Matt Nagy sticks to word with Jordan Howard

Matt Nagy has said since being hired he had a role and a plan for Jordan Howard. That showed this week

Every week fantasy prognosticators are calling for the end of the Jordan Howard era, as his touches have decreased. However, this is something we have covered since the offseason and were not surprised by. Neither was his 22 carry performance with a touchdown to close out the New York Jets.

When Jordan Howard trade rumors came up in the summer, head coach Matt Nagy shrugged them off saying that he had a role in mind for Howard. When the playing time of Howard diminished, Nagy said he had a plan in mind for Howard. He wasn’t lying.

The fact of the matter is that based on the last three matchups, Matt Nagy should have used Tarik Cohen over Jordan Howard. He was attacking the lack of speed and understanding deep down the field from the Buccaneers.

He was attacking Kiko Alonso against the Miami Dolphins, and he attacked the lack of speed on the Patriots. However, the New York Jets have Darron Lee and Jamal Adams. They were stout against the speed of Cohen-with the obvious screen pass aside which was a great play call. However, they are not stout up the middle, and they have been attacked that way in the past. Carlos Hyde, Marlon Mack, and Phillip Lindsay touched the Jets up the middle.

So what did Matt Nagy do? He attacked the Jets up the middle. Look at the carry chart of Howard.

When teams are susceptible to the speed and agility of Cohen, he is going to attack that. When teams are getting gashed up the middle, he is going to attack that. That is why he has a plan for Jordan Howard and is not looking to trade him.

It just so happened that the last three games before Sunday called for a lot more Cohen. We will see what the matchup dictates each week as Nagy clearly continues to attack weaknesses rather than stick to specific players.