Overview

Position: EDGE

College: Texas A&M

Class: Senior (RS)

Age: 23

 

Measurables

Height: 6’2 1/2”

Weight: 253 lbs.

Arm length: 30 1/4″

Hand size: 9 1/4″

 

Athletic testing

40-yard dash: 4.59 sec.

10-yard split: 1.58 sec.

Vertical jump: 32.5″

Broad jump: 115.0″

Bench press: N/A

3-cone drill: N/A

Short shuttle: N/A

 

Strengths

Very deceptive footwork and body movements as a rusher. Seems to read offensive tackles and rush accordingly. Outstanding burst off the ball. Great speed and range. Excellent feet and agility to turn the corner and close. Tremendous ability to dip on the speed rush. Dip move is sudden and tough for opponents to square up. Terrific timing and balance on the dip move to straighten up afterwards. Uses the dip rushing from either side of the formation. Exceptional shake-and-dip combination move. Utilizes swims and swipes on the speed rush. Relentless and active rush style to not be halted. Quick inside rush move. Uses shake to get blockers on their heels and work inside early. Flashes strength/power getting to the chest of blockers. Showed one-armed power to lift offensive tackles and work back inside late in the rush. Uses power late to win inside in general. Very impressive ability to work back inside to finish late as a rusher. Has a spin move in the arsenal. Able to disengage and accelerate as a rusher if blockers catch him early. Very fast and fluid working inside on looping stunts. Attacks the ball for strip sacks when quarterbacks begin to throw. Very quick reaction time getting a hand up to deflect passes on his way to the quarterback. Very accurate swatting passes down. Quick to diagnose screen passes. Great instincts defending the run. Excellent play recognition and reaction time. Gets into the backfield with first-step quickness and instincts. Will use dip to get underneath blockers as a run defender. Outstanding overall pursuit and hustle. Gives effort to get off blocks on runs right at him. Shows aggression taking on tight ends. Patient reading things out as the backside defender. Aggressive taking on blocks when crashing down as the backside defender. Very good change-of-direction skills to tackle in space. Used in zone drops and man coverage. Has experience aligning over tight ends in the slot. Comfortable running underneath tight ends in coverage.

 

Weaknesses

Length is well below-average. Average overall size and strength. Lacks strength getting off blocks as a run defender. Will drift away rather than holding his ground taking on blocks. Will bounce out of position instead of setting the edge on runs towards him. Gets knocked around by double teams versus the run. Tight ends can jolt him back on impact. Can get too high trying to tackle.

 

NFL comparison

Nik Bonitto

 

Conclusion

Overall, Howell is a talented pass rusher with natural dip, speed, shake, and quite a few moves to implement off the edge. Instincts and high effort shown defending the run help make up for a general lack of size and strength.

 

Big Board ranking: #14 | Positional ranking: #2