#84

Bug Howard

Wide receiver for North Carolina. 2016: 53 catches, 827 receiving yards, 8 TD.

WR · North Carolina · #84

6′5″ · Rochelle, GA

North Carolina 2016 alumnus

Recruiting

3★

WR recruit

No. 409 nationally · Signed with North Carolina

Statement game10 rec · 156 ydsat Miami (FBS) · W 20-13

Top 1% catches game since 2021.

His career numbers, season by season

The story

2016 wide receiver for North Carolina. 2016: 53 catches, 827 receiving yards, 8 TD.

Signed as a 3-star recruit to North Carolina in 2013.

His career, year by year

How it ended

Three seasons at North Carolina, 1,770 receiving yards — his college career is complete.

His career

He was on the field for 3 seasons. That is rarer than it sounds.

The week the volume broke through — put up 156 yds at Miami.Miami · W 20-132016

2013

Signed with North Carolina3-star out of Wilcox County

Career arc

Recruit

★★★

#409 national

CFB

College

North Carolina

2014–2016

NFL

NFL Draft

—

Not drafted

Coaching lineage · 2014–2016

1 coach

2014–2016

Larry Fedora

North Carolina

Played his entire career under Larry Fedora.

2016 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

3 seasons under Larry Fedora — 25-15 over that span.

2014North Carolina6-7HC: Larry Fedora · Balanced, fast tempo

2015North Carolina11-3HC: Larry Fedora · Run-leaning

2016North Carolina8-5HC: Larry Fedora · Balanced

Where this profile ranks vs the WR cohort

Box-score percentiles

5 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: rec tds (90th percentile). Strength: rec yards (86th percentile).

Box-score rates (5)

Rec TDs#46 / 524 · 90th pct

Rec yards#72 / 524 · 86th pct

827

Receptions#103 / 524 · 80th pct

Long catch#118 / 524 · 77th pct

Yards / catch#126 / 524 · 76th pct

15.6

Percentiles versus same-position peers with enough snaps this season, based on box-score rates.

Splits & context

Splits · Per-game

2016 season · 12 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	REC/g	YDS/g	YPR	TD/g
Home7g	3.7	57.0	14.9	0.9
Road5g	5.4	85.6	16.3	0.4

First half vs Second half

	REC/g	YDS/g	YPR	TD/g
Weeks 1-78g	4.2	61.0	14.2	0.5
Weeks 8+4g	4.8	84.8	18.1	1.0

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Bill Belichick

Scheme reads (pass share, tempo, sack rate) need at least 3 team games — 2 games in so far.

Awards

Player standing · 2016

Part-time starter

Splitting first-team reps — starts some weeks, rotates others.

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Career stats

Season	Team
2016	North Carolina	53	827	15.6	8	--
2015	North Carolina	29	488	16.8	4	--
2014	North Carolina	42	455	10.8	2	--
Career		124	1,770	14.3	14	--

Season	Team
2016	North Carolina	--	--	--	--	--
2015	North Carolina	--	--	17	1	--
2014	North Carolina	--	--	--	--	--
Career		--	--	17	1	--

Signature game

SIGNATURE GAME · Week 5 · 2016

W 37–35

at Florida State

4 rec · 51 yds

Edged out Florida State on the road in a shootout.

With M. Trubisky — 405 yds · 3 TD · 0 INT · QBR 93.0 · -6 rush yds (5 car) · 1 TD · T. Logan — 77 rush yds (10 car) · 1 TD

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week