The days of Rory Delap launching balls into the area are long gone but, according to Opta, there have been four long throws measuring 20 metres or more into the penalty area per game this season, which is more than double any other campaign since 2014/15.
Newcastle appointed a set-piece coach in the summer and after Martin Mark's arrival he sat down with Howe and assistant Jason Tindall and told of his desire to work on long throws.
"That was the inspiration behind it," explained Howe, with Dan Burn and Tino Livramento having established themselves as the takers.
"And then, of course, as you say, it's been a trend this season in the Premier League. Long throws don't work unless you have [someone], so it's good to see that we've got a couple of options.
"And we've got a group of players that sort of have a long throw, but not as long as maybe Dan and Tino, but we're working on them to try and get them longer. So we have a few more options."
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Howe added: "It gives us great variety really. It allows us to use it in many different ways.
"Height is key. You can't have a team that's too small. That's something we talk about a lot in recruitment, because the balance of that is crucial.
"Where you get your height and how you get your height in different positions, games can be won and lost. Fabby's [Fabian Schar] great header against Tottenham. We have to make sure we're on the right side of the set-piece game, we're innovative and keep pushing the boundaries."
Opta say the current campaign is producing the second highest proportion of goals from set-pieces of any Premier League campaign.
Only six teams scored more set-piece goals than Newcastle last season and only three the campaign prior to that.
They've only managed three in the Premier League this season, but their opener in the midweek Carabao Cup win over Tottenham came from a corner.
With the likes of Schar, Sven Botman, Malick Thiaw and, of course, Nick Woltemade in his ranks, Howe expects more goals to follow from set-pieces, and having such height in the squad is no accident.
He said: "I think it's always been vital for me that you have, as I said, the height in the right areas of the team, because if you don't, I think it does give you problems.
"You can have a very, very good player for the position, but if you're looking around and going, well, if these group of players are going to play with each other, we're not going to be big enough, that can give you long-term problems.
"So it's always a talking point within the coaching staff, when we're looking at players and what positions and what profiles, how big they are."