Will Howard played at the highest level of college football. The Steelers’ rookie quarterback was a national champion at Ohio State after starring at Kansas State.
But that only partially prepared him for the NFL.
Howard opened up this week about what it’s been like to learn the speed of the game at the professional level, and it hasn’t all been easy for the sixth-round pick.
“First day was a work in progress,” Howard told PennLive. “I didn’t feel great about my first day, just coming off the field. But it was a good learning experience for me. I wasn’t expecting to be perfect on my first day. I’m not going to be perfect. That’s the thing. You’ve gotta learn. Especially me being young, you’ve gotta be able to roll with the punches and know that you’re going to make some mistakes, especially being a rookie. It’s how you learn from it, come back from it and don’t get affected by that. The second I mess up and then get in my head and shut down, that’s when problems happen. I felt like Day 1, just wasn’t really comfortable yet, didn’t really know where my feet were, was a little off timing. And then Day 2 and 3, I think I’ve been a lot better.”
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Howard broke down how the veterans on the defense make things tough for him.
“The speed of the game, the disguises the defense shows,” Howard said. “You look out there and you see Minkah [Fitzpatrick] and DeShon [Elliott] and you don’t really know where they’re going to. I remember just my first day of rookie minicamp, I remember there was a check. It was a one-high, two-high check. It looked like it was going one-high, but then it went two-high. That kind of stuff is all just different. It all happens a little faster. It’s slowed down for me over the course of the last three days, but just gotta continue to keep working and getting used to this level of football and this speed of football. I feel like I played at the highest level of college, so I have a good foundation. But nothing compares to this.”
Howard is currently operating as the Steelers’ backup quarterback to Mason Rudolph.
Pittsburgh is still hoping for Aaron Rodgers to be its quarterback in 2025, but the 41-year old has yet to sign a contract as a free agent.
So at least for now, Howard is forced to learn quickly. That could help him in the long run.
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