Name: Noah Howes
Height: 6'4"
Weight: 242 lbs.
High school: Rochester (MI) Rochester
Position: Tight end
Class: Redshirt junior
Jersey number: #45
Last year: I ranked Howes #124 and said he would be a backup tight end (LINK). He played in three games.
TTB Rating: N/A
Howes was a high school offensive lineman who has since transitioned to tight end. After playing in one game as a redshirt freshman, he has since played in three games last year. He's two pounds heavier than last season, which is a pretty inconsequential gain, but his past history as a lineman may help him play a blocking role for a team that lost a pretty solid blocking tight end in A.J. Barner. He will likely be a pretty deep backup, but some snaps may be available now that Barner (NFL), Matt Hibner (transfer to SMU), and walk-on Josh Beetham (transfer to Georgia Tech) have moved on.
Prediction: Backup tight end
Definitely NOT ever a college caliber OL at 6'4/250.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely GOING to get some snap at TE.
TBD if he'll be in the rotation for meaningful ones but maybe an injury away from it.
As a rising senior, who played in 3 games last year, and the roster being what it is. I'd say he's a pretty solid candidate for the #4 or #5 TE spot, which is a key backup position on the team. As such,
I'd rank Howes somewhere around 60-70, maybe a bit higher even.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
There some other fullback candidates (e.g., Hoffman) but that's not going to cut it for in-line TE. There's some other scholarship players, but they are all very young (except for Klein and Loveland).
--------------------------------------------------
At TE we have had a enormous exodus over the last 2 offseasons:
OUT are these 7:
NFL (Luke Schoonmaker, AJ Barner),
Transfer (Erick All, Louis Hansen, Josh Beetham, Matt Hibner)
Graduation (Joel Honigford, Carter Selzer)
Subtract 8 (or 7 if you don't want to count both All and Barner) scholarship-level players.
IN are:
only 4 scholarship player (Tonielli, Marshall, Prieskorn, Hansen), none of which are upperclassmen yet.
That seems like a roster deficiency to me even if you cut the walk-ons from the list and assume they are getting replaced with newer versions of themselves (guys like Howes and Hoffman).