Dolphin players we can complain about this season (Eric Rowe and Charles Harris would make the top of that list for me), but Howard isn't one of them. He's doing just fine given the dearth of talent around him.

Upon further review, here's a youtube video of Allen vs. Miami last week.



About 20 seconds in, on this catch it looked like Allen ran inside and Howard stayed outside...not sure if that was by design - maybe zone coverage?

At about 2:25, you'll see a catch on a screen at the line of scrimmage...and Howard was not covering him.

At about 2:40, you can see a pass that Rivers threw out of bounds near Allen because Howard was blanketing him.

At 3:07, you can see Allen's 20-yard catch. Looks like he was covered by LBs out of the slot and Howard had outside deep responsibility - so that one was not a catch against Howard.

At 3:40, Allen catches the ball behind the line of scrimmage and Howard tackles him for a minimal gain.

I see nothing in this video to indicate that Howard struggled against Allen. Would love to see what other people think after watching it.

I remember when people were talking about how Allen wasn't going to recover from that injury that he had in college and look at him now.

I believe a lot of players are giving up out there. Tanking is a recipe for disaster which hurt the confidence and trust of their players. You also have to look at it this way, if this is considered tanking then Miami has always been bad. Miami lost Quinn and Wake in FA, Fitzpatrick and Kiko in trades, that just the defense. Miami traded away Stills and Tunsil, lost Gore to FA and that only what three good players as well. not to mention the average players that walked so I say about 10 players in the off-season. you have a squad of 53 players this includes 11 starters on both sides, which 22 not to mention the specialist players. Miami not 0-4 because they were good years before but Miami 0-4 because they were never that good in the first place.

So I hope this off season Miami and their players realize that.

I don't see any players quitting or checking out yet. It could happen, but I don't think it's happening yet.

X might miss the Skins game with a knee injury.

This game will either be Miami check out game or the game that will lift their spirits

This season isn’t worth playing hurt. Rest the knee.

white1 wrote:This season isn’t worth playing hurt. Rest the knee.

With X out, I now see the Skins winning this game. With Keenum starting and rookie WR sensation Terry McLaurin being covered by essentially no one, the Skins passing game should put up points. The tank is secure.

Xavien Howard has now missed games due to knee injuries in three of his four NFL seasons.

He has reportedly had both knees scoped.

And his most recent issue was significant enough to keep him out of the Redskins game, despite having a bye week to rest up.

So it’s fair to ask: Does Howard have chronic knee issues?

https://www.miamiherald.com/sports/nfl/miami-dolphins/article236209578.html

i know its something many of expressed concern over before he got the huge contract.

Yeah he had a knee injury when he was at Baylor, so I am not surprised that he having knee issues now

Yep, the knees have been an issue since X was drafted. Definitely a risk with that big contract, but one we had to take.