After scoring the game-winning touchdown in overtime as the Alcorn State Braves overcame Prairie View A&M in college football Week 10, running back Jarveon Howard has been named one of the Shrine Bowl HBCU Players of the Week. The former Syracuse rusher is developing into one of the top FCS running back prospects ahead of the 2023 NFL Draft.
Week 10 HBCU Offensive Player of the Week: Alcorn State RB Jarveon HowardÂ
Following another performance where Howard paced the Braves’ offense, the Alcorn State running back has been named Shrine Bowl HBCU Offensive Player of the Week. In addition to his game-winning overtime touchdown, Howard rushed for a team-high 125 yards in the 23-16 college football Week 10 win.
Averaging over four yards per carry and buoyed by a 22-yard run, Howard broke 100 yards for the fourth time this season as Alcorn State recorded their fourth win of the campaign. No other Braves player tallied triple-digits over a Prairie View A&M team that was 5-3 entering the game. Quarterback Tre Lawrence only totaled 82 yards from 22 pass attempts.
Since his transfer from Syracuse, Howard has been the leading light of the Alcorn State offense. He’s breathing rare air at the FCS and HBCU level, surpassing 1,000 rushing yards while hitting 10 touchdowns during the Prairie View A&M performance that saw him named a Shrine Bowl HBCU Player of the Week.
Howard opened the season with 199 yards and a touchdown against Stephen F. Austin. While he struggled against a dominant Tulane defense, he rebounded with a career-high performance against Arkansas-Pine Bluff, where his 299 yards and four touchdowns included a 78-yard run.
The Alcorn State running back has a touchdown in all but three games this season. Howard’s game-winning score against Prairie View A&M, a bruising goal-line burst where sheer determination and lower body strength saw him plunge across the plane, demonstrated one of the facets he brings to the table as a running back prospect at the next level.
“Guys don’t enjoy tackling this guy,” Draft HBCU evaluator Tim Brown explained to Pro Football Network. The Shrine Bowl has partnered with Draft HBCU to identify and elevate NFL draft prospects from Historically Black Colleges and Universities with a range of initiatives, including the HBCU Players of the Week.
While Howard’s 5’10”, 200-pound physique and tough-running, leg-churning style make him a threat down at the goal line, Brown explains there’s more to the Alcorn State running back than simply a short-yardage situational rusher.
“Howard is an old-school type of back that reminds me of many back in the NFL in the ’90s,” Brown continues. “He cannot be described as simply a power back. His combination of size and speed sets him apart at the college level. He has shown this year he is very valuable outside of goal-line situations and can be used on all downs.”
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In a modern-day evaluation world where everyone seeks a pro comparison for NFL draft prospects, Brown has a particularly intriguing description for Howard that should strike fear into the hearts of NFL defensive coordinators.
“He has an Earl Campbell-type mindset with the build of David Montgomery.”
In addition to being named one of the Shrine Bowl HBCU Players of the Week, Howard has earned national attention on multiple fronts this season. Most recently, he was named to the Walter Payton Award Watch List. The award honors the most outstanding player in the FCS, with recent recipients such as Cooper Kupp having significant NFL success.
The Alcorn State running back is no stranger to attention. Following an outstanding multi-sport career that included rushing for 21 touchdowns and 1,508 yards for East Marion High School, Howard was a three-star recruit in the 2018 cycle. Attracting attention from several Power Five programs, he committed to Syracuse. Brown takes up the story:
“In his three-year (really 2.5) career at Syracuse, he appeared in 26 games, totaling 151 carries for 731 yards and 10 touchdowns. He was in line to become the starter at Syracuse, but after the passing of his beloved father in 2019 and the COVID season in 2020, Howard decided to opt out to focus on mental health.”
Although he returned to the Orange for the 2021 campaign, Howard was buried deep in the running back rotation behind Sean Tucker. Opting to transfer, Alcorn State offered the opportunity to return to Mississippi with a program he was familiar with, as the Braves had initially recruited the Colombia native.
The rest, as they say, is history.
“It has been a beautiful thing to watch,” Brown summarizes about the former Syracuse running back who has become a star at Alcorn State. “Howard has flourished since he arrived in Lorman. He is a diamond, and he is shining where he’s at. His father would be proud.”
