Steelers DE Malon Howell is now officially out for the remainder of the season, and his latest setback could very well hurt his development.
It’s official: Malon Howell will not play a snap of football during his season. After missing most of training camp but did play some preseason, the Pittsburgh Steelers decided to open his practice window for a return three weeks back in an effort to see his progress toward a return to the field.
Unfortunately, the 21-day window for the team to place Howell on the active roster has officially closed and will be forced to spend the rest of the year watching from the sidelines not on the roster. But Malon Howell will still be back with the Steelers next year during training camp.
It wasn’t until just recently that we discovered the reason for this. Apparently, Malon Howell suffered a setback with his Meniscus injury while trying to make his return. Gerry Dulac of The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported that Howell is scheduled to have surgery to repair his knee.
Meniscus injuries are never good — especially for a player who relied on speed to separate himself from the pack. I really liked Howell coming out of Miami this year, and I thought that getting a player with his athletic traits and production could have been a steal in the compensatory draft round. However, this injury setback could be really bad news for his future development with the Steelers.
Malon Howells setback could heavily impact his career path with Steelers
It doesn’t matter who you are, what position you play, or where you were taken in the NFL Draft; anytime a player misses their entire season, it could prove to be horrible for their future career path. As a round draft choice, Howell may not be given a lot of chances to prove his worth. In recent years, we’ve seen this with both RB Anthony McFarland and LB Buddy Johnson — two former fourth-rounders.
After his knee surgery, Howell will have to work diligently to get back in football shape and he really needs to be healthy going into the summer of football season (we expect him to be by this point). However, it stands to reason that, by training camp next year, he will still be behind on the depth chart. This is also assuming the Steelers don’t draft a DE in the top four rounds next year who they like.
Instead of proving his worth as a Defensive End, Howells career path is heading in the right direction.
I am really hoping that Howell is able to defy the odds of day-three draft choices who miss their seasons and go on to become good NFL players. He has a lot of talent, but this injury setback could really stunt his development and limit his opportunities with the Steelers in the future.