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X. Howard Evaluation

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I don't want to pick on one player. The loss to Carolina was a team loss, disappointing in almost every way.

But, I have noticed that X. Howard doesn't seem to be locating the ball very well and opposing quarterbacks are throwing in his area with a lot of confidence. Now, let me first say I've watched only the nationally televised games this year --- New Orleans, New York Jets, Oakland and Carolina. So I haven't seen all the tape out there on Howard and want opinions from those of you who have.

Howard seems to have good coverage, sometimes great coverage, but then doesn't look for the ball leading to a lot of big plays. Has anyone else noticed this?

Howard is a young player so maybe this is a coaching issue, or maybe I'm off base. Opinions?
 
Well you said it best, he is a young player.
 
He seems like he's regressing this season.
 
I think that hate has been a little overblown, but he's certainly not playing very well. Still shows the range and potential, but way too many penalties and he's not doing a good job of stopping passes that he's actually in decent coverage on.
 
This is an example of yet another player overrated by the fans, he wasn't really good last year, yes he showed promise but not nearly enough for everyone to assume he would take this giant step in year 2. Tankersley has shown more in his 7 games played than Howard did last year.
 
I was going to start a thread about this. I would look to move him in the offseason and bring in vet like Sherman so Tank and Lippett can learn from him. Let's be honest he hasn't been bright spot all. At Tank has had him moments this season or I can remember he did something to help the D. I can't say the same of Howard.
 
I watched his Baylor tapes while I was watching film of the ‘16 Draftees and I noticed two things:

1.) He is extremely inconsistent, would have one good-great play, but then get burnt the next few.

2.) He was extremely handsy. Always grabbed. Always. Got called for quiet a few PIs & Holding calls at Baylor.

I was pretty livid when we traded up for him, but we’ll see if he proves me wrong, which I hope he does, but I’m just seeing the same Xavien I did at Baylor.
 
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Snoop said:
This is an example of yet another player overrated by the fans, he wasn't really good last year, yes he showed promise but not nearly enough for everyone to assume he would take this giant step in year 2. Tankersley has shown more in his 7 games played than Howard did last year.
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It was more the offseason reports than the fans. Everything that was said about Howard before the season started was about how he was locking guys down in practice and looked like a shutdown corner. The thing is we didn't expect that offense he was locking down to be the worst in the NFL.
 
I think overall, Howard has had pretty good coverage most games. He shows some mental lapses at times still, and I think some of the flags thrown on him have been very iffy / especially when you see in the same game our receivers being mugged around. It feels like the refs key in on him now that "he has that reputation"
 
Young player with a lot of promise that I'm sure the Dolphins will depreciate with terrible coaching. Then he'll go elsewhere and become decent to good.
 
ANUFan said:
He seems like he's regressing this season.
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I think you nailed it. The team as a whole has regressed due to poor coaching and scheme. We are almost always playing from behind and that puts intense pressure on the D. This combined with a DC who is in a position he shouldn't be in is the problem. I cannot put all the blame on the players, We are just a **** show of coaching.
 
artdnj said:
I think you nailed it. The team as a whole has regressed due to poor coaching and scheme. We are almost always playing from behind and that puts intense pressure on the D. This combined with a DC who is in a position he shouldn't be in is the problem. I cannot put all the blame on the players, We are just a **** show of coaching.
Click to expand...

I have to agree with a post I saw earlier saying Burke is going through serious learning pains and is likely out of his elements. There were a few plays last night that I with my amateur eyes were able to correctly guess from Carolina Offense. Most of which were based on down and distance and alignment. So how is it that a profession coordinator and players couldn't see certain things coming?
 
unfortunately the hype hasn't met the on field play yet...probably can say the same thing about dvp this year but the qb is holding him back in terms of consistency and missing 3 games with a high ankle doesn't help...but at least he flashes very high level play

x hasn't really flashed much truly high level stuff this year...

I still think bobby McCain who talks smack vs pretty much 4th and 5th wr type slots is the biggest weakness in the secondary though...how many balls they gonna drop where he gets smoked by guys he has to shut down?
 
Corners sometimes take time and our corners are not getting any help from the front 4 as far as pass rush. Having said that, Howard does not look like a #1 corner to me and at this point he doesn't even look like a #2. I hope he gets it together soon. Would hate to see that we missed on yet another high pick which we traded up for(T-dumb)

Ozzy rules!!
 
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