Player: QB Will Howard
Stock Value: Up
Reasoning: Will Howard might be the most talked-about sixth-round pick without a preseason rep in NFL history by now. The Steelers seem to be firmly on the bandwagon, at least to some extent, even with a new coaching staff. While the hype alone makes this a good offseason, he has a long way to go before starting games.
A sixth-round pick a year ago out of Ohio State, Will Howard already has an abundance of fans. Among them is Mike McCarthy, the Steelers’ new head coach, who has sung his praises a few times already. Given that he only has practice and college tape to go on, we should take that with a grain of salt. But given that this is still March, that probably goes without saying.
Will Howard did show some promise in training camp before suffering a freak hand injury. He missed the entire preseason, and spent much of the regular season on IR. But the Steelers did activate him, knowing he wouldn’t play, just to give him practice reps. And, of course, to take a look at him, having no future franchise quarterback in their back pocket.
The coaching staff that drafted Howard is gone—except for the QB coach, Tom Arth. Arth and McCarthy have some overlap, so it’s probably an opinion he trusts. And his college tape is obviously publicly available, while he has spoken about reviewing the Steelers’ practice tape on the young quarterback.
Still, while Will Howard might check a lot of “franchise quarterback” boxes, he has a long way to go. That starts with having a strong offseason and, you know, actually throwing footballs in games. Even the games that don’t actually count, which is all he’ll likely see this year.
Assuming Aaron Rodgers does return, Howard may not play a snap in 2026. It would depend on numerous factors, including his unseating Mason Rudolph for the No. 2 job. While he might do that, too many are accepting it as a foregone conclusion. Even if the coaching staff is in love with Will Howard, he has to earn a promotion by what he does on the field this year. He can’t do that in March.
With the 2025 season behind us and the new league year underway, we still have stock to take. Already promisinga year of change, they are shaking things up. That is unavoidable, of course, when you gut the coaching staff. Mike Tomlin’s resignation will fundamentally change this football team, including the playoffs on the roster.
After a long season, we have finally seen that this Steelers team is playoff-bound. But they also showed that their progress was actually minimal,since they made it no further. Two years in a row, with two different quarterbacks, they went 10-7 and lost in the Wild Card Round. The only differences are they ended the season on a higher note and won the division. But it didn’t help.
Recommended for you