One of Aaron Rodgers’ roles with the Pittsburgh Steelers will be to help mentor rookie quarterback Will Howard. After just three days of working together, Howard said Rodgers has been a great mentor and helped make him better. And as Rodgers, who signed with the team last weekend, tries to get up to speed with Pittsburgh’s playbook and offense, he’s turned to Howard for some help.
“He’s a great mentor, has already treated me with the utmost respect and just been really good to me. And a guy like that, he doesn’t have to do that,” Howard said Thursday [via video posted by Steelers Live on Twitter](https://x.com/steelerslive/status/1933259412530926072?s=46). “So I really just appreciate him being willing to take me under his wing a little bit and give me pointers and tips here and there. There’s already some things he’s said to me that have already helped me. So I’m just excited to learn as much as I can from that guy and take everything he says and put it in the bank.”
Howard mentioned specifically that Rodgers has helped him with his five-step drop, and the tweaks he made he could tell were for the better during practice today.
“He told me on my five-step drops, ‘hey don’t get too wide on the top of your drop, keep your base a little tighter just so you can generate more force.’ And that was just something he said yesterday that already helped me out today. Out there on the field, I could tell, that was an impact for me.”
Howard said on the first day of team meetings, he helped Rodgers learn what the Steelers have added to their playbook.
“We found ourselves sitting next to each other in the unit meeting, it was pretty cool, it was day one, and obviously there’s some new things that we threw in, and he’s asking me, ‘hey what’s this again?’ And I’m telling him, and I’m like, what is going on right now? This is crazy, I’m telling Aaron Rodgers.”
Throughout the course of the year, there’s much more that Howard will be able to learn from Rodgers than vice versa. But Howard, who got an earlier start with Pittsburgh’s playbook and on the field with the Steelers ahead of Rodgers, can help him get up to speed with the playbook and learn Pittsburgh’s offense.
With the gap between the end of minicamp today and training camp, Rodgers likely won’t need any help knowing the concepts and figuring out the playbook. But through minicamp, Howard’s relationship with Rodgers has been mutually beneficial and it’s one that could grow throughout the year.
It also shows a lot that Rodgers isn’t looking down on the players already in the building and is open to asking questions about what he doesn’t know yet. He doesn’t have an attitude as a veteran quarterback who has accomplished a lot in the league and won’t ask for help, as he’s willing to turn to the rookie for help learning things he might not yet with regards to Pittsburgh’s offense.
Rodgers signed just a one-year deal, and the 41-year-old quarterback might not have more than one season left in the tank. Howard, while a sixth-round pick, could have the opportunity to compete for the Steelers’ starting job down the line, and soaking up as much information from Rodgers and learning from the four-time MVP will be important for his development. Rodgers has already been offering Howard pointers, and the more that continues and Howard can grow his game with Rodgers’ advice, the better it will be for him in the short and long term.
Rodgers [said in his introductory press conference](https://steelersdepot.com/2025/06/gonna-help-him-out-as-much-as-i-can-aaron-rodgers-found-his-spot-right-next-to-will-howard-in-the-meeting-room/) he sat next to Howard in the meeting room and is going to help him out as much as he can. Howard said he’s been encouraging any advice Rodgers can give him, and with a rookie willing to learn and a veteran willing to dole out advice, Rodgers could wind up being the perfect mentor.
It’s positive for the Steelers that Aaron Rodgers, even though he just got in the building, is already willing to take the step and dole out advice, even for the little things he sees with Will Howard, like his five-step drop, that could stand to improve. Jordan Love credited Rodgers for being a good mentor during his time in Green Bay, and Howard could find himself having a similar experience throughout the year with his relationship with Pittsburgh’s starting quarterback continuing to grow.