The class of 2023 has had some big recruits commit already and another one has been added to the commitment pool. Jaxon Howard out of Robbinsdale Cooper in Minneapolis, MN has officially committed to play college ball with the LSU Tigers. Howard is currently the top recruit coming out of the state of Minnesota which adds a huge boost to the recruiting numbers for LSU.
Who is Howard?
Howard measures in at 6 feet 4 inches, 245 pounds. As the commitment comes in, Howard has potential to play both the offensive and defensive side of the ball. As far as his play in high school, he has played both tight end and defensive lineman. The question when he gets to Baton Rouge is what side of the ball will he be needed on most?
As of right now, Howard seems like he will be poised to be on the defensive line and should be playing his same high school position as an edge rusher. The build is what makes the most sense for him to play on the defensive line.
At the time of commitment, Howard was ranked as the No. 96 overall prospect coming out of high school. He was also ranked as the No. 11 top ranked edge rusher. Howard is also currently the top recruit coming out of the state of Minnesota. This adds a huge boost to the recruiting numbers for LSU.
Why is This a Big Deal?
Obviously getting the biggest recruit out Minnesota for the class of 2023 is a big enough deal. However, there is more to the story. The aspect to really hammer home is who was LSU competing with to get Howard to commit.
Woke up this morning and first thought to my mind was “Geaux Tigers” #Blessed pic.twitter.com/CgUYmRy9C0
— Jaxon Howard (@11JaxonHoward) July 2, 2022
The biggest takeaway was a he had an offer from his hometown team with the University of Minnesota giving him an offer. The other standout offers came from Miami and Michigan. It was enough that he decided to take LSU’s offer over his hometown team, but there was enough to be attractive for Howard to make his way to Baton Rouge.
One of the biggest winners in this deal was new head coach Brian Kelly. This was a huge score in his book. Since the signing of Howard, LSU jumped from the 48th recruiting class of 2023 to now being at 37th in the rankings.
LSU has yet to get a big five-star recruit from the 2023 class, but the commitment of Howard could boost up some of those numbers even more.
What is the Outlook for Howard?
As stated before there are questions to where Howard will play position-wise. National Recruiting Analyst, Allen Trieu breaks down just exactly what Howard could bring.
Has been recruited as both a tight end and defensive lineman and has played both positions at the high school level. As his body continues to grow and develop, we are leaning more towards defense in college. He has an ideal frame for that position. He has filled in and looks physically ready to compete early in his career. He shows some twitch and ability to get off the ball on defense and pursues hard. On offense, he is a good route runner and can make a little happen after the catch also. As it stands, we believe he is a Power Five prospect at either position, but he may be more of a rarer specimen on defense. We believe he can be a combo inside-outside player on the defensive line.
In Conclusion
There is no doubt that the commitment of Howard was a big deal for LSU. However, there is still more to be done. More recruits coming in will add to the new reputation of the Tigers. Needless to say the Tigers have a tough conference to compete with in the SEC and will have quite some work to return to the top. Regardless, this is a nice start.