The 2025 quarterback class isn’t getting a lot of love in the media and talent evaluator circles, but scouting is inherently an imperfect science. Success isn’t exclusive to the first round and players slip through the cracks every year. Just look at Brock Purdy, who was drafted as the very last pick in 2022. He’s outdone the rest of that class by a longshot. Sometimes traits get overlooked, and other times players get into the perfect situation to thrive and grow into a viable starting quarterback. Could Ohio State QB Will Howard be one of those overlooked talents that goes in the middle rounds that ends up outperforming his peers?
“I still have that chip on my shoulder, man. I’m always gonna have that,” Howard said during his media session at the 2025 NFL Scouting Combine. “I love being the underdog and coming from behind, and I think that’s where I thrive and where I wanna be.”
It’s hard to paint the quarterback of the national championship team as the underdog, but Ohio State’s season wasn’t very smooth from start to finish.
They lost their first game pretty early on to Oregon and then inexplicably dropped another game to the unranked Michigan team in their final game of the season.
“It felt like the world was caving in on us after that last game of the year,” he said. “We still had to cling to hope that we could still win a national championship. And we did that. We banded together and said, no matter what, no matter how hard this feels right now, no matter what adversity we go through, we gotta stick together.”
Howard wasn’t a captain, but quarterbacks are natural leaders of the team. It’s impressive that the team was able to overcome those losses rather than let it ruin their season.
Other than his 2024 season, Howard didn’t have the smoothest path through high school or college either. He was a three-star recruit and initially played at Kansas State for four seasons. He didn’t become a full-time starter until halfway through his junior season. Nothing was handed to him as he worked his way up the ranks at K-State.
His K-State tenure didn’t go very well either. He had six losses over his season and a half as the starter and ended his time there with a 58.8 completion percentage.
He was looking for two very specific things when he entered the transfer portal after 2023.
“The two things that I was looking for in a school were developing as a prospect and developing my draft stock and competing for a national championship. One of those boxes checked,” he said. “The things that we went through this year, what I learned going into a new locker room, having to win over a locker room, all those different things really truly taught me so much.”
It definitely paid off as the national champion, but his individual stats showed major progression.
He led the Big Ten in completion percentage (73.0), passing yards (4,010), and touchdowns (35).
“My consistency definitely improved. Being able to up my completion percentage…I was more accurate. I think I was able to show more arm strength. I feel like I just developed in every aspect of my game.”
His season was solid, but he really had a chance to help his draft stock with a strong performance in the College Football Playoffs. He did that in a big way.
“I played my best ball when the lights were the brightest,” Howard said. “I think I proved to people that I am best when the pressure is on…I was able to really just let it rip. I was just being confident, throwing the deep ball well. I was being accurate. I mean being able to go 13-for-13 to start the national championship was one of the better starts I’ve had to a game.”
Those are the types of things that are tough to put a finger on when evaluating a player’s tape, but it absolutely matters at the next level.
Other than playing well under the brightest of lights, Howard was asked what his best trait is.
“I can talk through pretty much any play. If you want to bring up a play, I’ll tell you why I did what I did, what the read was, what the play call was, what the protection was. I know pretty much all that stuff,” he said. “I think that’s one of the best parts of my game. I believe I’m an elite processor. I can recall things like nothing.”
All of that culminates in an intriguing prospect that might be getting overlooked among Cam Ward, Shedeur Sanders, Jaxson Dart, Jalen Milroe and Tyler Shough.
“I was able to push myself and was able to show teams that hopefully I can be that face of the franchise,” Howard said. “I can be a starting quarterback in the NFL for a long time…I think I can be that guy for a team.”
The Steelers have shown interest in a number of quarterbacks throughout the process. Omar Khan and Mike Tomlin reportedly met with Howard and some of his teammates before the Ohio State Pro Day last week. We will see if they also have him in for a pre-draft visit.
Check out Alex Kozora’s full scouting report on Howard, where he gave him a second-round grade.
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