The Facts: How does Howard fit in Nagy’s offense? It’s no secret Nagy likes his running backs to be reliable in the passing game. It’s also no secret Howard’s biggest weakness in his first two seasons has been his unreliable hands. So now what? For starters, Nagy has made it clear he will mold his offense around his players’ strengths and weaknesses. And Howard understands he needs to become far more consistent catching the football. “It started being a problem in high school, just not having my hands in the right position,” he said. “I didn’t work on it that much in college because we didn’t really throw to the backs that much. But I’m going to fix it.”

Diehards Line: Nagy said this spring he would classify Howard as the Bears’ feature back but also made it clear he plans to keep the door spinning in the rotation. Still, when asked at the start of the team's OTAs if Howard would be the team's featured running back for the upcoming season, Nagy replied, "Absolutely, yeah." That makes perfect sense. Just as Howard struggles as a receiver (14 drops on 76 career targets, per Pro Football Focus), 5-6 scatback Tarik Cohen lacks the power to sustain a ground attack between the tackles. Nagy plans to move both backs around, maximizing their value with situational concepts that play to their strengths while minimizing their weaknesses. Worth noting: With Nagy's more innovative offense, Howard won't be running against nearly as many stacked boxes as he did in former coach John Fox's plain-vanilla scheme.