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  • Xavian Howard... reports and comments

    The latest football news, analysis, and rankings from PFF. Featuring data-driven rankings and stats for NFL, fantasy football, and the NFL Draft.


    Stat to know:

    Howard allowed a NFL passer rating of just 32.2 on passes into his coverage in 2015, and had the 16th-best coverage grade in the draft class.

    What he does best:

    • Howard is all about potential. When he gets it right, he looks like Richard Sherman. Has the kind of length and ability to run deep with players that can make it very hard to find a window to complete the pass on him.

    • He’s another player that fits the size and speed profile NFL teams are looking for, stands over 6-feet tall, clears 200-pounds, and ran a 4.41 second 40-yard dash.


    • Howard has excellent ball skills. When he sees the ball in the air, he is trying to pick it off himself more often than not, and had five interceptions to six pass breakups this season. More than one of those five picks were excellent catches.

    • He plays the run well enough, is physical at the point, and understands where he needs to attack.

    • Howard was left on an island at Baylor and still had amongst the best coverage numbers in the country; he allowed just 37.3 percent of passes thrown his way to be caught in 2015.

    • He showed the ability to adjust in-game; beaten by something once early in a game, Howard shut it down the second time. This happened across several games.

    Biggest concern:

    • His coverage numbers this season were something of a mirage. Howard was beaten badly on multiple big plays that weren’t completed for whatever reason. The NC State game alone could have blown his stats to pieces, had receiver Mack Hollins not stepped out of bounds after beating Howard, turning what should have been a 75-yard touchdown into a 15-yard reception.

    • A look at the tape shows him being beaten a lot deep, but not being punished for it with completions. Most of these plays are when he allows the receiver a free release off the line, and then finds himself chasing the play from behind the whole way, unable to recover that disadvantage.

    • Howard lacks awareness at times, whether he is late to look for the football or just loses track of it entirely.

    Pro style comparison:

    Delvin Breaux, New Orleans. Like Howard, Breaux shows big-play ability and some excellent play, but when he loses, it’s bad. Breaux graded well last season, but also led all cornerbacks with 10 touchdowns given up in coverage. Howard could have had numbers like that, had the quality of his opponents’ execution been better.

    Bottom line:

    There are few corners in this draft with the kind of potential Xavien Howard has, and some teams are going to see nothing but that upside. When Howard gets it right on tape, he looks like the next Richard Sherman—a player with the length to all but eliminate deep passes to his side, and the skills to play the short stuff, too. If his negatives are cleaned up, he will be an excellent player, but there are still a lot of concerning moments on his tape, and so many plays where he is killed by receivers. It is a lot to clean up at this point.

  • #2
    Rotoworld has scouting reports that glow on Howard as well...

    Find all the latest fantasy sports news, live coverage, videos, highlights, stats, predictions, and results right here on NBC Sports - Rotoworld.

    One NFL scout believes Baylor CB Xavien Howard is "for sure" a top 50 selection.

    The scout took it one step further, stating Howard could be selected in the late first-round due to the "height-weight-speed factor." If you want to talk Combine numbers, Howard actually tested poorly even when weight is factored in. We will let the scout explain why he likes the corner. "He can run with almost all receivers. He tracks the ball well. Physical." Howard is a man to man, press cover corner, and that projection can be difficult to find at the college level. Howard matched Kevin White's physicality in 2014 but gave up huge receiving numbers to the future first round pick.



    Comment


    • #3
      Confusing stuff on Howard... he ran a 4.38 and a 4.41 40, but some claim he's slow and will get beat deep. He had a lot of INTs, but some claim he can't find or track the ball.

      I knew Joseph wanted Howard bad, but still don't see him as being worth 2 picks.

      Comment


      • Alpha
        Alpha commented
        Editing a comment
        I'd have been disappointed if we stayed where we were and took him. For a 2nd and a 4th? SMFH....

    • #4
      I'm going to go throw up now. We need a corner to start week 1.

      Comment


      • #5
        Puzzled as Hell about this pick. Pretty sure Howard will will be starting across from from Maxwell though.

        Comment


        • VAIDER5120
          VAIDER5120 commented
          Editing a comment
          Why not play him as a backup DE or sit him a year or two? 😜

        • cuchulainn
          cuchulainn commented
          Editing a comment
          Sure... lemme check with Coyles and see how much weight we can pack on him. 25 lbs for sure.

