Woltemade spent the first half of the season playing as Newcastle's No.9 but Howe always knew the record signing was more comfortable dropping deep rather than playing on the shoulder of the last defender.
With Yoane Wissa sidelined in the early months of the season, Howe had no choice but to play Woltemade as a striker.
But even when the 24-year-old was scoring in the early stages of the campaign, he's never looked an ideal fit as the line-leading frontman in Howe's side and went 14 games without a goal before breaking his duck late in Saturday's 3-1 FA Cup win at Aston Villa.
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That goal capped a fine individual display from Woltemade, who played deep in a role somewhere between midfield and No.10. And Howe was delighted with what he saw from the German international, a reward, he says, for his work on the training pitches.
"I was really pleased with him," said Newcastle's head coach.
"I think his attitude to what we've been asking him to do in recent weeks where we've been training him in a different position has been outstanding.
"He's done a lot of work, he's done it really well and he got the benefit. I thought he was very good in and out of possession and capped it off with a great goal.
"Delighted for him. Hopefully that makes him feel really good about himself and what the future can look like here."
While Woltemade played mostly as No.9 in the early stages of his time at Newcastle, he had been previously used as as a No.10 for both Stuttgart and Germany's Under-21s.
So what did Howe see Woltemade as when he joined in the summer?
"He arrived as an attacker really," said Newcastle's boss.
"I knew his best work was done low on the pitch, coming deep to link play.
"One of the reasons we wanted to sign him was his technical ability, added with a lot of other strengths.
"Even when he's played as a nine, we encouraged him to come deeper on the pitch.
"He started deeper on Saturday. I don't think there's a massive difference on the pitch but when he's playing and starting deeper there's a bigger defensive responsibility, and that's where I have to give him particular praise. He understood what the team needed and the importance of the defensive aspect. I thought he was outstanding."