One narrative floating around Pittsburgh Steelers’ rookie quarterback Will Howard is concern over his lack of experience under center. The pitfalls of the modern college offense that are shotgun-heavy and don’t prepare players for working under center at the NFL level.
But is it true? The data tells the story. Courtesy of our friend Andrew Shaver from PFF, he pulled the under-center snaps for each of the 12 FBS quarterbacks drafted in 2025.
Below is the data, showing career snaps, career snaps under center, and pass/run splits from under center.
| Name | Career Snaps | Car Pass Plays | Car Run Plays | Snaps Under Center | Pass Plays UC | Run Plays UC |
| Kurtis Rourke | 2760 | 1528 | 1232 | 22 | 3 | 19 |
| Riley Leonard | 2380 | 1297 | 1083 | 46 | 8 | 38 |
| Jalen Milroe | 1780 | 882 | 898 | 55 | 6 | 49 |
| Cam Ward | 4005 | 2823 | 1182 | 60 | 11 | 49 |
| Shedeur Sanders | 3362 | 2303 | 1059 | 66 | 11 | 55 |
| Jaxson Dart | 3125 | 1619 | 1506 | 72 | 25 | 47 |
| Quinn Ewers | 2347 | 1331 | 1016 | 75 | 13 | 62 |
| Dillon Gabriel | 4553 | 2490 | 2063 | 93 | 23 | 70 |
| Tyler Shough | 2048 | 1149 | 899 | 100 | 34 | 66 |
| Kyle McCord | 1897 | 1134 | 763 | 225 | 39 | 186 |
| Will Howard | 2776 | 1346 | 1430 | 265 | 56 | 209 |
| Graham Mertz | 3004 | 1473 | 1531 | 1197 | 268 | 929 |
Howard had the second-most snaps under center, with 265. The vast majority were handoffs, but he still ranked second in passes under center.
To put the numbers in better perspective, here’s the percentage of career snaps under center.
Rourke: 0.8-percent
Ward: 1.5-percent
Leonard: 1.9-percent
Sanders: 2.0-percent
Gabriel: 2.0-percent
Dart: 2.3-percent
Milroe: 3.1-percent
Ewers: 3.2-percent
Shough: 4.9-percent
Howard: 9.5-percent
McCord: 11.9-percent
Mertz: 39.8-percent
Even with a relative dataset, Howard ranks third behind Florida’s Graham Mertz and Syracuse’s Kyle McCord. Mertz’s numbers primarily come from his time at Wisconsin, a program that runs a pro-style offense, before he transferred to Florida. And McCord spent time at Ohio State before transferring to Syracuse for his final season.
While Howard’s numbers aren’t huge in aggregate, they are among the best of the 2025 class. Much larger compared to No. 1 overall pick Cam Ward or first-rounder Jaxson Dart.
Every quarterback coming from college has an adjustment to make. There will be a learning curve, and Howard will operate under center more often in Pittsburgh than in college. But his learning curve is easier, not harder, than nearly every quarterback in this year’s class. He has experience and reps that most others don’t.
Combine this data with other known parts of Howard’s game, and he has an NFL-ready profile. At Ohio State, he used a cadence and was asked to make checks and audibles throughout his career. Ohio State’s offense was RPO-heavy, but those are popular in Pittsburgh, and he still was asked to make full-field reads in obvious pass situations.
None of the data suggests Howard should have additional or special concern about the college systems he’s coming from. If anything, they point to someone who won’t be bothered by getting under center this summer. It’s something he’s used to doing.
