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Brooke Pryor
Pittsburgh – A quarter further down. One to go?
THE Pittsburgh Steelers Finally added to the quarter room by selecting the Ohio State Will Howard In the sixth round (185th in total), joining him in a group of posts with the former teammate of the State of Kansas Skylar Thompson And Mason Rudolph. Howard is the first quarter-Arrière selected by the Steelers since the team wrote Kenny Pickett with the 20th overall choice and Chris Oladokun in the seventh round in 2022.
The Steelers were clear that they plan to take four quarters to the training camp, which means that there is a place while the team is waiting Aaron Rodgers“Prolonged decision. The owner and president of the Steelers, Art Rooney II, said on Friday that the team “could be talked about soon” on Rodgers, who is a free agent for the first time after being released by the New York Jets Earlier this offseason.
“This is certainly a possibility,” said coach Mike Tomlin at the NFL Network on Saturday about the addition of Rodgers. “I’m not going to predict the IF and what not only about him, but any other potential free agent. We had really productive discussions with him, and I appreciated having productive discussions with him and knowing him. ”
In Howard, the Steelers landed a quarter-Arrière with a winning pedigree of the national championship after helping the Buckeyes in a title of his only year with the school. This experience – and his raised game during the playoffs where he launched 630 yards, five affected and completed 74% of his passing attempts – impressed the brass of the Steelers.
“You see him in the great moments of the low criticism possession, even in the national championship match, Momentum plays to end the game,” said the attacking coordinator of Steelers, Arthur Smith. “Extremely excited to work with Will.”
For the season, Howard completed 73% of his attempts, second to only Sheder Sanders As a percentage of completion among the FBS quarters in 2024. He also launched 4,010 yards, 35 affected and 10 interceptions when he helped Buckeyes go 14-2.
Howard is also the second Ohio State Player written by the Steelers this year after the team took the outside secondary Jack Sawyer in the fourth round.
“Jack and I are about as close as two guys,” said Howard. “I have always said throughout this process – one of those guys from Ohio State, I’m going to end up with one of them. And guy, I’m so happy that Captain Jack and I go to Pittsburgh together.”
During his career, including Four Seasons in Kansas State, Howard succeeded 9,795 yards, 83 affected and 35 interceptions and made 63.8% of his passing attempts.
Rooney said on Friday on Steelers Nation radio that any quarter-back added to the list thanks to the project would probably be a development project. This is a challenge that Howard said he kisses.
“This is not a question of what is happening in the field or if I play right away, it is a question of improving and it is a question of learning,” said Howard after being selected. “And whoever is in the room with me, whoever is there in competition with us, I can’t wait to dive into this situation and really give everything to this team, because that’s how I do things, guy. I don’t do things halfway, I’m going to do everything for me.”
Although the team did not welcome Howard during a sampling visit, the Steelers had an official interview with Howard at the NFL scouting combination and dinner with him at night before his professional day in Columbus.
“When you spend time with someone, you learn what it is and really how they interact with their teammates, what others think about the installation,” said Smith about what he learned from Howard. “I left, we all did, just extremely impressed by Will.”