Jordan Howard

BIOGRAPHY

Jordan Howard was born November 2, 1994, in Fairfield, Alabama. He is a runningback in the NFL. 

He played high school football at Gardendale High School in Gardendale, Alabama, a suburb of Birmingham. He was a two-year starter for the Rockets, gaining 2,876 yards in his junior and senior seasons. While he excelled for the Rockets, he was generally regarded as a just two-star prospect and was not a highly sought-after recruit by major college programs. He ended up going to play college football just a few miles away from his home at the University of Alabama at Birmingham in Birmingham, Alabama.

The Chicago Bears selected Howard in the fifth round (150th overall) of the 2016 NFL Draft. He was the tenth running back taken in the draft.

Howard eclipsed 1,000 rushing yards, the fifth rookie in team history to reach 1,000 rushing yards (Matt Forte in 2008, Anthony Thomas in 2001, Rashaan Salaam in 1995, and Beattie Feathers in 1934). On December 24, he had his sixth game of the season with over 100 rushing yards: 18 carries for 119 yards in a 41–21 Week 16 loss to the Washington Redskins. In the New Year's Day season finale, Howard had a Bears rookie record seventh 100-yard game, with 23 carries for 135 yards in a loss to Minnesota. Howard finished the season with a Bears rookie record of 1,313 rushing yards, second in the league behind fellow rookie Ezekiel Elliott. His 5.2 yards per carry ranked fifth among NFL running backs in 2016. Howard was later named to the 2017 Pro Bowl as a replacement for injured Arizona Cardinals running back David Johnson. Howard joined Gale Sayers as the only Bears rookie running backs to make the Pro Bowl.

Overall, in the 2017 season, he finished with 1,122 rushing yards and nine rushing touchdowns to go along with 23 receptions for 125 receiving yards. In the 2018 season, he ended with 935 rushing yards on 250 attempts, while his nine touchdowns led the team. He received an overall grade of 70.2 from Pro Football Focus in 2018, which ranked as the 37th highest grade among all qualifying running backs.

On March 28, 2019, Howard was traded to the Philadelphia Eagles for a 2020 sixth-round pick.  In the 2019 season, Howard appeared in ten games and recorded 525 rushing yards and six rushing touchdowns.

On March 21, 2020, Howard signed a two-year, $9.75 million contract with the Miami Dolphins. He made his debut with the Dolphins in Week 1 against the New England Patriots. During the game, Howard managed to rush eight times for seven yards but scored the Dolphins' lone touchdown of the 21–11 loss. He was waived on November 16, 2020. For the Dolphins, Howard played in five games and had four touchdowns.

On November 23, 2020, Howard was signed to the Philadelphia Eagles practice squad. He was elevated to the active roster on December 5 and December 26 for the team's weeks 13 and 16 games against the Green Bay Packers and Dallas Cowboys, and reverted to the practice squad after each game. His practice squad contract with the team expired after the season on January 11, 2021. Howard re-signed to a one-year contract on April 13, 2021.