I can't believe at this point there has not been more discussion about this guy. WFH was the elephant in room and that just possibly all changed. I don't want to get too excited, but this kid was great last night. First of all, the guy is just huge. He is powerful and agile. He handled Charles Johnson a 10 sack/yr guy with no problem. Granted, it is only one game and a pre-season game so you can't get too excited. But if we just saw the real Austin Howard, this offense just took a quantum leap forward.
agreed, the guy looked great...huge frame and very athletic...I like him A LOT. I'd still like to see the Jets eat WFH salary, and acquire a more viable backup.
So now all we need to find is backup RT and an RG to replace Moore next year, and we're good on o-line depth, no?
I really thought WFH would be fine in a backup role, but after watching him in with 2nd and 3rd stringers, it seems like he has gone from bad to pathetic. For Howards first game with us, I think he did a great job. Add in the fact he handled Johnson very well, Im very comfortable with him starting.......
At this point I really just hope they eat Hunter's salary and get an early start at bringing along someone who can help in case someone goes down. Hunter has gone from bad to useless.
he had 9 last year and 12 the year before, he's a legit NFL pass rusher. I thought howard turned in a very good showing, but its only one week. Keeping my fingers crossed.
Hunter was looking bad on 2nd team as well last night. Howard played decent. It was nice not seeing Sanchez get sacked on every 3rd down.
The reason I don't want to get too excited by Howard is that Hunter was really good in the 2010 postseason when he replaced Woody but sucked as a consistent starter. We can only hope that Howard can show some consistency. IMO, if he holds up, he is the biggest story of the season, bc with WFH in there we just can't throw. Our line goes from dysfunctional to functional.
Howard looked good as predicted. A definate upgrade over WFH. But Sanchez still failed top get us in the EZ - not good.
Hopefully Vlad will be able to step in and replace Moore. That would just leave Jets with task of getting a solid OL backup which shouldn't cost too much.
Howard did a great job last night. I actually said out loud, "How did it take the Jets this long to start him?" Just one game, but impressive nonetheless.
After the season, Slauson is a FA (should be resigned for cheap unless he goes BEASTMODE) and Moore is getting up there. Vlad should be able to fill in for one of them if they're gone, but if Moore takes a step back and Slauson is gone, it makes another hole on the line. Plus, there is no way of knowing now how Howard will play the rest of the season. He definitely gave us some hope last night.
Howard started in Hunter's place against the Bengals and didn't look too solid. I'll have to see some consistency from him before I am sold, but he did a pretty good job last night and really took some steps to earn the starting spot instead of the default way he got the start when Hunter played like Hunter. I have a feeling the Jets will be playing him on Thursday night versus Philly, so we'll see if he keeps looking this good. I liked what I saw from him against Carolina, but it's dangerous to depend on a 3 quarter preseason performance to determine your starting RT for the year. The Jets have to keep their options open, even if it means bringing in a vet stopgap type after final cuts to compete with Howard early in the season.
