Dolphins should test Colts’ bold bet that a year away has Xavien Howard ready to prove Miami wrong
A familiar face from Miami will greet them in Week 1, presumably with the first team defense. How hard should the Dolphins test Xavien Howard against the Colts?
When the Miami Dolphins line up against the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday afternoon, they will see a familiar face welcoming them on the other side of the football. Former Dolphins standout Xavien Howard now calls Indianapolis “home” for the 2025 season, and he’s looking to make an impact after sitting out all of 2024. Miami and Howard know each other well; there’s been plenty of overlap between the parties involved in Sunday’s showdown during the Mike McDaniel era with the Dolphins.
The question is how big a role Howard will play and how well the Dolphins can attack his worst habits to try to generate some big plays offensively — a sorely lacking piece of the puzzle in 2024. All the context clues appear to be tilting Howard into having a big hand in the Colts’ defensive plans.
He was listed as a starter in Indianapolis’ first depth chart of the 2025 regular season.
Colts betting on Xavien Howard’s fresh legs trumping his age regression in first game versus Dolphins
Colts defensive coordinator Lou Anarumo spoke with the media on Tuesday and was asked about Howard and if he could play starter snaps right away. Anarumo was political, but he did offer what the Colts believe in regarding Howard’s condition.
“Well, I think we’ll see how it goes, and I think that (Howard) came in great shape and has been away from the game for a year. You can look at that two different ways – as a veteran guy who gave his legs a year off and then got back into it now and has been through basically three weeks of training camp and a week of game prep coming up,” said Anarumo. “So, we’ll see how it goes. We’ve got a bunch of able bodies there at that position. So, we’ll play it by ear.”
Indianapolis spent handsomely to bring in its other starter at cornerback, Charvarius Ward, in free agency. He’s projected to hold one starting spot. Howard is pencilled into the other and is joined by Jaylon Jones and Johnathan Edwards as the other outside corners. Kenny Moore, a handsomely compensated nickel defender, joins them in the slot. If it isn’t Howard, the options are limited.
A healthy Ward should be considered a quality starter, as should Moore in the nickel. Moore is 30, though — that magic number in which many corners see their play start to dip. And Moore on the perimeter is not likely to be a recipe for success, particularly against a Dolphins team that features a ton of speed. How much juice Howard has will likely be something the Dolphins probe early as well. Anarumo seems to believe it won’t be a problem.
“A lot of great players that have been around, they’re very prideful men…he doesn’t have to do this. I think he wants to go out there and prove to himself, to whoever, that he can play football and play it at a high level still,” said Anarumo.
He’ll need to prove it to the Dolphins first and foremost on Sunday afternoon.
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