Two-way lineman has lots of ways to take his game next-level
Henry Byford is a prospect who brings a lot to the table. He is explosive, powerful, and strong. He is smart as heck-fire. He sports a 4.0 GPA and is being recruited from the “near-Ivys” to the “Ancient-8.” Byford has put himself in an enviable position among high school prospects.
HB Lyon, Scouting Divison, KPGFootball
We had an interesting phone call once. Well, we have fielded scores of interesting phone calls; but this one seems to stand alone.
“Is this KPGFootball(?),” we were asked.
“Yes.”
“This is Coach [Blank] from [Blank University] and we wish you would stop writing articles on [Blank Prospect].”
“Why is that(?),” we asked the Coach.
“Well, we think we have gotten a steal here and we would rather you not awaken the schools sleeping on this kid.”
Like I was telling you, it was an interesting call. We may get a similar call, from a school or two, about this particular prospect.
There are some programs sleeping on this kid. We can foresee a day when those programs may regret that decision.
Byford is a prospect about whom you don’t hear much. Sure, Byford made the All-WKC (Western Kentucky Conference) team. Sure, Byford was voted his team’s MVP, Lineman of the Year, Mr. Dependable, and elected Team Captain. Regardless, Byford, outside of his New Concord and Calloway County area home, is a pretty well kept secret.
Looking at his “followers” on Twitter, the secret is getting out to certain-type institutions. He has suitors from schools we call the near-Ivy’s. He has suitors actually in the Ivy-League, or the Ancient Eight, like University of Pennsylvania, par example.
Byford projects to play interiorly, at the next level, whether on offense or defense. Byfiord long-snaps; which makes his next level deployment virtually limitless. That 4.0 GPA means his admission to any school of his choosing seems as certain as those things can achieve certainty.
Byford has been putting in the work in the offseason strength program. His bench press is approaching 3-bills (300-pounds).
Byford is at 280 now. It won’t be long before he’s pressing 3-wheels (315-pounds).
Now, Byford professes his goal is to play college football. He proclaims that “I work hard, I’m a great student, and [I] am a great teammate.” Checking around with agents of ours around western Kentucky, all of this seems accurate.
Byford and his teammates have their work cut-out for them to improve on last year’s 0-10 mark and playoff exclusion. However, Coach Chris Champion knows how to build a winner and, until last year, was showing great promise and progress.
The Lakers took a mild step back in ’22. However, with meat-movers like Byford on board, we believe the return to its prior arc of progress is well within the program’s grasp.
This is Fletcher W. Long, reporting for KPGFootball, reminding you to PLAY THROUGH THE WHISTLE!
If you enjoyed this article and wish to gain full-access to the site, then subscribe monthly to Kentucky Prep Gridiron by following the prompts!
© The information contained on this site is the copyrighted intellectual property of KPGFootball. Any unauthorized dissemination of this material without the author’s express written consent is strictly prohibited!
Leave a Reply