The Steelers reportedly plan to move rookie QB Will Howard to the Reserve/Injured list, though the move isn’t yet official. Having suffered a fractured pinky just before the preseason began, he missed a substantial component of his on-field development time. Pittsburgh retained Skylar Thompson on the 53-man roster, and he would serve as the third quarterback.
Earlier this week Steelers HC Mike Tomlin said that Howard is nearing full participation in practice. The grounds for their being able to put him on IR, then, seem dubious to me, but I’m sure this is not uncommon. Steelers writer Mark Kaboly, however, believes the team would be making a mistake if it goes through with this move.
“I don’t agree with it whatsoever”, he said about the Steelers’ plans to place Will Howard on IR on the Kaboly + Mack podcast. “I think Will Howard needs to be fed as much as he can be. Even if it’s for four weeks, up to seven weeks, whatever it could be depending on when they start the clock, it’s a lost season”.
The Steelers selected Will Howard in the sixth round of the 2025 NFL Draft. At that point, they only had Thompson and Mason Rudolph at quarterback. Later in the offseason, Tomlin admitted they had a high degree of confidence Aaron Rodgers would sign with them. He finally did, shortly before the team held its mandatory minicamp.
With Rodgers around, Howard benefited greatly off the field but started fourth in the pecking order. Slowly, he started to take reps from Thompson, and he generally performed well. But it appears the Steelers don’t feel comfortable dressing him as even an emergency quarterback right now, given how much work he missed. You don’t want to be one snap away from a rookie who didn’t play in the preseason being your backup. Or at least, it appears that the Steelers don’t.
It’s understandable, and it’s one that I’ve explored for weeks now. With Skylar Thompson’s emergence since Will Howard’s injury, the move made sense. The only question I had was how comfortable the Steelers might be with Howard’s inexperience. Apparently, the answer was, “not very”.
Now the question is, how long are the Steelers prepared to leave Will Howard on IR? Could he end up spending the entire season there, as 2024 draft pick Logan Lee did a year ago? I still have a suspicion that they are trying to trade Thompson. Theoretically, they have until the trade deadline to move him. Unless or until they can, the Steelers can leave Howard sidelined.
Steelers fans quickly latched onto Howard despite the immense improbability of a sixth-round pick developing into a franchise quarterback. Even if he stayed healthy, he was never going to factor into the team’s assessment of the 2026 NFL Draft quarterback class. I’m sure they wanted to get a long look at him this year anyway, but you can’t control injuries. And apparently, they’re not going to risk an unprepared rookie potentially being forced into a game.
