Pittsburgh Steelers rookie quarterback Will Howard has received a lot of hype for a sixth-round rookie, with much of it coming from his College Football Playoff run with Ohio State.
James Palmer of Bleacher Report details that run, which opened the eyes of many in the NFL, with some comparing him to Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts.
“Will Howard has some traits that some people really, really liked in this draft,” Palmer said on Bleacher Report’s “NFL Insider Notebook.” “Big, strong, athletic guy. There was one comment that I thought was interesting. Somebody compared him, when I was talking in the draft process, to Jalen Hurts. Just kind of in terms of the physicality and the size he can run with. I think Hurts is a better athlete out in space, but I just thought that was interesting that somebody brought that up.”
Howard transferred into Columbus from Kansas State, where he was a multiple-year starter and team captain. During his season, the Buckeyes were an up-and-down offense but became an elite unit once Howard’s play took a significant leap in the College Football Playoff.
In his last collegiate season, Howard threw for 4010 passing yards, a career-high. With that, he posted a 73 percent completion percentage, another career-high mark. Howard had 35 touchdowns to 10 interceptions.
Despite falling past where he thought he would, Howard’s improvement over three days at OTAs is at least an encouraging sign the Steelers could find something more than a usual sixth-round quarterback in him.