LSU Transfer Walker Howard Commits to Ole Miss
The future of the Ole Miss Rebels' quarterback is as now arguably as bright as it has ever been, with former five-star and LSU transfer Walker Howard committing to the program on Wednesday.
Howard is ranked as the No. 6 quarterback and No. 49 overall recruit in the 2022 class by Sports Illustrated, as well as the No. 2 QB and No. 20 overall recruit by Rivals.
He also ranked as the No. 3 dual-threat and No. 4 overall quarterback by ESPN, the No. 5 QB by 247Sports, and the No. 6 passer by On3.
He comes to Oxford with four years of eligibility remaining.
In two games with the Tigers this season, Howard completed 2 of 4 passes for seven yards and rushed six times for 33 yards.
In his senior season at St. Thomas More High School in Lafayette, LA, Howard completed 155-of-259 passes for 2,394 yards and 25 touchdowns. He also Passed for 3,430 yards and 42 touchdowns as a junior.
As the starter, he also led his team to back-to-back state titles in 2019 and 2020.
The 6-foot-1, 195-pound freshman now joins starter Jaxson Dart in the Rebels quarterback room, alongside Kinkead Dent, giving Ole Miss one of, if not the best quarterback rooms in the SEC in terms of raw talent.
Howard has a similar skillset to Dart and likely competes with the incumbent rising junior this summer and fall for the starting job.
But even if he doesn't win the job, will help secure the future of the quarterback position for the Rebels for years to come.
If you’re someone who loves power throwers then you are likely a big fan of Howard. Despite being just 6-1 and 195 pounds, Howard has one of the strongest arms in the class. His ability to power the ball down the field, both with deep balls over the top of the defense and driving 25-30 routes on a line, is outstanding.
Howard is a confident quarterback that knows he has a strong arm, and he’s not afraid to use it to attack tight zones, the outside zones his ability to throw on the run is impressive. Howard needs to put a bit more touch on the ball at times, and at times his ball placement gets spotty when sitting in the pocket. He’s not someone that is going to run for a bunch of yards at the next level, but he’s a quality athlete that can take advantage of open rush lanes and he can move the chains on some designed runs as well, although, with his lack of size, I doubt his future colleges will want to subject him to a bunch of run game hits.
Howard can go through bouts of inaccuracy, and there are two technical aspects that tend to be the fuel behind that. At times Howard will wind up too much and really try to power the ball or to say a different way, at times he tries to throw serious fastballs. When that happens he tends to either overstride or his grip is so tight that it will alter his release point and drive the ball down. When he misses deep its due to him dipping his back shoulder too much, which again alters his release point and causes him to miss wide down the field. Clean those two areas up and he’s going to be even better.
You can follow Matt Galatzan on Twitter @MattGalatzan
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