Jordan Howard Reportedly Declaring For The Draft

[JaybobHoosier]

Best to him. As an IU guy, I would love to have him back, but RB's take a ton of punishment and you have to go Pro when you can.

 

 

AHHHHH, you liked your own post. Warning Point!!! :)

[RBB89]

this stinks.

On one hand, you would think NFL teams would be wary of picking Howard due to his injuries. Playing another season at IU and being healthy for it would show he can stay healthy and help his stock.

On the other hand, he could get injured even worse and lose out.

Guess he's hoping teams will overlook all the time has missed. Seems like he is the RB version of Bob Sanders. Duels out pain but always injured because of it.

I don't think he missed a game at UAB. Guys get hurt.

[323SGrant]

AHHHHH, you liked your own post. Warning Point!!! :)

[323SGrant]

Oh no! JayBob, that was an accident! I'm posting from my phone!!

[JaybobHoosier]

Oh no! JayBob, that was an accident! I'm posting from my phone!!

Haha, just messing. Have to give you all a hard time.

[323SGrant]

Got it. Ha! Got to get my relatives in NY to support the Hoosiers!

[Old Friend]

Wouldn't it matter what the knee scope reveals?  It could be worse then a little owie.

I didn't know he was having it scoped....  Which is why I asked.  Haven't followed it that closely.

[GnarlyNormEllenberger]

Slightly surprised at this because of his nagging injuries this year. Figured he might be able to improve his draft stock a bit if he returned. But high-level RBs rarely seem to stick around for their senior season these days, it seems. So I can't blame him. The shelf-life of a RB is only so long, at least as far as the NFL is concerned.

 

But best of luck to him in the NFL. We were extremely fortunate to have him on the team this year. The cards actually fell our way for once with landing him! He brought a powerful running game to our offense that we haven't seen in many years.

 

I'll always remember how he and our O-line absolutely dominated the line of scrimmage against Michigan. Smash-mouth football and there was nothing Michigan could do about it. Such a bruiser! Not as fast as Tevin, but if we needed 3 yards, you knew there was a great chance Howard was going to get it for us. Extremely reliable. He will be missed.

[akhosrof]

Not surprised by this decision at all. The tape he has against top defenses in Michigan and Iowa pushed his stock as high as it will get playing for IU (that same tape will put a few of our guys along the offensive line in the NFL as well!) Running backs have a short lifespan.

Say he stays healthy all next year, that is guaranteed to be another 300 carries, which is taking away lifetime earnings from the kid. He proved he's a workhorse and the marginal benefit of coming back next year is not worth the one year of NFL salary, considering the risk of injury and with a top QB like Nate graduating.

It has been a joy to watch Howard. He's tough as nails, he NEVER went down on first contact and always moved the pile. He doesn't have Tevin's speed, but he is a fluid athlete who has outstanding balance. There's definitely a role for him on an NFL team.

[southsidehoosier]

Back to back stud RBs is a great pitch for IU recruiting. Thanks Jordan for laying a foundation for future IU recruits.

[MartintheMopMan]

I would just like to note we still have no idea if this report is true at all. It's a tweet from one person.

 

But, unless you're Frank Gore, RBs have a short shelf life, so leaving early is almost always the right move. I think he could move up the boards if he played another year, but I don't know if it financially makes sense. It's still early, so they'll come out with some projections before long and he'll have more opportunities to really assess his value and potential value if he stays or leaves now.

 

RBs have an average career length of about 4 years. So, staying an extra year may be 25% of his income. If picked rounds 4-7 he can expect a 4 year contract worth approximately $2.5 million. The amount of guaranteed money drops along the way starting at around 500k, 250k, 100k, 60k. Round 3 is worth 3 million, 750K. Round 2, 5-6 million, 2-3 million guaranteed. Round 1, 10-14 million, 10 million guaranteed.

 

So, if there is any chance of moving into the first two rounds, you stay. Ameer Abdullah with the Lions was not a second round pick before he played an extra year, but he was a talented workhorse. He played another year, dominated, and earned his pay. Moving into Round 3 might be worth it. Moving among the lower rounds isn't.

 

Is Howard better than Coleman? I don't think so right now. I'm not familiar with all the team's needs, but he isn't a first or second round pick this year. So, the question ends up whether he can become one. He's probably late third at best right now. Moving up in the third is not worth an extra year. How does not playing in the bowl game (if he doesn't) affect his stock? What pieces will be around next year and can the team be better and get more national attention? Are these injuries going to possibly extend to the future and limit his career?

 

Those are the kinds of questions he has to figure out answers to. That's why I have a lot of trouble believing he has already decided. Positions on the draft board are incredibly fluid this early and there is no way he has enough information to be sure.

 

If he goes? Good for him, he deserves to get paid. I can't wait to watch him play in the big leagues. If not? Well, I won't complain.

[Dalton26]

Matt Miller has Howard to the Colts in the 3rd round. Side Note he also has Spriggs going early in the 2nd.

[rebelhoosier848891]

Jordan--say it isn't so--we hardly knew ye!  (kidding)

 

In all seriousness--good for him. I will never forget what he did in the Michigan game. He will always be remembered as helping us get back to bowling!

 

I hope he gets cleared and has another 250 yard rushing game left in him this season against the Devils!