      • #6
        Adam Beasley ‏@AdamHBeasley 5s6 seconds ago
        Grier expected a corner run was about to run. Thought two teams might step up and take him.

        Adam Beasley ‏@AdamHBeasley 33s33 seconds ago
        Chris Grier: "This is a prototype player. He checks all the boxes for us. He was a target player for us."

        Adam Beasley ‏@AdamHBeasley 5m5 minutes ago
        Howard is very familiar with Byron Maxwell's game.

        Andrew Abramson ‏@AbramsonPBP 1m1 minute ago
        #Dolphins GM Chris Grier: "This is a prototype player. We spent a lot of time with him. It's a premium need for us."

        Andrew Abramson ‏@AbramsonPBP 1m1 minute ago
        Grier: Two teams we thought in front of us might take him

        Andrew Abramson ‏@AbramsonPBP 1m1 minute ago
        Grier: This guy is ultra-competitive. He's an alpha. The size, the length, the speed, he's obvious a scheme fit for us

        Andrew Abramson ‏@AbramsonPBP 17s18 seconds ago
        Grier asked if he tried to trade up even higher: "We were active today, I'll say that."

        Comment


        • #7
          Barry Jackson – ‏@flasportsbuzz

          New Dolphins 6-1 CB Xavien Howard with five picks last yr, four the yr before. QBs had just a 32.4 passer rating in coverage area, says PFF.

          Comment


          • #8
            RealSport offers the latest gaming news, guides and opinions on F1, FIFA, Football Manager, Fortnite, Madden, Red Dead Online, PS Plus and more!



            2016 NFL Draft: Xavien Howard selected 38th overall by Miami
            Xavien Howard – CB/S, Baylor

            Pick Analysis
            After losing Brent Grimes this off-season the Dolphins desperately needed fresh talent at corner back, so they leapt up and grabbed one. Howard is a terrific athlete who lead Baylor in interceptions and has terrific feet, he had some bad moments in college but Miami will back themselves to coach him up and boy does he fill a need. (Toby Durant)

            Player Analysis
            Film isn’t always Howard’s friend. There’s bad beats, too much early contact and interference, questionable playing speed and allowing easy separation at times. But he has all the foundations to work and build on, as well as versatility to be used across the secondary if desired, and makes a bunch of plays which included five picks his junior year and saw him named All Big-12. The 6ft, 200 lb corner has size for the pros and really looks the part. While it’s often to his detriment right now by being overly so, he brings so much physicality to his game, hitting hard and is a sure tackler who wraps up well. With a bit of improved discipline and experience to avoid the pass interference penalties and not grab so much, he should be able to make the most of his prototype measurables. A role as a big nickel covering tight ends is an area where Howard can reduce mismatches that the elite at that position love to exploit over the middle. In his more standard coverage duties outside, and despite the inconsistency that saw him give up a few big plays, there’s clearly a lot of natural ability to mirror movements of the wide out, with fluid transition when turning to run and reacting to route breaks. There’s the understanding of when to break on the ball and jump routes, reading the QB’s eyes well and generally showing a quick ability to read and react. He might take a little time to maximise his potential, but Howard is a natural at defensive back, with excellent position and scheme versatility, and there is excellent football IQ to go with the size he brings. (Rebecca Rennie)
            Grade B+

            Comment


            • #9
              This from Walter Football pretty much sums up everyone's thoughts...

              Miami Dolphins: Xavien Howard, CB, Baylor C+ Grade

              This would've been a great pick had the Dolphins not traded for it. With lots of cornerbacks available, I don't think they needed to do that, however. Why surrender resources to do something like that? Having said that, I'm not giving Miami a poor grade, as a C+ seems about right. Howard should be a good player for them, and he's filling a big need for sure.

              Read more at http://walterfootball.com/nfldraftgr...Q526ul8Xz5D.99

              Comment


              • #10
                I like the Howard pick. I felt they could have stayed put and got him, but they didn't and he was the guy they wanted. We will see if he starts day one or not, but the kid has a lot of potential. Now Miami has two big corners to match up with the bigger wide receivers. Actually have three if you throw Lippett in there. McCain is probably a nickle guy and don't count out signing Leon Hall.

                I am not going to bash them (yet) over this. I am seeing quality over quantity in this draft so far. I think they drafted four guys that will see significant minutes this year and possibly two starters.

                Comment

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