Will Howard is now a part of the Steelers’ 53-man roster, and while he knows this is for development, he doesn’t want to let them down. He also knows that they didn’t have to give him this opportunity, so he wants to show that he’s grateful. To that end, he is making every effort to make the most of whatever opportunities he does see.
“It’s a blessing, and I’m really thankful that they made the decision to activate me,” Howard said, via the Steelers’ website, about activating him from the Reserve/Injured List. “It’s not necessarily like I’m coming up to play, but it’s more for my growth and development. That means a lot that they were willing to do that for me, and I just don’t want to make them regret it.”
A sixth-round pick out of Ohio State, Will Howard is not the Steelers’ anointed future franchise quarterback. But they do like him, and they want to see him develop. Unfortunately for both, he injured his throwing hand just before the preseason started. As a result, he missed crucial development and evaluation opportunities. With Skylar Thompson a viable third option, they put the rookie on IR.
But Howard recently implied that it was always the Steelers’ plan to bring him back this year. He just didn’t know where or when, but either way, he knows that’s out in front of him. While he understands he is working toward his own maturation, he is putting everything into his reps.
“It’s limited opportunities, but you have to maximize them,” Howard said. “Whatever it is, maximizing it, making it like real game reps as much as I can. If it’s reading the card defense and saying, ‘Hey, this is this concept,’ and trying to treat it as much like a real game as I can. But it’s just good to be out there and seeing real, live reps, live bullets.”
Thanks to his freak injury, Howard has never had the chance to play in an NFL stadium yet. And barring some kind of disaster, he’s not likely to do so until the preseason next year. But he should have the opportunity to dress, starting Sunday, as their emergency quarterback. And he’ll try to be ready in the unlikely event that both Aaron Rodgers and Mason Rudolph are hurt.
Despite lasting until the sixth round, Will Howard does have his supporters. One of them is Jon Gruden, a noted evaluator and former Super Bowl-winning head coach. While coaches have praised him behind closed doors, though, he knows he hasn’t shown anything yet.
And the Steelers are not about to change up their future plans in 2026 as it pertains to quarterbacks just because he’s here. No matter what he does in the next couple of months on the practice squad, it won’t make a difference. Unless Howard is forced into the starting lineup and wins the Super Bowl, they will be looking long and hard at quarterbacks next year. And he will do everything in his power to be in the middle of that conversation, all the same.
Recommended for you