Through his first three NFL seasons, Jordan Howard wasn't known as a pass-catching back in the NFL. Not that Howard had an opportunity to showcase his skills to the Chicago Bears.

Howard was the bell-cow running back in Chicago, a force between the tackles and a player who was hard to tackle in open space with his 6-0, 224-pound frame. Tarik Cohen was the pass-catching back was created the big plays in Matt Nagy's offense. Howard was just the player who moved the chains.

"My first two years I struggled to catch the ball. I admit that. But last year I worked on it a lot. I didn’t drop any passes," Howard said at his introductory press conference with the Philadelphia Eagles Monday. "I wasn’t really featured. I don’t really know why."

Howard vowed to improve his pass catching his rookie season and demonstrated that over the last two seasons. He had 20 catches for 145 yards (7.3 yards per catch), not having a drop on the season and a 76.9 catch rate.

Those numbers are much improved over the 29 catches for 298 yards and a touchdown Howard had his rookie season, but Howard had a catch rate of just 58 percent. He just wasn't reliable enough for the Bears, which is why they drafted Cohen to supplement Howard.

Cohen ended up being better than expected for Chicago and a better fit for Nagy's offense. That pressed the Bears to trade Howard to the Eagles, getting just a sixth-round pick in return.

Howard will now be coached by former Eagles running back Duce Staley, who knows a thing or two about being a successful pass-catching back in the NFL. Staley was an underrated pass catcher for the Eagles, having 57 catches for 432 yards in his second season in the league and having a three year stretch from 2000 to 2002 where he had 139 catches for 1,368 yards and three touchdowns in just 34 games (9.8 yards per catch).

Staley was one of the best pass-catching backs in the game, but also an efficient pass blocker with the Eagles. Howard takes pride in protecting the quarterback from his position, which is what the Eagles lack from their running backs outside of Darren Sproles. Howard had a pass-blocking grade of 86.4 last season by Pro Football Focus, with his lowest grade being 75.6 in 2017.

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Howard became a more complete back in 2018, even if he was pushed aside in certain packages by Cohen. Pro Football Focus had his pass-catching grade at 63.9 last season, much higher than the 41.0 mark his rookie season and career-low of 39.7 in 2017.

The Eagles could use a complete back in their running back-by-committee and can still find one in the draft later this month. They may have one in Howard if they give him more opportunities to catch the ball.

Wouldn't hurt to have a bigger version of Duce Staley around.