Will Howard 2024 Deep Pass Attempts Contextualization

Now that the Pittsburgh Steelers have selected their 2025 draft class, we will be breaking down those seven players more in depth as the offseason progresses. Personally, I love to do contextualization of players in niche areas. Today, I will present one on QB Will Howard, the Steelers’ sixth round selection this year out of Ohio State. Specifically, this contextualization will revolve around Howard’s 2024 deep pass attempts of 20 yards or longer.

For starters, the table at the bottom of this post includes the play-by-play data of all 47 pass attempts Howard had in 2024, according to Pro Football Focus charting. That data includes air yards past the line of scrimmage, quarterback alignment, target, area of the field and much more. Each play, except for two, is linked to video so that anyone reading this post can view for themselves.

To clarify the area numbers (1-5), 1 and 5 are outside the numbers to the right side and left side, respectively; 2 and 4 are inside the numbers and to the outside middle of the field hashmarks on the right side and left side, respectively; and 3 is the middle of the field between the hashmarks.

Also, the air yards for each pass attempt listed is from the line of scrimmage, not from Howard’s launch point.

Now for some compiled data from this play-by-play contextualization study on Howard’s deep pass attempts in 2024.

In total, Howard completed 27 of his 47 (57.4 percent) pass attempts of 20 air yards or longer in 2024. Howard had eight touchdowns and two interceptions on those 47 attempts as well.

According to Pro Football Focus, in 2024, Howard led all draft-eligible FBS quarterbacks in completion percentage when it comes 20-yards-or-longer pass attempts. The minimum attempts to qualify was 20. Howard also was given an FBS-second-best deep PFF passing grade of 96.3 based on the same qualifying criteria.

When you break down Howard’s deep pass attempts of 20 yards or longer in 2024, outside the numbers he was 16-of-29 (55.2 percent) with four touchdowns and one interception. Inside the numbers, Howard was 11-of-18 (61.1 percent) with four touchdowns and one interception. More specifically, Howard was 5-of-6 (83.3 percent) with two touchdowns and an interception on deep throws of 20 yards or longer between the hashmarks.

When it comes to the right side versus the left side of the middle of the field hashmarks, Howard was 13-of-26 (50 percent) with three touchdowns and one interception on the right side and 9-of-15 (60 percent) with three touchdowns and no interceptions on the left side.

When using play-action, Howard was 12-of-22 (54.6 percent) on his 2024 deep pass attempts with four touchdowns and two interceptions. When not using play-action, Howard was 15-of-25 (60 percent) in 2024 with four touchdowns and no interceptions on his deep pass attempts.

Howard was in shotgun for 44 of the 47 deep pass attempts he had in 2024. Two others were under center, and he completed both of them for touchdowns. His one deep pass attempt out of pistol was incomplete.

When looking at Howard’s average air yards per deep pass attempt and average air yards of deep pass completion in 2024, those numbers are nearly a match. His average air yards per deep pass attempt in 2024 was 30.23 and his average yards per completion on deep pass attempts was 30.11. That’s really impressive.

As far as ultra-deep pass attempts for Howard in 2024, he was 3-of-7 (42.9 percent) with one touchdown and one interception on throws of 40 air yards or longer. It should be noted that Howard’s longest pass attempt in 2024 was 45 air yards, which he completed.

Inside the opposition’s 26-yard-line in 2024, Howard was just 3-of-9 (33.3 percent) on deep pass attempts of 20 air yards or longer with three touchdowns and one interception. Outside of the opponent’s 25-yard-line in 2024 Howard was 24-of-38 (63.2 percent) on his deep pass attempts with five touchdowns and one interception.

During Ohio State run to the national championship in the College Football Playoffs, Howard was 10-of-14 (71.4-percent) with four touchdowns and one interception on deep pass attempts of 20 air yards or longer. Those attempts came against Tennessee, Oregon, Texas, and Notre Dame.

Howard was the victim of one deep pass drop in 2024, according to Pro Football Focus. The tape backs that up as well.

Below is the breakdown of Howard’s 2024 deep=pass targets by player. Ohio State wide receiver Jeremiah Smith was Howard’s favorite deep-pass target. Wide receiver Emeka Egbuka was second with exactly half the deep-pass targets that Smith received from Howard in 2024.

The main takeaways from this Howard 2024 deep pass attempt contextualization are quite easy to form once you look at the stats and watch every play. For starters, Howard’s deep pass completion rate was great overall, and he was fairly accurate at that. Howard’s overall arm strength, however, likely needs to improve some at the NFL level. His longest air yard flight was just 45 yards, and the football doesn’t exactly explode out of his hand down the field. There are a few underthrows in this contextualization and while most of his attempts don’t necessarily hang in the air, several include touch and high arc.

In closing, Howard enters the NFL as an above-average deep passer and an accurate one at that. It will be interesting to see if he can improve his overall arm strength at the NFL level as that might be one of the reasons why he fell to the sixth round in this year’s draft.

In a future contextualization of Howard, I will look at his 2023 deep pass attempts when he was at Kansas State and see how they compare to his 2024 season at Ohio State.

Now that everyone has the data and the video links, I am interested in seeing the main takeaways from those who wish to comment on Howard’s 2024 deep pass contextualization.