There's no question that Pittsburgh Steelers rookie quarterback Will Howard would've done well to see the field in the preseason. Of course, a broken finger has made that impossible, so he wasn't on the field for the Steelers' second game of preseason action on Saturday against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. However, despite not touching the field, the Pittsburgh quarterbacks that did play in the game for Mike Tomlin may have helped Howard's case in a big way without the rookie touching the field.
Put simply, the three quarterbacks that the Steelers put under center in Arthur Smith's offense on Saturday didn't exactly cover themselves in glory.
Mason Rudolph, the familiar veteran in Pittsburgh, threw only five passes and, while he complete three of them for 46 yards and a touchdown, he also threw an interception in his limited work. That was a theme for the Steelers offense, unfortunately, as well with Skylar Thompson and Logan Woodside also throwing a pick in the eventual 17-14 preseason loss.
Moreover, while Thompson had the best overall numbers, going 10-of-15 for 113 yards, he also showed limited pocket awareness, taking three sacks. As for Woodside, he proved that he's just a camp body to help accommodate Aaron Rodgers and Howard with the injury, going just 4-of-9 for 45 yards.
Will Howard gifted advantage over Steelers QBs without even playing
The truth of the matter is that Howard was impressive enough since being drafted in the sixth round, be that at the start of training camp or in minicamps, to have a favorable perception among the Steelers' staff. While the finger injury creates a disadvantage to some degree, the best thing working in his favor for a roster spot and potentially working his way to being Rodgers' backup is that no other quarterback option is doing anything to separate themselves.
Obviously, this isn't the normal conversation about a sixth-round rookie. But this isn't a normal situation in Pittsburgh either. Rodgers joining the Steelers all but confirmed as much, particularly with allusions to the idea that he could retire after one season in Pittsburgh. More importantly, though, the spotlight on Howard is even brighter with no real future option at the position in place.
That alone could give Howard an inroad to making the roster despite his finger injury. But that's only a case made stronger by the fact that his backup competition isn't separating themselves. The Steelers know what Rudolph is at this point, for better or worse. Thompson has had plenty of opportunities prior to coming to Pittsburgh, and the results have been middling. And again, Woodside felt expendable the moment he came to the Steelers in the past week.
Of course, that still leaves room for Howard to try and impress in any ways he can while recovering from his injuries and to take full advantage of any opportunities when he gets healthy. But if he was worried about anyone on the depth chart making a strong case to definitively take his roster spot, that doesn't seem like a concern any longer.