UPDATE (1:30 PM): Speaking to reporters Monday following practice, head coach Mike Tomlin said QB Will Howard is progressing toward full practice participation. Presumably, that means he will avoid injured reserve to begin the year and runs counter to Gerry Dulac’s below comments. The team will make its final decisions by Tuesday’s 4 PM/EST deadline.
Our original story is below.
From the outside looking in, the Pittsburgh Steelers have a tough decision to make at QB3 between Skylar Thompson and rookie Will Howard, considering Howard has been injured and missed the entire preseason, while Thompson lit it up with his opportunities.
Could Howard still make the 53-man roster and Thompson get cut with the hopes of landing him on the practice squad? Could the Steelers trade Thompson and get draft capital for him after a very good summer? Or do they carry four quarterbacks?
According to the Post-Gazette’s Gerry Dulac, who appeared on the 102.5 WDVE Morning Show Monday, the Steelers already know their path forward at quarterback with Thompson and Howard. It’s similar to the one he floated a few days ago.
Dulac stated Monday that Howard will land on the Reserve/Injured list and could spend the entire season there after missing valuable training camp and preseason action. As for Thompson, he’s making the roster, period.
“I think Skyler Thompson makes the team. Their plan is they’re gonna put Will Howard on IR,” Dulac said of the Steelers’ plan at quarterback. “And Billy [Crawford], let’s face it, there’s no reason not to just leave him there because you didn’t play in a pre-season game. The coaches don’t spend the regular season teaching. Once you get to the regular season, it’s all about game plans and Xs and Os, and teaching goes on in training camp, and at the end of training camp, that’s it.
“And so, Will Howard, they’re not gonna expose him. So the safe thing to do is leave him on IR until they think maybe it’s not worth keeping Skylar Thompson, but I think he’s proved that he’s worth keeping as the number three quarterback.”
Howard suffered a broken pinky during training camp on a center/quarterback exchange, which was really just a fluke injury. But it happened, and it has Howard still in a brace and missing valuable time to this point. Though he showed a good deal of promise throughout the offseason in OTAs, minicamp and early in training camp, not seeing him in any preseason or joint practice action is concerning.
Thompson, on the other hand, has really impressed. The veteran quarterback, who had three starts in his career with the Miami Dolphins, including one playoff start, graded out at a 79.7 overall from Pro Football Focus in the preseason.
He was 41-of-56 for 498 yards with four touchdowns and one interception. The one interception wasn’t even his fault, either, as it bounced off of the hands of wide receiver Lance McCutcheon into the air. He also had five big-time throws in the preseason and really looked in command of the entire offense when on the field.
The former Kansas State star clearly played his way into a role in Pittsburgh, and based on Dulac’s reporting, that will be on the 53-man roster.
Just don’t expect him to be elevated over Mason Rudolph into the QB2 role.
“Those people who now clamor, ‘Oh, he should be the number two,’ that ain’t happening,” Dulac added. “That’s not happening at all.”
Nor should it. The Steelers know what they have with Rudolph as the No. 2 behind Rodgers. It’s why they signed Rudolph to a two-year deal in free agency before ever landing Rodgers.
As for Howard, it’s a tough blow. We’ll see if that’s truly the move the Steelers make with the national championship-winning QB, but it’s the smart one. Let him sit and learn on IR all season long, getting valuable teaching and coaching in the QB room from the veterans, especially under Rodgers, and let him hit the ground running next offseason.
It’s tough that they never quite got a look at him as a potential long-term answer at QB moving forward, but such is life in the NFL.
