The Pittsburgh Steelers have officially completed the 2025 NFL Draft. They addressed every pressing need and set up plenty of competitions for training camp. One of those picks was selecting quarterback Will Howard to add some stability to a very weak position group. He was projected as a third or fourth-round pick, so Pittsburgh got plenty of value from selecting him in the sixth round. Who knows exactly how he will develop, but it never hurts to take a chance on a National Champion and see if there is any way he can translate that to the NFL.
During the post-draft press conference, Head Coach Mike Tomlin was asked about the reasoning for drafting Howard, and he spoke about the end of the season for him and the Ohio State Buckeyes.
"I think, like a lot of people, how [Howard] responded to that adversity at the end of [Ohio State's] regular season, and the leadership, and playmaking that he displayed throughout the playoffs was really attractive, and it's really what NFL football is about," said Tomlin. "There's going to be some adversity. How you respond to it defines you and your football team, particularly from the quarterback position."
In the final regular season game in the 2024 season, Ohio State lost in a stunning upset to their biggest rivals, the Michigan Wolverines. Howard, in particular, had a bad game that allowed Michigan to stay in and steal victory away. Fans were calling for the head coach to be fired and for Howard to be benched after that seemingly catastrophic failure.
However, the Buckeyes showed who they really were. They seemingly had a free championship, as they completely annihilated the Tennessee Volunteers, top-seeded Oregon Ducks, and the Notre Dame Fighting Irish in three of their four playoff games, including the National Championship Game. The Texas Longhorns gave the Buckeyes a little more of a challenge, but a last-minute scoop-and-score ended Texas' hopes.
Howard was insulted and mocked by his own fan base in college for his poor game against a team that barely made it to a bowl game, let alone its biggest rival. That meant nothing to him, as he and his team mowed down four of the top 10 teams in the nation while barely breaking a sweat. In the end, he got the last laugh, and now he is a Steeler.
Offensive Coordinator Arthur Smith also raved about Howard's experience in big games during the post-pick presser when Howard was drafted. The fascination of his abilities during the College Football Playoffs is obviously not just Tomlin's thought. For a team that constantly ends up on long losing streaks like the Steelers at times, Howard's resilience can be a major boost to the whole team, whether he is a starter or a backup.
Steelers' Similarities And Differences To Buckeyes
Like Howard and Ohio State, the Steelers got punched in the mouth by their most-hated rivals, the Baltimore Ravens. Instead of using that loss to turn everything around, they lost every game from then on. The loss to Baltimore was the second defeat in the losing streak to end the regular season. However, they still got to play in the playoffs and prove that they did belong.
Unlike Ohio State, the Steelers got punched in the mouth even harder by the Ravens, and the game seemed to be over before halftime. Howard stood back up and kept fighting, while Pittsburgh seemingly accepted their fate and quickly moved on to the offseason. Hopefully, the rookie quarterback can help motivate his new team with how to handle bad games like that and rebound to greatness.
