Boise State adds well-traveled center and Big 12 defensive tackle to the trenches
The Boise State football team has turned to the transfer portal to fill holes on the offensive and defensive lines twice in the past week.
Former Iowa State defensive tackle Howard Brown announced he was transferring to Boise State on Wednesday. Former Virginia Tech center Nikolai Bujnowski announced he was joining the Broncos last week.
Bujnowski, who committed to Rutgers before reopening his recruitment earlier this month, is coming in as a walk-on, according to a spokesperson for Boise State.
Howard, a high school quarterback who morphed into a 6-foot-2, 312-pound defensive lineman the past two years, is joining the Broncos on scholarship. He has three years of eligibility remaining.
The native of Kansas City, Missouri, took a redshirt year in 2021. He played in six games last season at Iowa State, contributing mostly on special teams, and finished the year with two tackles.
Howard was a dual-threat quarterback at Lincoln College Prep in Missouri. He finished his high school career with more than 3,000 passing yards and almost 4,000 rushing yards.
He was up to 288 pounds by his senior year, and he was recruited as a three-star defensive lineman. Howard chose Iowa State over scholarship offers from Kansas, Tulsa, Akron, Northern Illinois, South Dakota, Missouri State and North Iowa.
Now Howard will add much-needed depth to the interior of Boise State’s defensive line, which has to replace Scott Matlock, Divine Obichere and Jackson Cravens this season.
The Los Angeles Chargers picked Matlock in the sixth round of the NFL Draft in April. Obichere signed with the Canadian Football League’s Ottawa Redblacks in May, and Cravens transferred to BYU.
Northern Arizona transfer Sheldon Newton and sophomore Braxton Fely took most of the reps at nose tackle this spring. Redshirt junior Herbert Gums, who missed spring practice while rehabbing from a knee injury, is the favorite to start at nose this season, but Brown should at least add some dependable depth.
Bujnowski is also joining a position that’s in flux.
Boise State has to replace its top two centers from last season. Kekaniokoa Holomalia-Gonzalez medically retired in December, and Will Farrar is now an offensive graduate assistant on the Broncos’ coaching staff.
Redshirt junior Nathan Cardona and freshman Jason Steele split starting reps at center this spring. Guard Mason Randolph, who missed spring practice while rehabbing an injury, is also expected to get some reps at the position during fall camp, according to offensive line coach Tim Keane.
Center will be one of the Broncos’ top position battles in fall camp, and Bujnowski should have a chance to throw his name in the hat. He spent the past three seasons at Virginia Tech, where he was also a walk-on.
The 6-1, 310-pound native of Verona, New Jersey, appeared in just two games for the Hokies, both of which were in 2021. He began his high school career at Don Bosco Prep in New Jersey, which is regularly one of the top private school teams on the East Coast. He transferred to Paramus Catholic before joining the Hokies.
This story was originally published May 24, 2023 at 2:10 PM.
