Exit Meeting: QB Will Howard
Experience: 1 Year
He may have done next to nothing as a rookie, but Will Howard is apparently one hell of a presence on the practice field. Despite failing to play even in the preseason, the 2025 sixth-round quarterback is riding a hype train into the offseason. And Pittsburgh is in no way bashful about it, including the team’s new head coach.
The Steelers hired Mike McCarthy to succeed Mike Tomlin, and discussions about Will Howard were a part of the interview process. McCarthy has spoken glowingly of Howard already on several occasions, despite no game tape to evaluate at the NFL level.
Recently, Steelers GM Omar Khan did provide some clarity, unsurprising as it is. Just before the preseason, Will Howard suffered a hand injury and he spent most of the season on IR. Toward the end of the year, they did activate him and he had the opportunity to practice.
Khan says that he and McCarthy evaluated Howard’s practice tape extensively. That, coupled with his college tape and pre-draft evaluations, are fueling the current intra-organizational enthusiasm. That, and the fact that right now they don’t have a starting quarterback. And it always helps a player when he hasn’t had the opportunity yet to fail. Until you prove you can’t do something, there remains the possibility that you can.
Right now, Will Howard is a blank canvas upon which we are free to paint the narrative of our choosing. It’s just as easy to tear him down as it is to hype him up. it’s undeniable that he has done nothing to prove himself just yet. It’s equally undeniable that he hasn’t had the chance to prove himself.
And that lack of opportunity doesn’t change his resume, his skill, his presence, or his intelligence. Howard has the look of a quarterback. He speaks like a quarterback, and by all accounts, he seems to have the mind of one. He impressed no less a quarterback authority than Aaron Rodgers, so that has to count for something.
But will he really have a chance to start for the Steelers in the near future, say by 2027 at the latest? History does not favor sixth-round quarterbacks developing into starters. Hell, plenty of first-round quarterbacks fail, though they’re at least given a chance to fail first. For Will Howard, he will very much have to earn the right to fail. Only then can he buck trends and have the opportunity to succeed.
The Pittsburgh Steelers find themselves licking their wounds after yetanother early playoff exit. This is a repeated pattern for the organization, but with major change coming. As the Steelers conduct their own exit meetings, we willgo down the roster conducting our own. Who should stay, and who should go, and how? Who should expect a bigger role next season, and who might deserve a new contract? The resignation of Mike Tomlin makes those questions much more difficult to answer, but much more important. We’ll explore those questions and more in these articles, part of an annual series.
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