Weber State’s Eddie Heckard declined to sign in the NFL with BYU

PROVO, Utah– Weber State cornerback Eddie Heckard continues to play football at Jay Hill. This season, it will be a member of the BYU football program.

Sources confirmed to KSL Sports that Heckard has enrolled in Provo.

1 More @BYUfootball pic.twitter.com/OLvAlNBt5G

– 5 ive (@EddieHeckard5) January 20, 2023

Eddie Heckard was an AP All-American cornerback in 2022

The 5-foot-10 corner from Las Vegas was an AP second-team All-American in 2022 for the Wildcats.

Shortly after BYU hired Jay Hill as its new defensive coordinator, Heckard announced he was forgoing his senior year to enter the NFL Draft. Instead of going through the draft process, Heckard is teaming up with Hill to play at BYU.

During his five-year career at Weber State, Heckard earned All-Big Sky honors four times, including three first-team honors. He is one of nine players in Weber State history to earn first-team All-Big Sky honors three times.

Heckard started 36 games for the Wildcats at cornerback. He comes to BYU as an immediate plug-and-play corner, having lost Gabe Jeudy-Lally to Tennessee and Kaleb Hayes and D’Angelo Mandell to graduation.

One year of eligibility left

He has one year of eligibility to compete in BYU’s cornerback room. The 2023 season will be BYU’s first as a member of the Big 12 Conference.

Heckard was one of a handful of Weber State players voted into the KSL Sports Zone’s “60 in 60” series entering the 2022 season.The list ranked Utah’s best college football players entering the 2022 season. It was voted on by members of the media and the KSL Sports team. Heckard checked in at #58.

#58 our 60in60 Eddie Heckard is STRONG! He does everything! pic.twitter.com/Q6XDMAxZoN

– Hans Olsen (@975Hans) June 13, 2022

“Eddie Heckard is one of the best slot defenders in the country, he’s been a multiple conference first guy for us,” Jay Hill told Hans & Scotty G. last summer. “We expect him to play at an All-American caliber this year, and if things go well this year, we’ll have a chance to play in the NFL.”

Heckard is the 12th transfer addition for BYU in the 2023 transfer portal cycle.

Mitch Harper is KSLsports.com’s BYU Insider and host of the Cougar Tracks podcast (SPACE) and Cougar Sports Saturday (starting at 123 on Saturday) on KSL Newsradio. Follow Mitch’s coverage of BYU’s move to the Big 12 Conference on Twitter: @Mitch_Harper.

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