It was easy to lose track of Brandon Hardin, but also easy to find him again. Due to a shoulder injury, the Oregon State cornerback played in only one game last season — an all-star game.
That was when the 6-foot-21/2, 220-pound Kamehameha graduate drew some serious attention from NFL scouts. The interest has built since and made him one of the more intriguing prospects available as the draft continues today with rounds two and three.
He will likely be the first player with Hawaii ties picked this year (his high school classmate, Vaughn Meatoga, might be the only other). A few prognosticators think it could even be today, in the third round. That would make Hardin one of the poster boys for potential over productivity. But his performance in the East-West Shrine Game got the ball rolling.
"Having that one game was big," Hardin said this week. "Because I got to prove I was healthy and it put me back on the radar."
He was in on 41/2 tackles (a lot for an all-star game where everyone shares time) and recovered an onside kick. That made him draftable.
Then, at Oregon State’s pro day March 16, Hardin acquired the status of workout warrior. A couple of scouts hand-timed him at 4.36 in the 40 (to go with a 4.43 electronic timing pre-injury the spring prior) and he benched 225 pounds 24 times. That made him a commodity.
Hardin wasn’t invited to the combine, but he visited 12 NFL teams in the space of 21/2 weeks. He was in the air more than his father, Kevin, a pilot for Hawaiian Airlines.
"It was pretty much a team a day," he said. "We tried to schedule it so it made sense, but I did end up going West Coast to East Coast back and forth twice in the space of just a couple of days."
Apparently, jet lag didn’t hurt his stock; Hardin is listed as high as second among free safeties available in the draft, with an "up" arrow.
"THIS PAST YEAR, being out, that was the most unfortunate thing in my sports career," said Hardin when we talked on the phone this week.
I met him five years ago on the day of the second-most unfortunate thing. A coach’s error had Hardin entered in too many events in the Interscholastic League of Honolulu track and field championships, and his forfeited points cost the Warriors the league title.
Hardin was distraught, regrouped and gave an interview where he said all the right things, about there being no one to blame and being upset only because of the team loss. For a reporter, it’s one of those things that sticks with you, and makes you believe a high school kid will be successful in the future — even if sports are deleted from his equation.
As they were, his senior season with the Beavers.
"That was challenging. It was hard having to watch," he said. "To keep myself sane and in shape I hung around the program and tried to help our sophomore starter, coach him up and share my experience. It kept me in on the mental side of things."
That attitude is part of why Oregon State defensive coordinator Mark Banker lobbied hard for Hardin to get a spot in the Shrine game. Even coaches from other Pac-12 teams supported the idea, remembering Hardin from earlier seasons.
Hardin said he is among the many "somewhat surprised" that his name might be announced today as an NFL Draft selection.
"I knew what I was capable of, but didn’t really have a chance to put it on film last season," he said. "They tell me there is huge upside after I tested well at our pro day. A lot of it is based on my potential."
