The Houston Texans’ 2020 season is a lost cause with three games to go. They cannot make the playoffs, and they are set to finish with their second losing record since selection Deshaun Watson in Round 1 of the 2017 NFL Draft.
Even though the Texans can’t add to their legacy relative to the postseason, they can make determinations as to what they have on their roster.
One player that deserves consideration is running back Buddy Howell, who has been a tremendous special teamer for the Texans since joining the team in 2018. The former undrafted free agent from Florida Atlantic has just 16 carries for 52 yards and a catch for three yards in his career.
Houston already knows what it has in running backs David Johnson and Duke Johnson. However, Howell has toiled away playing special teams and seeing other running backs such as Lamar Miller, Alfred Blue, D’Onta Foreman, Carlos Hyde, and Taiwan Jones get their chances in the past three seasons. Given that Howell is in the last year of his rookie contract with the Texans, there wouldn’t be better time to see what Howell can offer in the final three games.
Against the Chicago Bears amid the 36-7 loss at Soldier Field, Howell tallied 11 carries for 42 yards, and that was also the game where he logged his only career catch to date. The 6-1, 215-pound bruiser provided a burst up the middle and contact that Texans runners have lacked in 2020.
Playing Howell also gives the 24-year-old a chance to put more of his body of work on film, an opportunity he missed out on with there being zero preseason games in 2020. As Howell enters free agency, having evidence on tape of what he could bring to a backfield, whether in Houston or elsewhere, would be beneficial to helping him earn that second contract.
The Texans have nothing to lose playing Howell.
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