Player: QB Will Howard
Stock Value: Purchased
Reasoning: The Steelers added Will Howard as the third new quarterback in their room this offseason, completing another top-to-bottom turnover. Mason Rudolph is a returnee, but he is new to Arthur Smith’s offense after parting in free agency last year. Whether Rudolph or Aaron Rodgers starts, assuming the later signs with the team, Howard is likely to serve as the emergency quarterback during his rookie season.
The odds do not favor Steelers rookie QB Will Howard developing into a long-term starter, but that’s not the only metric by which he ought to be judged. Most sixth-round quarterbacks don’t even last very long in the league, and good backups are valuable. I’m sure the Steelers really would be pleased if he developed into another Mason Rudolph. Or even Landry Jones.
But the pressure, at least from some segments of the fan base, is higher just because of the current situation. The Steelers don’t have a franchise quarterback, and Will Howard is their latest draft pick. Even though Art Rooney II said any quarterback they would draft would be a developmental guy, some will attach their hopes to Howard.
Temporarily, at least, as the Steelers will be back in the hunt for a franchise quarterback next year. It’s unlikely that Will Howard will even have the opportunity this offseason to showcase his talents very much. Certainly not enough to convince a team to forego a first-round quarterback a year later.
But perhaps we—and I–should really stop talking about Will Howard in terms of the Steelers’ starting quarterback job. He is not that, and it is currently an unreasonable expectation, circumstantially or evaluatively. Unless or until he forces the narrative to shift, let’s just let him sit back and learn. In the meantime, I’ll try to take my own advice going forward. It’s not his fault the Steelers didn’t add anyone better than Mason Rudolph at quarterback this offseason.
With the new league year underway and the Steelers turning their roster over, it’s once again time to “take stock”. It took a while, but we finally saw some of that change the team talked about after the season ended. Certainly, the move to trade for WR DK Metcalf qualifies as a change, not to mention the accompanying contract.
There is still a long way to go before we know what this Steelers team is going to look like. The dust is settled on both free agency and the 2025 NFL Draft. What other moves might the team make, perhaps unexpected acquisitions or departures? If they traded for one player, they could certainly trade for another, or trade one away. This is a Steelers team starving for postseason success, but how desperate are they for a playoff win in 2025?
