Florida’s 2024 Transfer Prospects: LB Grayson “Pup” Howard
For the second consecutive offseason, Florida made use of the winter transfer portal to strengthen its roster. Twelve college football veterans were acquired to help the Gators go into the 2024 offseason.
Roles are being projected by all Gators for every transfer acquisition. Grayson “Pup” Howard, a linebacker transfer from South Carolina, is the next player to join Florida. Despite giving up a redshirt freshman season with the Gamecocks, Howard has four years of eligibility remaining.
Howard, a Jacksonville, Florida native, was considered by many to be among the top 200 prospects in the class of 2023 and was a top recruit for Florida. He received a scholarship offer from the former Gators coaching staff in September 2021, and after they moved to Gainesville in December 2021, Billy Napier and his team continued the recruiting process.
However, despite a relentless push from Florida until the end of his recruitment, Howard signed with South Carolina, concluding a six-month commitment to the school after totaling over 300 tackles at Andrew Jackson High School, including 31 for loss between his junior and senior seasons.
“I believe that in the beginning, Pup and I were very close, just a phone call away,” Napier said on Wednesday regarding Howard’s initial recruitment to Florida. As a freshman, Howard played a significant part in the Gamecocks’ linebacker rotation, starting all but one game and averaging 20 defensive snaps per contest.
Pro Football Focus reports that he totaled 19 tackles, one for loss, one forced fumble, and four quarterback pressures during those opportunities. But soon after his freshman year, Howard decided he wanted to complete his undergraduate education somewhere else.
On January 2, the last day of the winter transfer window, he registered on the NCAA transfer portal. On January 4, he made his commitment to Florida. After 2023 Gators starting linebacker Scooby Williams transferred out and joined Texas A&M, Howard and other players had an opportunity to compete for a first-team spot at the second level of Florida’s defense, alongside rising junior Shemar James.
The team’s depth at linebacker will also need to be replaced as a result of Teradja Mitchell leaving the squad when his collegiate eligibility ran out. In addition to senior Derek Wingo, who has been a valuable depth player and spot starter at the position in recent years, redshirt sophomore Deuce Spurlock, sophomore Jaden Robinson, and freshmen Myles Graham and Aaron Chiles, redshirt senior Mannie Nunnery, who started in place of the injured James to end 2023, will also compete for the vacant duties. As unanimous top-75 picks from the 2024 recruiting cycle, Graham and Chiles in particular present tremendous long-term potential.
However, given that the Florida coaching staff has long desired to acquire Howard’s skills and that he gained significant Southeastern Conference playing experience as a freshman, it is expected that he will eventually assume a significant role in the Gators’ defense. Florida is hoping that Howard, with his remaining eligibility, will contribute to the defense for upcoming seasons. “Pup is a 6-foot-4, 240-pound inside linebacker who walks about here. The man is wired right from the start when it comes to intelligence, character, and work ethic.
You should have him,” Napier remarked. “So, it’s a good win for us to get him back, and we need more of that. We have to keep the good players in our state at home.” The prior transfer role projections for all Gators, including wide receiver Chimere Dike, edge rusher Brien Taylor Jr., quarterback Clay Millen, defensive back Trikweze Bridges, defensive lineman Joey Slackman, and offensive lineman Brandon Crenshaw-Dickson, may be found here.