Weber State’s Eddie Heckard Turns Down NFL To Sign With BYU

PROVO, Utah — Weber State cornerback Eddie Heckard will continue to play college football for Jay Hill. This season it will be as a member of BYU’s football program.

Sources have confirmed to KSL Sports that Heckard is signed to Provo.

1 more 💰@BYUfootball pic.twitter.com/OLvAlNBt5G

— 5ive (@EddieHeckard5) January 20, 2023

Eddie Heckard was an AP All-American cornerback in 2022

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

Shortly after BYU hired Jay Hill as its new defensive coordinator, Heckard announced he was giving up his final year of eligibility to enter the NFL Draft. Instead of going through the draft process, Heckard teams up with Hill again to play for 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 All-Big Sky First Team honors three times.

Throughout his time with the Wildcats, Heckard started 36 games at cornerback. He comes to BYU as an instant plug-and-play cornerback who lost Gabe Jeudy-Lally to Tennessee, as well as Kaleb Hayes and D’Angelo Mandell until graduation.

One year of eligibility remaining

He will have 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 the few Weber State players to be voted into the KSL Sports Zone’s “60 by 60” at the start of the 2022 season. The list ranked Utah’s top college football players entering the the 2022 season. Members of the media and the KSL Sports team have voted. Heckard checked in at No. 58.

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

— Hans Olsen (@975Hans) June 13, 2022

“Eddie Heckard is one of the best slots defensemen in the country, was a multiple first-conference player for us,” Jay Hill told Hans & Scotty G. last summer. “We expect him to play All-American caliber this year and that’s another one if things go well this year should get the opportunity to play in the NFL.”

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

Mitch Harper is a BYU Insider for KSLsports.com and host of the Cougar Tracks (SUBSCRIBE) and Cougar Sports Saturday (Saturday 12-3pm) podcast on KSL Newsradio. Follow Mitch’s coverage of BYU’s move to the Big 12 Conference on Twitter: @Mitch_Harper.

Follow @Mitch_Harper