The Purdue Boilermakers haven’t had much to get all hyped up about in quite a while now. If they did, head coach Darrell Hazell isn’t one to try to hype his players up anyway. Like Jim Tressel, his mentor, is a straight shooter, keeping it 100, unwilling to heap undue praise upon a player.
But after his spring practices at Purdue back in 2014, Hazell sounded like he had one at NT. At 6’3″, 325 pounds, Howard looked like he had all the ingredients of a future NFL NT. And that had Hazell unable to hide his excitement about the about the big man.
He told ESPN.com. a couple of weeks ago, “He’s the most exciting football player on our team right now. He’s got uncommon quickness. He’s got unbelievable power. He can be very disruptive.
“He’s really special.”
So he carries on with his college career in which he was a three-year starter for the Boilermakers. Howard was supposed to put himself on the map as an NFL prospect this coming season. He just had to get over the little bump in the road, getting suspended for academic reasons in January.
But that bump in the road grewr when Howard announced he was transferring from Purdue in late May. But school is school and now, he’s done with school. ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported Friday that Howard will forgo the rest of his college eligibility and enter the supplemental draft.
Schefter’s source informed him that Howard’s decision was for academic reasons. You can’t coach 6’3″, 325 pounds, so there will be some teams that consider him in the supplemental draft in July. Howard has three years of tape andwill hold a pro day workout in New Jersey on July 8.
So we’ll see who spends a 2017 pick on him.