Marcus Cooper video
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At first appearance you might not think Jaye Howard looks the part of a NT. 6-3, 301. Not that this is where the Chiefs intend to use him. He could be utilized at DE but if the Chief do move him inside I predict he’ll do very well there.
After watching tape on Howard I could see he uses his hands and arms extremely well. One of my gripes with many interior linemen is that they get tied up with the defender and never break free. That’s not Howard’s problem. In fact, you’ll see him repeatedly use his arm leverage to move through a double-team. He is that good at what he does with his arms that other teams who do double him will often find him in their backfield anyway. Howard also uses his torso to twist his way through some double-teams and for offensive linemen it’s very hard to defend.
His presence on the Chief roster should make Dontari Poe a better lineman too… especially if any of Howard’s hand skills rub off. Jaye Howard doesn’t play with the same intensity of Warren Sapp but his arms and handwork is reminiscent and is what keeps him beating his competition.
Jaye Howard vs. LSU
Ignore the initial penalty and notice how Jaye Howard rarely is moved off the line of scrimmage and almost always is moving towards the ball.
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With 3.7 now the average years of experience per player, if the Chiefs start winning this season, you can expect many more winning seasons to come.
No, this fan didn’t get the experienced OL he was hoping for but, after some research, I’m encouraged by the changes made over the weekend. What say you Addicts? Are you encouraged?