| 22 July 2009
Would the Buckeyes offer Howard if he is qualified? I have not been convinced that Howard is a Buckeye caliber back. I did not give him a good going over because I did not see him qualifying. I took a good look this morning. I don't see exceptional feet. Not bad but not great. Backs at the highest levels of football have great feet. Big backs are the ones with the best feet. What separates a big back from a fullback is great feet. I see good runners instincts and vision. Not top drawer but better than most. What I see that will make Howard successful is this kid runs like his life depends on it. He gets everything out of every run. A tackler gets his hand on him and a fight starts. Another thing I like is he has that thing that made Javon Ringer a success. Ringer made people miss. He is not a big guy but is at his best between the tackles because he can make tacklers miss in tight spaces. Get them leaning one way and use his exceptional strength and balance to best them. I see that in Howard. You don't see him getting hit clean a lot. A lot of drag down tackles on Howard. The back he most reminds me of though is Boom Herron. Howard is a brutally efficient runner, same as Herron. Uses his blocks well and gets every millimeter out of every run. He catches the ball out of the backfield as well as Herron and that is saying a lot. Howard catches the ball naturally. Another thing they have in common is the knock about size. Howard is bigger than Herron but I have yet to speak to anyone who has seen him up close who has disagreed with the thinking that he is about as big as he can get without overloading his frame.
There are a couple of other factors that must be considered. Rod Smith is my #1 back in the country. He is an early entry franchise type of a back. He was born to carry it 25 times a game. He catches the ball very well. In a small class do you want to take a back who has such long odds of being a starter? Add in the Brionte Dunn factor. He is a class of 2012 kid that looks like the next great one. Ask me who is the best back in Ohio regardless of class and I don't have to think about it. It is Brionte Dunn. I don't know if you need to take another back in this class with what we have and what we are getting. The other factor is Carlos Hyde. How confident is the staff of Hyde making it, and coming back to the Buckeyes. It amounts to picking the player they want to add to the roster for next year.
Here is the factor that could say whether he is a Buckeye offer or not. Howard is a great looking safety. In fact, Christian Bryant and Latwan Anderson are the only safeties that would be higher on my board. JT likes versatile players. Safety recruiting is still up in the air. In a small class adding a player who could be moved to safety, and likely thrive, might be too appealing to pass up.
I was told the Buckeyes were not excited about Howard. That was months ago, and who knows their motivation. I gave him a once over but that is about it because of the grades. Maybe that is what they were thinking. Why put any time scouting a player who is not going to make it. There are some off the field questions. That may be what this comes down to. I think a kid working this hard for something may be showing the maturity it takes to put all that behind him.
Bottom line is this. I think the chances of an offer are below 50%. In a small class with a superstar caliber player already committed, the Buckeyes pass. The safety factor could change that. Howard can ball on that side of the line of scrimmage too.
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