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Georgia Tech Football 2018 – Player Preview: #15 RB Jerry Howard

By Lee Cagle

ATLANTA - NOVEMBER 1: A member of the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football team holds his helmet up at the beginning of the fourth quarter during the game against the Florida State Seminoles at Bobby Dodd Stadium at Historic Grant Field on November 1, 2008 in Atlanta, Georgia. Georgia Tech beat Florida State 31-28. (Photo by Mike Zarrilli/Getty Images)
ATLANTA - NOVEMBER 1: A member of the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets football team holds his helmet up at the beginning of the fourth quarter during the game against the Florida State Seminoles at Bobby Dodd Stadium at Historic Grant Field on November 1, 2008 in Atlanta, Georgia. Georgia Tech beat Florida State 31-28. (Photo by Mike Zarrilli/Getty Images) /
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Jerry Howard played in nine games last season as a true freshman one of the nine true freshmen to do so in 2017. He played backup to KirVonte Benson last season following the dismissal of Dedrick Mills.

What He Did in 2017:

Jerry Howard showed his skills as a hard runner during 2017 spring camp and played himself into the number two spot behind KirVonte Benson last year. The then freshman  showed a talent as the wrecking ball style runner that Paul Johnson looks for at the B-back position. At the end of spring camp last season his weakness was in pass blocking and getting down the idiocies of the offense but both have seen improvement since last season.

He saw considerable playing time in 2017 in his back up role as he saw 23 carries for 175-yards and two touchdowns. The two touchdowns put him third behind TaQuon Marshall and KirVonte Benson in rushing scores on the team.

The highlight of his freshman campaign came from a 64-yard touchdown against JSU on just his second carry. Beyond that Howard was not used often extensively in offensive series but did average 16 yards in the kick return game with a season-long of 20 yards against UGA at the end of the season.

What to Expect in 2018:

Howard was a true freshman last season and likely had his touches curbed a little because of his newness to the offense. He will likely continue to be the backup for Benson in the fall and could be called on from time to time in situational downs. He will also likely continue his special team’s assignment as well hopefully improving upon the 16-yard average return he had last season. It will be interesting to see across the board if the new touchback rule affects the way that special teams’ returners play kickoffs.

Howard has already shown how tough of a player he is by impressing Coach Johnson last spring. If his upward trend continues he could certainly see his share of snaps increase during 2018 and be the starter at the B-back position in the future.