Another day, another radical Will Howard take.
The consensus on the former Kansas State quarterback seems to swing either direction pretty seriously. Outsiders and fans either love him or don't, as his position is questioned nearly every day as the Pittsburgh Steelers count down to the Draft in their backyard. The latest take was from Steelers insider Mark Kaboly, who shared his thoughts on a recent episode of 93.7 The Fan on KDKA-FM.
"It's a big difference from this staff and the last staff to me," Kaboly said. "Mike Tomlin would have never come out in March and February and tell you about a guy who has zero snaps under his belt and how excited they are about him. They're putting a lot of pressure on this guy right now."
To Kaboly's point, though, Howard's track record doesn't really help. Yes, a championship in his final season helped his case, but he was largely an NFL Draft afterthought before then.
Before his tenure with Ohio State, he spent four years with the Wildcats, largely rotating with Adrian Martinez, Skylar Thompson, and Avery Johnson. He set a few school records and had a solid career, throwing for 5,786 yards, 48 touchdowns, and 25 interceptions, while rushing for 921 yards and 19 touchdowns. Howard had some decent showings, but not enough to truly catch the eyes of anyone in the pros.
Perhaps if he transferred earlier, he would've had a different trajectory. But we can't work with theoretical situations, and the reality is that the Steelers took him with the No. 185 pick based on one outstanding year. So it's reasonable to be skeptical about Pittsburgh's willingness to go all in on Howard when it didn't show that much faith in him during the Draft process.
Still, Howard has an abundance of supporters, including his new head coach, Mike McCarthy, and last season's quarterback, Aaron Rodgers.
“I’m really excited about Will Howard,” McCarthy said about Howard. “I think he’s someone who really came on at Ohio State. I’m anxious to work with him. It would be great to have Aaron back, but Will and Mason - I’m really excited to get started with those guys.”
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