Some criticize anonymous statements from scouts and executives, but it remains the only way to get honest feedback about a player. No scout wants their name, and therefore their team, attached to something negative on a draft prospect. And nobody wants to tip their hand before the draft occurs. A Tom Pelissero anonymous scouts and executives quarterback post from last week caught a lot of criticism for how it described Shedeur Sanders. Lo and behold, he had one of the more memorable draft-day slides in recent history. So let’s look at what they said about Pittsburgh Steelers sixth-round QB Will Howard.
They had him rated as QB7 in this class with a third/fourth-round grade. He ended up being QB8 in the sixth round.
“I thought he was going to be a little faster,” an AFC exec told Pelissero via NFL.com. “But he kind of came on late. His arm’s, frankly, a little disappointing for his size. Not a lot of velocity and drive and zip on it. I thought he was more of a big play-action thrower. But then towards the end of the year, he made some plays off balance, different arm angles. I was like, ‘F—, I didn’t think he could do that.’ Smart guy, really good kid.”
Mike Tomlin cited Howard’s leadership as one of the reasons they drafted him, and Arthur Smith gushed over the player and person that he is. The football character side of things is not in question. But does Howard have the necessary tools? An AFC coordinator told Pelissero that the lack of velocity and inconsistent accuracy downfield could be due to mechanical issues.
“It’s like a slice,” he said. “Watching him when he throws, it just fades out to the right.” Another coordinator put it plainly: “He just doesn’t throw it very good. He doesn’t generate a lot of velocity. But he’s a big, athletic dude. Got good leadership. He can’t generate a lot of power and it’s weird because he’s such a big guy.”
The Steelers helped tighten up Justin Fields’ mechanics, and quarterbacks have been able to adjust their throwing motion and release in the past. That isn’t an innate trait, and the Steelers should be able to have some influence in the development of Howard’s power and zip.
The one exec above mentioned his arm angles and playing off balance. He also had a fair number of throws that didn’t require a step and still came out with decent velocity and perfect accuracy. That isn’t easy to do, but he made it look easy at times.
One NFC quarterbacks coach told Pelissero, “You see him making NFL throws on tape.”
At 6-4, 236 pounds, Howard’s size is comparable to prototypical NFL quarterbacks like Josh Allen. While he didn’t do much running at Ohio State, he showed off his athletic ability more at Kansas State. And when he did run at Ohio State, he looked plenty athletic. He had 26 total rushing touchdowns in five college seasons.
“There’s a couple things you’d like to tweak,” an AFC QB coach told Pelissero. “But he has the size and the athletic ability and mind to do it.”
You can’t teach size, athletic ability or natural leadership and Howard has all three in droves. The main knocks on him seem to be related to mechanical issues that can be improved with proper coaching. For a sixth-round pick, the Steelers got themselves a heck of a player.
