Jeremy Howe made his name as a third tall forward and/or defender but in recent weeks at Collingwood he has been starting in the defensive goalsquare playing full back on the opposition's gorilla forward. This role has been forced on the Magpies somewhat by list circumstances, and it has destroyed Howe's fantasy value as he's scoring more like Simon Prestigiacomo than his owners would like. Those in redraft leagues should have dropped him already, in keeper leagues he is a questionable asset as he may settle into this role for a while.
Jeremy Howe made his name as a third tall forward and/or defender but in recent weeks at Collingwood he has been starting in the defensive goalsquare playing full back on the opposition's gorilla forward. This role has been forced on the Magpies somewhat by list circumstances, and it has destroyed Howe's fantasy value as he's scoring more like Simon Prestigiacomo than his owners would like. Those in redraft leagues should have dropped him already, in keeper leagues he is a questionable asset as he may settle into this role for a while.
How does Howe rebound?
Following three consecutive 80+ years, jumping Jeremy Howe's scores dropped significantly. An in-game calf injury brought down his average, but the overall blame lies with added accountability. He still led the club in average marks, but lost three touches per game. Howe has all cylinders firing coming into 2020 and won't be giving up his defensive post barring injury. The return of Tom Langdon suggests Howe could be freed up to intercept more often, meaning he's more likely to return to the 75-80 range than not. Nab him as a mid-tier defender.
Howe on down low
High-flying Jeremy Howe was given less opportunity to play his favoured floating loose defender role last year, causing a slight drop in disposals and marks. He still led the club for rebound 50s and marks despite having to be more accountable for opposition forwards. He had shoulder surgery in the off season and had a delayed start to training. When given that loose role, he had no trouble chalking up the fantasy points. Howe’s scores in his new position were wildly inconsistent and, more often than not, underwhelming. His high ceiling and aerial acrobats may cause Howe to be snapped up earlier than he probably deserves, which is a middle round pick.
What goes up must be Howe
His marking is on another plane but Jeremy Howe also took his ground game to another level in 2017, mostly playing a plus-one role or zoning off the least agile of the opposing tall forwards with great effect. He added three disposals and two more marks to rank second in the league on the latter stat behind Sam Docherty, a spot held in 2016 by Ben Reid whose mark totals dropped away. The highlight reels are full of his big contested grabs, and more importantly for the team Howe has become the most prolific interceptor in the oft-swamped Pie back line. Collingwood don't have a lot of depth in their key position defender stocks, so if one of the incumbents goes down he might be forced to play closer to a man which would curtail his rebounding. Other than that caveat, he's a premium fantasy back.
