The Pittsburgh Steelers may have found themselves a steal in the sixth round of the 2025 NFL Draft, as the team used the No.185 overall pick on Ohio State quarterback Will Howard.
The 23-year-old posted a magical 2024 campaign at Ohio State, raising his draft stock by tossing 35 touchdowns to ten interceptions and leading the Buckeyes to a National Championship win over Notre Dame.
Howard has promise at the next level and was one of the better quarterbacks in the nation last year. However, he still dropped to Round 6 and was the eighth quarterback taken. The 33rd Team’s Steve Palazzolo may have revealed the reason why so many teams passed on Howard before Pittsburgh added him late on Day 3.
“I don’t know if there’s anything specific fatally as far as the flaw, it’s just inconsistency,” Palazzolo said during an appearance on 93.7 The Fan. “The same description can be used on [Jalen] Milroe. There was some games where his accuracy is all over the place. He will overthrow receivers over the middle of the field a couple times a game it seems and his arm is not great. It’s good. I think he’s been touted as having a big arm, but it’s not great. It’s fine and the athleticism is kind of like a lower end Daniel Jones.”
Though Howard’s accuracy was inconsistent at times during his collegiate career, the Kansas State transfer still completed 73% of his passes during the 2024 season and ran an efficient offense under Ryan Day.
Obviously, Howard is still a raw prospect who will need some time to develop, hopefully behind an experienced veteran. However, he has the potential to become Pittsburgh’s quarterback of the future, and it looks like Howard is off to a great start.
Howard’s mom told Devin Jackson of the Inquirer that the young signal-caller asked Steelers quarterbacks coach Tom Arth for the play installs the day after he was drafted.
“[Arth] wrote [Will] back and said, ‘Hey, we were going to give you the weekend off, but this is why we drafted you, because it’s the kind of worker you are,” Howard’s mom, Maureen, revealed to Jackson.
MORE PITTSBURGH STEELERS NEWS
Cardinals trade proposal adds Steelers projected $94 million star playmaker for Kyler Murray
Did Aaron Rodgers display the real reason he hasn’t signed with Steelers yet?
Ex-Steelers WR Diontae Johnson’s bag fumble is complete after signing cheap deal with Browns
Read the full article here