Hours after the news of Boogie Johnson returning to Houston, the Cougars added safety Myles “Ghost” Rowser from Arizona State. Rowser is a solid player who will impact Houston’s defensive backfield.
A TRO granted him a fifth year of eligibility last week.
Background
Rowser attended Belleville High School in Michigan and was a four-star recruit who once committed to Michigan and later Arkansas. He eventually signed with Campbell after some off-the-field issues.
In his lone year at Campbell, he played nine games and earned freshman All-American honors from several outlets. He then transferred to New Mexico State, playing 691 snaps with 473 of them at free safety (per PFF). Rowser recorded 69 total tackles, one interception, and a forced fumble. After one season at New Mexico State, Rowser moved on to Arizona State.
The last two seasons in Tempe, Rowser played 1670 snaps in 27 games, most of which (1016) saw Rowser lined up in the box. In two years in Tempe, he totaled 182 tackles and, in 2025, he recorded 35 stops, which was tied for 9th in FBS among safeties. That would’ve led Houston’s defense overall.
Houston vs. Arizona State 2025
In the UH/Arizona State game in 2025, Rowser had one of his better games (8 tackles including 5 stops) before being ejected for targeting late in the third quarter. PFF considers a stop a “successful” play for the defense, like a stop at the line of scrimmage on early downs, or preventing a first down on third or fourth down. Simply put, it measures a defender’s impact through positive plays. Rowser contributes to winning football.
Against UH, he didn’t miss any tackles and pressured Conner Weigman once, and his PFF coverage grade of 77.8 was his best of the year.
Coverage
On this play, he reacts to an underneath throw to Dean Connors and prevents extra yardage. Rowser reacts to Conner Weigman scrambling but recovers to stop Connors’ momentum. This allows a teammate to help him finish the play and prevent the first down.
The next clip shows Rowser in man-to-man. He is lined up over Tanner Koziol and can prevent anything after the catch. Rowser recognizes the underneath route and meets the ball on arrival, and, despite giving up over half a foot and fifty pounds, he stops Koziol from advancing.
Rowser does a good job of closing on underneath routes and shows here that he can handle bigger-bodied receivers. Arizona State sets up similar to Houston’s defense in terms of alignment. I would expect to see him in similar scenarios this season for the Coogs.
Run Support
This is where I think Rowser is at his best. He is a very physical player and is willing to meet ballcarriers head-on. His willingness to fill run lanes will be an asset.
On this play, Rowser follows Connors’ motion pre-snap. Post-snap, he reads the flow of the play and closes to meet the ball at the line of scrimmage. He meets Connors head-on for a stop.
Here, Rowser does a good job of shutting down an outside run. He takes on the lead blocker and draws the play out, preventing it from getting outside. It also allows other defenders to pursue and close from inside. He eventually makes the stop for little to no gain.
Outlook
This is similar to adding Boogie Johnson, in that the safety group Rowser joins is already strong at the top. If a staff has an opportunity to add a talent like Rowser, they will. Adding Rowser creates more depth and allows more flexibility.
Purely speculation as Rowser has not even practiced with the team, but I think he could be deployed as a STAR or even play linebacker in certain scenarios. I could see the staff putting him at STAR in obvious run situations or linebacker to boost coverage over the middle in addition to safety, where he’s comfortable.
Rowser participated in mini camp with the Seattle Seahawks in March, and I don’t think he’s returning to college football to sit on the sidelines. But the Coogs return two starters at safety in Jordan Allen and Kentrell Webb that started all 13 games last season. And that’s where the current state of college football gets tricky.
He still needs to get acclimated to the system, school, and city, but once again, Wes Fritz and staff have improved the roster.
