It felt like a forgone conclusion that the Pittsburgh Steelers were going to pick up a quarterback at some point in this year’s draft. They waited a while to do it, including passing on Shedeur Sanders multiple times over all three days of the draft. Eventually, Pittsburgh found their guy in Will Howard in the sixth round.
Howard was impressive in 2024 at Ohio State, especially over the last half of the season. One of the things that stuck out to Mike Tomlin was Howard’s leadership, he said during his post-draft press conference with Omar Khan.
“How he [Will Howard] responded to that adversity at the end of their season, and the leadership and the playmaking he displayed throughout the playoffs was really attractive,” Tomlins said. “And it’s really what NFL football is about. There’s gonna be some adversity. How you respond to it defines you and your football team, particularly from the quarterback position.”
Howard’s collegiate career was an interesting case. He initially played at Kansas State, where he was coincidentally teammates with another Steelers quarterback in Skyler Thompson. Then, Howard transferred to Ohio State and led the team a National Championship in 2024.
It wasn’t all perfect for Howard in 2024. He accidentally ran out of the clock during a midseason loss to Oregon, but the way he rebounded to finish the rest of the season was impressive, and it raised his draft stock tremendously. Howard played excellent football in the College Football Playoff, where Ohio State ran the table.
All things considered, the Steelers got great value for Howard. They were able to land him in the sixth round, which for reference, is three rounds after Dillon Gabriel. Pittsburgh has a preference for winners, and Omar Khan mentioned in the same press conference that the fact Howard is a national champion was appealing to them.
Omar Khan has mentioned a few times this offseason that the Steelers want to bring four quarterbacks to training camp. Howard becomes the third, alongside Thompson and Mason Rudolph. At this point, the Steelers would seem to prefer to have Rodgers be that quarterback. That would leave a QB room consisting of Rodgers, Howard, Rudolph and Thompson. Compared to how things looked earlier this offseason, that’s not a bad haul.
It’s also a solid situation for Howard. He’ll likely sit behind the starter and learn at first. For obvious reasons, that will be beneficial. It’s rare for sixth-round QBs to get a chance to ever become a full-time starter, but if Howard does see the field, he’ll have the chance to push the envelope. At the end of the day, this feels like a good pairing for all parties.
