Purdue DT Ra'Zahn Howard Is Supplemental Draft's Top Prospect, but NFL Long Shot

The supplemental draft is a yearly event that can mean absolutely nothing or impact the NFL greatly. When players like Josh Gordon or Terrelle Pryor enter the alternative college draft, NFL franchises get into wars for the players, but those athletes are anomalies.

Since 2007, over the course of nine draft classes, there have only been eight draft selections through the supplemental draft, and five of them have been worth Day 3 selections, with Gordon, Pryor and Jeremy Jarmon—who made 11 tackles in his NFL career—being the Day 2-worthy choices.

By all accounts, this year's star of the class is defensive tackle Ra'Zahn Howard of Purdue, but what does that even mean?

In the 2008, 2013 and 2014 draft classes, the best player out of the supplemental pool wasn't even talented enough to warrant a future draft choice.

According to Chase Goodbread of NFL.com, Howard and five other players are available for teams to bid on: Tee Shepard, a defensive back who left Ole Miss' team in October, Eddie D'Antuono, a long snapper from Virginia Tech, Jalen Overstreet, a running back who has been in trouble at both the University of Texas and Sam Houston State, Rashaun Simonise, a receiver from the Canadian University of Calgary in Canada, and Cameron Walton, a defensive lineman who couldn't transfer out of Concordia College, a program that just folded its football team.

Jeff Haynes/Associated Press

There is no Jared Goff, Carson Wentz or even Robert Nkemdiche in this group. None of these athletes may even be worth a selection on July 14, when teams send in their bids for supplemental prospects.

Still, Howard's name has been buzzing around as the cream of the crop in the class, and in a dead period in the NFL's 365-day news cycle, that's enough to get him front-page attention on draft sites.

According to CBS Sports' Jason La Canfora, Howard's agent has stated that all 32 teams have shown interest. On July 8, when Howard's pro day is scheduled, we'll know just how many franchises think his talent is valuable enough to have in camp, based on who shows up to watch him perform combine drills. Per NFL Draft Scout, his estimated measurables will be around 6'2" and 325 pounds—which isn't far from his Purdue site listing of 6'3" and 325 pounds—with a 5.18-second 40-yard dash.

Based on his size, you'd assume that he's a nose-tackle type, and if you watch his Purdue film, you'd realize you're correct. While he's credited as a two-year starter, Howard was more of a situational player for the Boilermakers than a true every-down lineman. When the team needed a shade tackle, a lineman who lines up on the shoulder of a center, or a nose guard, a lineman who lines up on the helmet of a center, he was on the field. But in every other formation, like the ones college defenses throw out in pass-rushing situations, Howard was on the bench.

If Howard returned to school for his senior season with the team, he would have had the chance to prove that he was more than just a nose guard, but he no longer has that opportunity. He was suspended by the team in January and didn't participate in spring drills, plus he's also been arrested twice this offseason. The first, according to the Lafayette Journal & Courier's Jen Payne, was for public intoxication in late January, while the second, according to the Tampa Bay Times' Greg Auman, was a combination of misdemeanors revolving around Howard's car and false reporting:

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Purdue DT Ra'Zahn Howard was also charged in April with misdemeanor false reporting and citations for suspended license and expired tag.

— Greg Auman (@gregauman) July 6, 2016"

Had Howard been able to field a senior campaign, he could have greatly improved his big-play statistics, as his Big Ten career came to an end with 3.5 tackles for a loss and three sacks. What might be the most interesting aspect of Howard's narrative is that he apparently elected to end his college career early, as he told Stacy Clardie of GoldandBlack.com—the Purdue-centric site on the Rivals network—that other in-conference schools "reached out" to him after he officially left the program in May.

It wasn't until a month later, in late June, that ESPN's Adam Schefter reported that Howard would enter the supplemental draft: 

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Due to academic reasons, Purdue DT Ra'Zahn Howard is declaring for next month's supplemental draft, per source. Having pro day in NJ July 8.

— Adam Schefter (@AdamSchefter) June 24, 2016"

The initial suspension was due to academics, per Clardie, but the reason for him leaving the program is still somewhat up in the air. Had he not done enough in the classroom, or were his pair of arrests what pushed him off the team? Hopefully, that question will be answered during his pro day.

By passing over options to play elsewhere in the Big Ten, which one would assume means he could qualify for a transfer, Howard's draft day will be unlike the majority of the 2016 draft class'. ESPN analyst Mel Kiper won't be counting down picks and adjusting his big board to show the best available prospects on July 14. Instead, Howard will wait for an NFL press release stating if a team did or didn't bid a draft selection on him, which will be removed from the franchise's 2017 class, in a silent auction.

Is he worth a selection, though?

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Howard has flashes of brilliance, but he wasn't even on the field consistently. He's kinda like Khyri Thornton. pic.twitter.com/hhJKNJeaiN

— Justis Mosqueda (@JuMosq) July 8, 2016"

There's no doubt that Howard is strong at the point of attack. When he wants to, he's a stone block that Big Ten interior linemen struggle to move. As a 21-year-old, though, he's still raw, and he too often comes out of his stance high or sputters his feet, leaving him susceptible to taking on blocks in a losing position.

Honestly, his best attribute is recognizing which types of blocks are coming his way. Despite giving up ground, he proves over and over again that he's able to recognize lateral blocks, like reach blocks, in less than a second, which is a rare trait for linemen who are mere inches away from their opponents.

He has even been known to blow up screens by recognizing when linemen are leaving him to get to the second level, leading him to retrace his steps, sending him straight into the target.

That leads to this question, though: Why does he give up so much ground on lateral runs for a player who is stout on straight-ahead blocks and is quick to recognize which blocks are coming his way? Is he athletic enough to play in the NFL? He has an issue with cut blocks, which many would say is the best bar to measure on-paper athleticism on film. We'll have the answers to this question after July 8, but those questions linger heading into his pro day.

His biggest plus as a prospect is his bull-rush ability. One reason that the Green Bay Packers drafted Kenny Clark in the first round was his ability to contribute as a pass-rushing nose tackle at just 20 years old. Only one year older, Howard has pushed centers back into quarterbacks, even driving linemen so far into the backfield that he recorded a sack.

If you're laying out who Howard, the on-field prospect, is in a short, concise statement, it's as follows: He's a nose tackle who wasn't used in three-down situations at the college level, but for a 3-4 defense at the NFL level, he can be a three-down player who might even thrive in pass-rushing situations. His athleticism is a question mark, not a red flag, but he seems to be an intelligent lineman who can get by without sideline-to-sideline ability, should he get consistent enough with his step-and-strike steps and his pad level.

That player usually gets drafted, but the supplemental draft is a different monster. Rosters have already filled out, so only teams in the market for a nose tackle at this point in the offseason, a much smaller pool, will be interested in the Purdue product.

Last year, Isaiah Battle of Clemson, an offensive tackle, was picked up for a fifth-round pick to the now-Los Angeles Rams. That fifth-round range is generally when prospects who are considered to be draft locks and prospects who are considered to be preferred camp invitees split.

It shouldn't surprise anyone if Howard is taken off the board from that range on, but with his recent run-ins with the law and his suspension and eventual dismissal from the Boilermakers program, off-field issues and the past-prime market for new bodies in the NFL offseason could lead to him waiting around for a job after the draft's silent auction.