Most of the football world was taken by surprise when the Dogs snapped up Howard at pick 15 in the 2009 NAB AFL Draft, but his new team said he was a clear first-rounder, and that they knew he would need the operation prior to selecting him.
Bulldogs assistant coach Paul Williams said the 19-year-old was recovering well from last month's hip operation.
"He's looking to start running soon," Williams told westernbulldogs.com.au. "He's a chance to play early on in the season, but we have to make sure we do the right thing by the kid and make sure that he gets enough fitness into his body before we'll expose him to games of footy.
"You can't expect a kid who hasn't had a proper pre-season to come and play AFL straight away, so he will do what all kids have to do, which is demand their spot, train hard and play well and make us pick him."
Williams said the youngster had coped well with doing rehab rather than being able to get into training and was doing everything required by the club's medical staff, leading him to believe Howard would come back more impressive than when he was first drafted.
"He's had that hip [soreness] for a little bit," Williams said. "He was a beautiful kick before his hip operation, so I'm quite keen to see how well he can kick the thing now he's got a good hip."
The Bulldogs' first round draft pick from 2008, Ayce Cordy is another prized youngster aiming to start the year in the VFL, as he works around quad soreness.
Cordy has bulked up considerably in the off-season after being listed as 202cm and 77kg last year.
The Dogs were rapt to get Cordy with pick 14 as a father/son selection, and Williams said last year was a tough one for the youngster.
"This year we're looking for improvement - last year he started doing his uni course, and he's a highly-intelligent man and his course is quite demanding, and doing the course and trying to get into the AFL system in one crack made it a big year for him," Williams said.
"This year is about stability, getting comfortable with his new body, and getting some consistency in his game."
Williams said he expected Cordy to play mostly in the VFL and start putting pressure on Ben Hudson and Will Minson later in the season.
"There's no question that Ayce could force his way into the AFL, he just needs to string some games together to put some pressure on us," Williams said. "He's had a little bit of a hiccup with a bit of a tight leg (quad), but his progression's been good - he's put on a lot of weight in one year of footy, and we're mindful of that.
"It's hard for a kid his height to put on as much as he did and still be able to run like he did when he had that skinny athletic raw footballer build, and now we'll just keep building him to the size and strength that we want him to get to.
"He's still got that running ability, it just took him a little bit to get used to carrying a lot more weight, but it's all good weight."
