The Pittsburgh Steelers waited about as long as possible to address their quarterback situation during the draft. They eventually did in the sixth round, taking Will Howard out of Ohio State. There were a few quarterbacks who made sense for Pittsburgh later on Day 3, but they had started to come off the board quicker during the fifth and sixth rounds.
The Steelers knew they had to get a QB soon. They grabbed Howard, and according to him, the pick made a lot of sense. Howard spoke to the media shortly after being drafted. According to a team-provided transcript, he says he hoped he’d end up in Pittsburgh.
“And it just made a lot of sense from the moment I met Coach Tomlin,” Howard said. “I was like, man, this is a guy I could play for… I was honestly hoping the Steelers would take me. Just because I felt like it would be a great situation. I loved everybody in the organization, and I’m so blessed.”
Howard has had a lot of things to be happy about recently. Not only did he just get drafted to Pittsburgh, but he’s also coming off a national championship win this past season with Ohio State.
The 2024 season wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows for Howard, though. He had a pretty brutal moment during the middle of the season, when he accidentally ran out the clock in Ohio State’s loss to Oregon by just one point. However, he rallied quite well throughout the rest of the season.
After that loss, the entire Buckeyes team went on an impressive run. They didn’t lose another game the rest of the year, and went on an insane run in the College Football Playoff. That included a drubbing of Oregon in which Howard performed excellently against the Ducks, who were No. 1 in the nation at the time.
The Steelers are hoping that winning pedigree with Howard transfers over to his time in Pittsburgh. For what it’s worth, the Steelers clearly valued him more than Shedeur Sanders, who many previously thought could have been Pittsburgh’s choice in the first round. Instead, they passed on Sanders multiple times. Then, they pivoted to Howard once some of the other QBs started to go off the board.
Omar Khan is on the record in wanting to go into training camp with four quarterbacks. Howard is the third, joining Mason Rudolph and Skylar Thompson. At this point, based on their continued pursuit of Aaron Rodgers, you’d have to expect Rodgers to be the fourth and final one if he does sign.
It’s also nice to hear that Howard is so excited to come to Pittsburgh. He mentions his good feelings with everyone in the organization. It sounds like those feeling were mutual, with the Steelers taking him off the board.
