Inside The Panthers

Pitt Football Offers Pair of Texas Tackles

A first look at the pair of offensive tackle prospects the Pitt Panthers offered in Texas.
IG: jasper2big

In this story:


One at a time, Nicholas Howard had seen a steady stream of eight Group of Five offers since January when early this week, the Pitt Panthers became his first Power Four opportunity.

He's an aspiring college offensive tackle out of Pearland, Texas, and he's certainly built for it. Ahead of his senior season, Howard is listed 6-foot-5 and 285 pounds and counting, equipped with an extra-large frame to accommodate plenty of growth in the coming years.

Pitt is now the most prominent program among a list of nine offers, North Texas, Texas State, Tulsa, and UTEP among Howard early offers. At left tackle, the 3.7 GPA student has really good ability in pulling situations and executing in space thereafter.

After Howard announced the Pitt offer on Monday afternoon, Tulane joined the race later in the evening. Without question, that stream of offers will continue this off-season.

Pittsburgh Panthers tackle recruit Nicholas Howard
IG: pearlandfootball

The second tackle in Texas to announce an offer from Pittsburgh was Jasper Ngokwere, a 6-foot-6, 290-pound bookend who has yet to wrap up his sophomore year at Richardson High School.

Ranking in the high-three-star/low-four-star range as the 2027-class rankings are only beginning to take shape (No. 385 overall nationally, per 247Sports Composite), the Panthers joined an impressive early offer list.

Arizona State, Baylor, Florida State, Georgia Tech, Houston, Memphis, Missouri, Nebraska, San Diego State, SMU, Texas A&M, Texas El Paso, and Texas Tech represent the rising junior's additional scholarship offers.

Both Pitt offensive coordinator Kade Bell and tight ends coach/special teams coordinator Jacob Bronowski are in Texas early this week to check in on a variety of key targets.

Current Pitt 2026 Verbal Commitments

* QB Angelo Renda (Southlake [Tx.] Southlake Carroll)
* WR Dylan Wester (Sarasota [Fla.] Booker)
* S Marcus Jennings (Detroit [Mich.] Cass Tech)
* S Isaac Patterson (Westerville [Ohio] Westerville South)

Current Pitt 2027 Verbal Commitments

* WR Jacob Thomas (Pembroke Pines [Fla.] Flanagan)
* RB Tyler Reid (Miramar [Fla.] High School)

Make sure you bookmark Inside the Panthers for the latest news, exclusive interviews, recruiting coverage, and more!

Follow Inside the Panthers on Twitter: @InsidePitt


Published
Kevin Sinclair
KEVIN SINCLAIR

Kevin Sinclair writes coverage of the Pitt Panthers along with the Baltimore Ravens, the New England Patriots, the Pittsburgh Steelers, and the Tennessee Titans for On SI. Previously, he was a recruiting reporter and managing editor at Irish Illustrated, the privately-owned Notre Dame site within the 247Sports Network, for over seven-and-a-half years. Kevin studied multimedia journalism and has been a sports writer for nearly a decade.