Getting to Know Steelers Rookie QB Will Howard
With the 185th pick in the sixth round of the 2025 NFL Draft, the Pittsburgh Steelers selected Will Howard, QB from Ohio State. Of course, as a fan, I am rooting for him to be our QB of the future, but let’s make sure that we’re going into the season with the proper expectations for our sixth round guy.
Will Howard was born and raised right outside of Philadelphia, where he attended Downington West High School in Downington, PA. He was a three-star recruit coming out when he committed to play QB for the Kansas State Wildcats. On the Will Howard episode of Gruden’s QB Class, Howard noted Kansas State’s willingness to keep their offer on the table despite a season-ending injury his junior year of high school as a big reason why he wanted to play there and stay there as long as he did.
Kansas State recruited him to be a dual-threat quarterback, and they used him accordingly allowing him to rush the ball 78 times his freshman season. To be honest…his ability to make plays with his legs was not something that was really on my radar coming into draft season, and it was a pleasant surprise when I saw for myself that he had it in his bag.
Howard’s time at K-State was rocky; essentially getting benched his junior year in favor of transfer Adrian Martinez. If not for Martinez sustaining a leg injury that season, we may not be talking about Will Howard at all in 2025. He was able to do just enough in relief of Martinez to stay on the national radar and transfer to Ohio State, where he would have a chance to be coached by the likes of Ryan Day and Chip Kelly.
The 2024 Ohio State Buckeyes went on a magical National Championship run with Will Howard at the helm. He was top 10 in the country in completion percentage and was one of only five QBs in the top 10 to also throw for over 4000 yards. Howard’s eval is a tough one, though, because he was basically running NFL concepts with NFL talent all around him at Ohio State, but there’s something to be said about the fact that he didn’t muck it up and he took those guys to the promised land. He also had some of his best throws during their college football playoff run, which I think is noteworthy. This play (above) comes from the Cotton Bowl game against Texas. That’s a hell of a throw, with anticipation, between three Texas defenders.
You’ll see throws like that every once in a while if you watch enough Ohio State games from last season, but I don’t know if every once in a while is good enough given the immense talent that was surrounding him. Consider this from Adam Bittner of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: “PFF credited him [Will Howard] with just 22 big-time throws, which are throws rated among the best in college football in a given week. For context, his Ohio State predecessor Kyle McCord led the nation at 36. And first-round choices Cam Ward and Jaxson Dart finished with 31 and 30, respectively, despite working with lesser receivers. Throw in 15 turnover-worthy plays and 10 total interceptions, and he simply does not profile as an elite playmaker at the NFL level.”
I, along with many others, am often skeptical about anything that comes out from PFF, because I think their charting and grading is often missing important context. However, that stat from Bittner verified what my eyes were telling me: Will Howard just doesn’t have a ton of arm talent. It’s frustrating to watch at times, because I do believe he is capable of throwing to all levels of the field. During their QB Class episode, Jon Gruden even complimented Will Howard’s ability to make “no-step throws” under pressure. Those things are great, but there’s plenty of duds on film as well, including this one (above), an intermediate INT against Michigan. That play comes on a 3rd & 7 late in the 3rd quarter, and Ohio State probably would’ve converted this one if Will Howard gets that ball out a split second earlier. Seeing as Ohio State went on to lose that game…I would bet a lot of money that Will Howard would call this one of…if not his least favorite throw(s) of his football life. And, he’d be correct to feel that way. In the red zone against your school’s arch nemesis, and you make a game-changing error. Can’t have it.
Even though Will Howard doesn’t have elite arm talent, that doesn’t mean he’s relegated to journeyman QB hell at the NFL level. He’s got a few things going for him that can take his game to the next level if he hones in on them in the NFL; in fact, he stands on two of those things. Howard’s dual-threat-ability can be a forgotten part of his game…but you better keep a spy on that big sumbitch. Just tell that to Notre Dame’s head coach, who watched his defense allow Will Howard to pick up eight first downs with his legs in the National Championship Game. He isn’t very much into sliding, either. He’s got no problem lowering his head and taking on a LB for that extra yard or two. He’s got the Josh Allen look to him when he runs. I wonder why that would be? checks notes
Josh Allen (Wyoming) at the 2018 NFL Combine: 6’5, 237 lbs.
Will Howard (Ohio State) at the 2025 NFL Combine: 6’4 236 lbs.
The other thing Will Howard has going for him that could help him excel at the next level is that football brain of his. I’ve referenced his episode on Gruden’s QB Class multiple times in this post, and I think if you want to feel good about the Steelers drafting Will Howard, you should take 45 minutes out of your day to watch it (above). There are plenty of awesome moments in that video that showcase Will Howard’s immaculate football IQ as he sits down with one of the best coaches in the history of the game and recalls and teaches plays from his time at Ohio State. I keep up with the Gruden QB Class episodes as they come out, and I have to say, from this particular draft cycle, I think Will Howard came out looking the most confident talking X’s and O’s with Gruden. It’s easy to be a critic of Will Howard because of the talent and coaching that was around him at Ohio State, but perhaps he’s better suited to run an NFL offense because of it. I can talk about this all day, but I urge you to see for yourself, and watch the entire episode.
When the Steelers passed on Shedeur in the first round for a defensive lineman, I was hoping they would wait until late in the draft to take Will Howard and that’s exactly what happened. He may not have the arm talent of a Jaxson Dart or a Cam Ward, but he’s tough as nails and he comes from a winning culture, and brings leadership and championship pedigree with him. I’ll take that in the sixth round all day every day. Howard now joins Mason Rudolph, Skylar Thompson, and Aaron Rodgers in the Steelers’ QB room (or rather…Aaron Rodgers joined them, I guess). He now gets to flex that football brain to one of the greatest throwers of a football to ever walk the earth, and hopefully learn a thing or two along the way. I think the Steelers’ long-term plan at QB is to push all their chips on the table in the 2026 NFL Draft in Pittsburgh. Maybe Will Howard derails that and takes the city of Pittsburgh by storm; but I think the more likely outcome is that he becomes a steady face as a backup quarterback on a team that has to be sick and tired of cleaning house at the QB position every season. If that’s what it turns into…that’s awesome. I once owned a Charlie Batch jersey. Maybe Will Howard has that kinda career arc.
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