Missouri Tigers Pick Up Commitment from DE Nate Howard
Defensive end Nate Howard of Ladue-Horton Watkins High School in St. Louis, Missouri announced on Friday night that he has flipped his commitment from the University of Wisconsin to the University of Missouri. Howard had been reevaluating his 2015 plans ever since Wisconsin head coach Gary Andersen left for Oregon State in December and was replaced by Paul Chryst.
Howard, who measures in at 6-foot-5 and 220 pounds, is rated as a three-star prospect by Rivals.com and is rated as the 39th-best weakside defensive end in the country and 10th-best prospect in the state according to the site. Howard had 86 total tackles and nine sacks for Ladue this season.
While the rankings for Howard don’t jump off the page as elite, it should be noted that Howard has a highly projectable frame and will have the potential to develop into an extremely skilled defensive end under the tutelage of both the Mizzou strength staff and defensive line coach Craig Kuligowski, who is widely considered the best defensive line coach in the country.
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Kuligowski had a similar project in 2008 when a 6-foot-5, 235-pound three-star recruit by the name of Aldon Smith arrived in Columbia. After taking a redshirt year to build up his body and develop his technique, Smith collected a total of 16.5 sacks and 108 tackles in 23 games as a Tiger, leaving after his redshirt sophomore season and going on to be the seventh overall pick in the 2011 NFL Draft by the San Francisco 49ers.
Perhaps it’s early in the process to place too high of expectations upon Howard, but regardless he’s a big piece of the 2015 defensive line recruiting haul for the Tigers, which already also includes junior college end Marcell Frazier and defensive lineman Tyrell Jacobs of Metairie, Louisiana. Their biggest potential addition still has yet to be made, as defensive tackle Terry Beckner, Jr. of East St. Louis High School, rated the 36th-best player in the nation by Rivals and the second-best by ESPN, is considering Mizzou and will announce his decision on National Signing Day.