There is perhaps some good news coming out about the status of one of Penn State's most impressive early season performers. After a bye week where hopefully Penn State was able to diagnose some of its problems this season, Koby Howard is likely to be listed as questionable for Penn State's October 31 date against Purdue. During his Tuesday press conference, Matt Campbell talked about Howard's injury, saying that the receiver was "progressing in a really positive way".
It's still not quite fully healthy but at least Penn State can bank on him returning this season and giving this offense a bit of juice offensively. During the start of the season, Howard emerged as one of the Big Ten's most exciting young receivers, with 344 yards, 2 touchdowns
and an average of 28.7 yards per catch. Those kinds of numbers contributed to Penn State's early season success but could be part of the problems they faced after he went down.
Campbell has also noted that Howard should not be expected to be implemented straight back into the lineup despite its struggles. Chase Sowell has stepped up admirably in his place, but it will take time for Howard to complement him as well. "I think one thing that Koby brought was consistency," Campbell said of Howard recently. "He was the guy that was consistently executing."
Most importantly, this could be huge for Rocco Becht's development too. In the Big Ten, he has struggled to adapt to the physicality more than anything. Perhaps adding Howard back to the offense could mean that Rocco Becht will gain back the early season confidence he found with one of his favorite targets. "Having that weapon out there (in Howard) definitely frees us up a little bit and moves the defense off of us a little bit," Becht said of Howard's importance.
While Penn State fans will be clamoring to see him back on the field sooner rather than later, everything must be taken in stages first before a truly healthy Howard gets back out there.
This article originally appeared on Nittany Lions Wire: Koby Howard questionable to play against Purdue
