#18 Will Howard — Well, this guy might be in Columbus now, but his (much larger) little brother Ryan will be a Wildcat this fall to continue the Howard family legacy in Manhattan. (And yes, the half-torn-down stadium to the east is still his f***ing house!) | Photo by Scott Winters/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images

In which BracketCat counts down the 72nd day until the 2024 kickoff with a profile of Kansas State offensive lineman Ryan Howard.

#72 Ryan Howard

True Freshman | 6-7 | 325 lbs. | Downingtown, Pennsylvania

Position: Offensive Line
Previous College: None
Projection: Redshirt
Status: On Scholarship

Ryan Howard (June 8, 2005) is a massive young offensive tackle with a fairly famous older brother who plans on majoring in business. While I do think he will redshirt in 2024, he’s certainly big enough to play right now at several spots if we need to throw him into the fire.

Howard prepped under head coach Mike Milano at Downingtown High School West, where he was viewed as the 54th-best offensive tackle in the Class of 2024 by ESPN, while the organization also rated him the 16th-best overall prospect in the state of Pennsylvania.

He also was rated as the 18th-best overall prospect in the state by Rivals, and earned first-team all-state honors as a junior from PA Football News and Pennsylvania Football Writers.

Howard, who also participated in high school basketball, selected K-State over offers from Bowling Green, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Syracuse, Temple, West Virginia and Yale, as well as interest from Penn State. His primary recruiter was his new position coach, Conor Riley.

(In case you haven’t figured it out yet, Howard’s older brother, Will, was a quarterback for the Wildcats from 2020 through 2023 and holds the school record for career passing touchdowns with 48.)