Name: Daniel Howard
Position: DT/DE
High School: Chicago Lane Tech
Graduation Year: 2026
Height: 6-foot-3
Weight: 270 pounds
Recruiting Status: Committed to Iowa State. Howard was able to draw a considerable amount of recruiting offers and traffic from the likes of Cincinnati, Iowa State, Kansas State along with multiple MAC and FCS schools. Howard was a priority name for the Cyclones from very early on in the process. Howard wound up making multiple visit to Iowa State and in my eyes seemed like the leader for Howard then closed the deal on April 8th.
HUDL:
My impressions of Daniel Howard:
I was able to see Daniel Howard in action last season in a 57-7 blowout loss to Morgan Park in the Chicago Public League Red conference action. Howard, who played both on the Lane Tech Champions offensive and defensive line last season was certainly an easy player to spot and watch, easily being one of the few Lane Tech players with college level size and potential despite playing in this blowout loss. Howard no question went hard on every play and never stopped grinding in this game, and his leadership abilities was on hand no question.
Evaluation of Daniel Howard:
As mentioned above the eyeball passing physical tools for Daniel Howard (listed at 6-foot-3, 270 pounds) was pretty evident and Howard also has a pretty high level of athletic skills and ability. Howard moves well for a bigger kid, has some quickness and a very good and consistent first few steps. Howard also showed to have good overall ahand usage, was able to beat double teams and was able to be a consistent source of pressure up front on the Lane Tech defensive line. Howard also is pretty college ready physically in my opinion....Howard has filled out his frame pretty well but I can see where he can still get to say 285-290 pounds for the high college level while still maintaining his overall quick feet and speed.
Room for improvement? Daniel Howard has the look and the tools to develop into a potential sleeper here for Iowa State and I get the attraction on several levels. Howard will have a chance to take several large steps forward in his development and Iowa State generally has a pretty solid track record of player development under head coach Matt Campbell. Yet my big concern here is that Howard is going to need to make a tremendous leap in competition level from playing in the Chicago Public League to the Big 12 conference. Howard will need to get stronger, quicker and greatly improve his overall fundamentals and technique on the Cyclones defensive line. Howard I feel will be a developmental guy who will need a few years of work and growth...but again the gamble here for Iowa State is no question worth it....especially if Howard can come into Iowa State ready to work and can shorten that developmental time frame.
Projected level: Rivals has ranked Daniel Howard as a low 3 star ranked player and the 19th best player in the State of Illinois Class of 2026.
EDGYTIM Recommended Initial Rankings: Daniel Howard is going to be a fun name to follow over the next few years at Iowa State, a program that has had some success recruiting the State of Illinois under Matt Campbell. Howard is a raw yet athletic big man who again has a ton of work ahead of him from a growth and development standpoint. Yet if things go well... Howard could also become a major sleeper for the Cyclones in the Class of 2026. I agree with Rivals ranking on Daniel Howard for now which has him ranked as a low to mid 3 star name and a Top 20 ranked player in the State of Illinois recruit rankings.
Position: DT/DE
High School: Chicago Lane Tech
Graduation Year: 2026
Height: 6-foot-3
Weight: 270 pounds
Recruiting Status: Committed to Iowa State. Howard was able to draw a considerable amount of recruiting offers and traffic from the likes of Cincinnati, Iowa State, Kansas State along with multiple MAC and FCS schools. Howard was a priority name for the Cyclones from very early on in the process. Howard wound up making multiple visit to Iowa State and in my eyes seemed like the leader for Howard then closed the deal on April 8th.
HUDL:
My impressions of Daniel Howard:
I was able to see Daniel Howard in action last season in a 57-7 blowout loss to Morgan Park in the Chicago Public League Red conference action. Howard, who played both on the Lane Tech Champions offensive and defensive line last season was certainly an easy player to spot and watch, easily being one of the few Lane Tech players with college level size and potential despite playing in this blowout loss. Howard no question went hard on every play and never stopped grinding in this game, and his leadership abilities was on hand no question.
Evaluation of Daniel Howard:
As mentioned above the eyeball passing physical tools for Daniel Howard (listed at 6-foot-3, 270 pounds) was pretty evident and Howard also has a pretty high level of athletic skills and ability. Howard moves well for a bigger kid, has some quickness and a very good and consistent first few steps. Howard also showed to have good overall ahand usage, was able to beat double teams and was able to be a consistent source of pressure up front on the Lane Tech defensive line. Howard also is pretty college ready physically in my opinion....Howard has filled out his frame pretty well but I can see where he can still get to say 285-290 pounds for the high college level while still maintaining his overall quick feet and speed.
Room for improvement? Daniel Howard has the look and the tools to develop into a potential sleeper here for Iowa State and I get the attraction on several levels. Howard will have a chance to take several large steps forward in his development and Iowa State generally has a pretty solid track record of player development under head coach Matt Campbell. Yet my big concern here is that Howard is going to need to make a tremendous leap in competition level from playing in the Chicago Public League to the Big 12 conference. Howard will need to get stronger, quicker and greatly improve his overall fundamentals and technique on the Cyclones defensive line. Howard I feel will be a developmental guy who will need a few years of work and growth...but again the gamble here for Iowa State is no question worth it....especially if Howard can come into Iowa State ready to work and can shorten that developmental time frame.
Projected level: Rivals has ranked Daniel Howard as a low 3 star ranked player and the 19th best player in the State of Illinois Class of 2026.
EDGYTIM Recommended Initial Rankings: Daniel Howard is going to be a fun name to follow over the next few years at Iowa State, a program that has had some success recruiting the State of Illinois under Matt Campbell. Howard is a raw yet athletic big man who again has a ton of work ahead of him from a growth and development standpoint. Yet if things go well... Howard could also become a major sleeper for the Cyclones in the Class of 2026. I agree with Rivals ranking on Daniel Howard for now which has him ranked as a low to mid 3 star name and a Top 20 ranked player in the State of Illinois recruit rankings.
