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Commit Alert! Owen Bowles

The Cedar Creek two-way lineman has committed to Rutgers.

By Scott Logan
Ed Mulholland-USA TODAY Sports

Rutgers football added yet another exciting Garden State commit today, as Cedar Creek's Owen Bowles announced his decision to join the Scarlet Knights.

Bowles, a three-star prospect according to 247Sports, is an intriguing player whose career on the banks should be fun to follow. If you only watched Bowles' film, you would think he's only an immensely athletic and agile defensive linemen. However, his 6-5, 275 frame had a lot of teams recruiting him as an offensive lineman, including Rutgers.

With the Pirates, Bowles has established himself as a promising young defensive lineman, earning all-conference honors as a junior last season. His height has him towering over opponents, and he demonstrates great feet and balance when stifling his blockers and blowing by them. He is an elite run stuffer, and if given the opportunity to hone in on a ball carrier in open space, he shows great playmaking potential.

How will that success on defense translate to the Rutgers offensive line? That remains to be seen, but Bowles certainly has the size and athleticism to get it done. He might need a redshirt year to fully adjust to the offensive side of the ball, but the potential is certainly there for Bowles to become a staple on the Scarlet Knights' offensive line for four years. With his versatility, it's possible he sees time on defense too.

A total of 18 schools have offered Bowles so far, including Virginia, North Carolina, Temple, Purdue, Navy, and UCF. The Cavaliers notably made a strong push for Bowles, and were recruiting him to play his natural position of defensive tackle.

Bowles' decision to come to Rutgers was likely facilitated by the presence of wide receiver commit Bo Melton, Bowles' teammate at Cedar Creek. Melton was the first big domino to fall in Rutgers' 2017 recruiting class, and has made an effort to recruit other players to the banks.

Assuming he stays on the offensive side of the ball, Bowles is the fourth offensive lineman to commit to Rutgers in this class. He joins St. John Vianney tackle Micah Clark and guard Jamaal Beaty and Connecticut tackle Samuel Vretman.

You can take a look at Bowles' film right here.

Welcome to the banks, Owen!