Two more juniors

December 28, 2015

Two more juniors enter … A couple of more underclassmen announced earlier today that they would be entering the 2016 draft. No surprise, for example, that Indiana junior RB Jordan Howard decided to head to the pros after just one season with the Hoosiers. Howard, who transferred from Alabama-Birmingham last year when the UAB football program was shut down, ran for over 1,200 yards this fall despite missing 4 full games and parts of several others with a knee injury. In fact, Howard, who ran for at least 145 yards in every full game he played in this fall, missed the Hoosiers bowl game after undergoing minor knee surgery, but should be good to go for the combine and other pre-draft workouts. Howard has good size at 6-0, 225 and decent speed with a projected 40 time in the mid-to-high 4.5 range; he  is currently ranked as the 9th best RB prospect on the GBN list of top prospects at the position. Miami junior CB Artie Burns has also opted to enter the draft after something of a breakout campaign in 2015 in which he had 6 interceptions. The 6-0, 195-pound Burns with a projected 40-clocking in the low 4.5 range, figures to be a mid-round pick at the upcoming draft. The addition of these two guys brings the number of underclassmen to have indicated in one or another that they plan to enter the 2016 draft to 34 by our unofficial count. Underclassmen have until January 18th to file paperwork with the NFL to be eligible for the upcoming draft.