Las Vegas DE Kelze Howard commits to Oregon State

Oregon State has added arguably their best player yet to their 2023 recruiting class on Friday as Las Vegas DE Kelze Howard announced his commitment to Oregon State on Friday afternoon. Howard committed to Beavers over Arizona, Nebraska, and Utah.

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Howard's commitment is the Beavers' eighth in their 2023 recruiting class and their sixth since the beginning of June. He joins St. Thomas Aquinas (FL) defensive Zakaih Saez as future members of Beavers' defensive line.

Howard is a massive recruiting victory for the Beavers, especially considering they were a late addition to his official visit schedule. Howard originally planned on visiting the University of Oregon on the week of June 9 but instead announced the week of that he would be making the trip to Corvallis instead.

The 6-foot-4, 260-pound defensive end garnered 13 scholarship offers in his recruitment which included programs such as Miami (FL), Michigan, Nebraska, Oregon, USC, and Washington. He is ranked by Rivals as the third-best player in Nevada and the 42nd-best strongside defensive end in the country. He also owns a Rivals rating of 5.7, putting him on the cusp of potentially being a four-star prospect in the future.

What makes Howard's commitment all the more important for the Beavers is that while he may be the 42nd best strongside defensive end nationally, he's the second-best at the position for prospects west of Texas. The only player ranked higher than him is Gavin Geweniger out of Scottsdale (AZ). If you include weakside defensive ends as well, Howard is still one of the west coast's top five defensive ends. It cannot be understated that with such a lack of high-end defensive ends on the west coast, Howard's commitment is a major recruiting victory for Jonathan Smith and his program.

At 6-foot-4, 260-pounds, Howard will provide great strength on the Beavers' defensive line. He's recorded a bench press of 215, a squat of 315, and a deadlift of 405. A look at his highlights and you can see that strength coming into play against opposing offensive lineman. While Howard doesn't have tremendous straight-line speed, recording a forty-yard dash of 4.95, he does have a good first step as well, which combined with his strength and quick punch at the point of attack, allows Howard to quickly get the upper hand. We'll have more on Howard as a player in the upcoming days.

Notably, Kelze is also a multi-sport athlete also taking part in Spring Valley’s track and field and wrestling programs. He was a runner up this past year in Nevada’s state wrestling championships in the 285-pound weight class.