Hayden Howerton
	Height	6-4
	Weight	260
	40-yard Dash	4.76
	Bench Press	380
	Squat	500
	Vertical Leap	26 inches

First-team All-District 19-6A
247sports: ***
Rivals: ***
Scout: **
247sports: No. 19 C in nation
247sports: No. 196 player in Texas
Boss Hog Award 13 times
All-Greater Houston 2015
Second-team All-State (writers)

Last Year Statistics

Decleaters (pancake blocks): 58 over two years
Stingers (cutting linebackers): 12
Boss Hog Award (best grading OL of week): 13 times in two years

Strengths as a Player

Hayden Howerton is a smart, versatile offensive lineman with the size and athletic ability to play a number of positions along the offensive line. He has excellent footwork and mobility, able to “mirror” defensive linemen and stay with defenders trying to get around him on the edge. Gets off the ball very aggressively, preferring to initiate contact, rather than absorbing the original hit from defenders.

Interviews

Katy head coach Gary Joseph on Hayden Howerton:

Hayden is a really good kid and a really good football player. He’s really good at finishing his blocks — once he gets ahold of you, that’s it for you. He has the right attitude. He’s able to finish blocks, and he sure doesn’t mind getting after people the whole time.

He’s pretty athletic. He could have played defensive end for us, but we had a need on offense, and not everybody has the versatility to play either position — he does.

He did a really good job for us. He’s not going to be the biggest guy when he gets to SMU, but because of his mobility, he has that ability to get on a guy and finish him.

One of the great qualities about Hayden is that he’s not just a great football player. He’s also a great kid and a leader, too.

I think it’s one of those deals where it’s a win-win. SMU is getting a good football player, and he’s getting a chance to play for a team that’s getting better, he’ll get a great education and he’ll graduate.

Hayden Howerton on why he chose SMU:

SMU just has a great combination of great academics and football. The day I committed to SMU was the same day the extension for Coach Morris was announced. Coach Morris said all that talk about him leaving was just noise.

When I met him at the USF game, he seemed like a really genuine guy. He talks a lot about his family, and he talks about how the football program is a family. It seemed like a big family, the way the people on campus support the program. A lot of people in the Dallas area want to see SMU succeed, and I want to help make that happen.

Coach Fry knows what he’s talking about with the offensive line. He played the position, and he played in the NFL. He’s very knowledgeable, but he’s also very down-to-earth. Some coaches have the attitude of “this is we do it, and we don’t care about what you think” and others want to be your friend but don’t know about the position. Coach Fry is a great guy, but also very professional and a guy who played at the highest level.

My parents are always really supportive of me, and they would have supported any decision I made. But we’re a very close family, and I wanted to stay in Texas, where they could come see me.