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STRENGTHS
Outside of
Juan Harris, whom I don’t think the Badgers were all too high on,
Jamel Howard has to be the biggest defensive tackle target/commit for Wisconsin that I’ve seen in person over the last 15-plus years. The UW commit appears to be all of 6-foot-2 and 320 pounds, and he carries that weight pretty well. Big, strong base and he doesn't carry a ton of weight in his midsection.
I posted Howard’s pre-game warmups on Twitter and someone responded “absolute unit.” That’s a pretty accurate way to describe Howard, who looks more like an SEC defensive tackle in comparison to the tackle UW has signed over the last handful of cycles.
As far as what he brings to the field, Howard is a true nose tackle who eats up blocks in order for linebackers to make plays. He has a huge lower body, and Howard’s a force when he gets proper leverage and good pad level. At times, though, he plays too high and is caught standing up at the line of scrimmage. That said, I liked his balance and ability to navigate within the trenches.
Glenbard West, which features fellow UW commit
Chris Terek, displayed a balanced offense on Saturday in its matchup with Marist. When they did run, the Hillitoppers worked more on the edges and did not run a ton at Howard up the middle.
There were a few plays on Saturday where Howard was able to disengage from a blocker and track a play to the sideline, something Terek noticed during their battle.
“It was fun to go at him - future teammate over there,” Terek said. “He can freaking move. Usually we leave our interior guys alone, but he was hawkin’ our dudes on jet sweeps. He’s 320 (pounds), 330 - he’s huge. He’s definitely a stud.”
One of the goals for Howard that both he and his coach mentioned coming into the season was conditioning and giving full effort on every rep. From what I saw Saturday, he checked those boxes off on a very hot day where a number of players went down due to cramping.
“I was all right and I did my job,” Howard said. “On the plays that I was in, I didn’t want to come out. I was good for the most part, but all I’m going to say is that I’ll keep working.”
Howard didn’t make a ton of splash plays during a 33-31 loss on Saturday, but when he breaks past the first level and gets into the backfield, he’s extremely disruptive. And when that type of pressure comes from the interior, it’s much more difficult to avoid.
Overall, I like what I saw from Howard in person. Doesn’t have the best burst at the snap of the ball, but Howard is hard to stop when his momentum is moving forward. If he can keep the weight in check and continue to get stronger, he’ll be a contributor sooner rather than later during his career at Wisconsin. There just aren't a ton of guys who can move at that size and he's absolutely someone you can make room for in every recruiting cycle.
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AREAS OF IMPROVEMENT
I mentioned SEC tackles above, but I don’t want to paint the picture that Howard is going to be a future first-round pick. I think he’s an athletic kid for his size, but he’s not elite in that category. I also think Howard has shorter arms, which, at times, can cause him to get caught locked into offensive linemen.
With
Jim Leonhard going to a 2-4-5 look roughly 60 percent of the time, I’m curious to see how Howard looks lined up over a guard or even tackle. He can absolutely plug things up in a zero-technique, but is he agile and dynamic enough to make an impact in other spots along the line?
Position coach
Ross Kolodziej has targeted players who can play multiple techniques along the defensive line. It might be unfair to pigeonhole Howard as strictly a nose tackle, and I’m sure Kolodziej feels he’s capable of playing in both a base package and nickel when he arrives on campus.
OUTLOOK/RECRUITMENT
Howard committed to Wisconsin in June over offers from Illinois and Iowa State, among others. When he arrives next summer - Howard confirmed that he will not enroll early - he is expected to compete at tackle with
Gio Paez, who is currently No. 2 on the depth chart, as well as
Curt Neal and potentially
Ben Barten. After seeing fellow defensive line commit
Roderick Pierce on Saturday, I think he will have the ability to play defensive end, whereas Howard is a true zero-technique in a 3-4 scheme.
WISCONSIN COMPARISON ON THE CURRENT ROSTER
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I don’t think there’s a defensive tackle on the current roster that’s a great comparison right now.
Keeanu Benton is longer and more agile, and I think
Curt Neal is actually shorter and stockier in comparison to Howard. In terms of his body makeup after seeing him in person, Howard reminded me a lot of former Wisconsin nose guard
Olive Sagapolu, who was listed at 6-foot-2 and 324 pounds at UW. I see a lot of similarities between the two, and I think Howard can do a lot of things Sagapolu did for the Badgers during his career in Madison.
Let me know what you think.
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