Will Howard, the Pittsburgh Steelers' sixth-round draft pick is being considered one of a NFL Draft sleeper.
Despite having been seemingly on the verge of signing future Hall of Fame quarterback Aaron Rodgers the entire offseason, the Pittsburgh Steelers used their sixth-round pick in the NFL Draft to select Ohio State QB Will Howard.
Howard, while a consistent winner in college, is a long-term investment for the Steelers, who have not been able to find a consistent, reliable quarterback since the retirement of Ben Roethlisberger. Still, Howard is being considered one of the draft's top sleeper picks.
“Like I said above, we all remain on Aaron Rodgers watch, assuming he’ll eventually join this roster,” NFL.com's Gennaro Filice wrote. “But Howard was discussed as an option for Pittsburgh throughout the pre-draft process, so it wasn’t surprising to see Omar Khan pounce when the quarterback remained available in the sixth round. A physically imposing guy at 6-4, 236 pounds, Howard looks like a Steeler signal-caller. His actual play over four years at Kansas State and one season at Ohio State was uneven, but he certainly finished on a high note, posting sparkling numbers during the Buckeyes’ four-game playoff run to a national title.”
Howard played five seasons of college football, the first four of which were at Kansas State before finishing at Ohio State. He started 43 games, threw for nearly 10,000 yards, and scored more than 60 touchdowns throughout his career.
At K-State, Howard led the Wildcats to an upset win over then-undefeated TCU in the 2022 Big 12 Championship Game to earn Kansas State its first conference title in a decade. At Ohio State, Howard led the Buckeyes to a national championship despite stumbling in an embarrassing loss to Michigan in their final game of the regular season.
As for the Steelers, Rodgers met with the team earlier in the offseason after the New York Jets made it clear they were moving on from the veteran yet polarizing quarterback. Despite that meeting reportedly going well, Rodgers has still not signed and does not appear in any rush to do so.
Pittsburgh executives, to their credit, said before the draft that Rodgers would not affect their strategy, which could explain why they took Howard off the board with the 185th overall pick.
The Steelers currently have three quarterbacks on their roster: Howard, Mason Rudolph, and Skylar Thompson.
