The South Carolina football program has put together one of their top recruiting classes in recent years for the 2023 recruiting cycle. While the recruiting rankings are ever-changing, according to industry leaders on3 and 247Sports, Shane Beamer and company have found themselves firmly inside the top-20 since the Early Signing Period ended.
One of the players in this class is LB Grayson “Pup” Howard, who signed with South Carolina during the Early Signing Period.
Position: LB
Recruiting Ranking: 4 Stars (on3, ESPN, 247); 3 Stars (Rivals); Adidas All-American
Measurables: 6’3.5”; 225 pounds; 4.49 second short shuttle
Former Player Comp: LB/EDGE Bryson Allen-Williams
Grayson Howard was a Gamecock fan favorite before he even stepped foot on campus as a student at the University of South Carolina. “Pup,” as he is affectionally known, was one of the longest-committed Gamecocks prior to his signing during the Early Signing Period. Even before making his commitment public, Pup was intensely recruiting other players to join him at South Carolina, something he continued doing throughout his senior year of high school. His love for South Carolina and the football program is evident and has endeared him to almost every Gamecock familiar with him. An early enrollee, Pup has actually already gone through some practices with the team, as he graduated and enrolled prior to bowl practice beginning.
As a player, he is a big middle linebacker with an even bigger motor. Howard is far from an elite athlete at linebacker, but he is a good athlete who possesses enough football IQ to play sideline to sideline. His 6’3.5” frame seems poised to add more weight. If too much weight is added, Pup could see a move to EDGE in his future, but his highest value to the Gamecocks is likely as the future Mike. His instincts and high effort level put him in place to make a play almost every snap. Pup led his team well as a high school player—both with his example as a leader through action and with his mouth as a vocal leader—and he seems poised to find himself in a leadership role at Carolina sooner rather than later.
One of the best players in a talent-rich Jacksonville area, Howard plays with no fear, routinely taking on much larger blockers in his pursuit of ball carriers. He is a tackling machine (averaged almost twenty tackles per game in high school) and showed some ability to rush the passer, both on A-gap blitzes and on plays coming off the edge. He was not given the opportunity to cover many players in man coverage in high school, meaning he likely will not be a strong coverage linebacker early in his career. Pup’s willingness to work and high football IQ would indicate, though, that any perceived weakness in his game eventually could become a strength.
Howard’s size, leadership, and love for his team are reminiscent of former South Carolina LB and EDGE Bryson Allen-Williams. Like BAW, Pup Howard takes preparation seriously and plays the game of football with his brain as much as his body. For a linebacker (and potentially future Mike), this is an important trait. In recent years, linebacker play at South Carolina has been an issue, and Howard’s intangibles are giving South Carolina fans reason to hope that that will change in the near future. Allen-Williams’ best days for South Carolina’s defense were playing alongside very mobile teammate Skai Moore, and Pup Howard would likely benefit from having a similarly athletic linebacker running mate.
For reasons that have very little to do with football, Pup Howard is the most-beloved member of the 2023 recruiting class, and for reasons that have everything to do with football, he also has the potential to become one of the most-beloved players in program history.