Pittsburgh Steelers rookie quarterback Will Howard is finding his footing so far through OTAs as the team continues to prepare for training camp. The Steelers selected the Ohio State quarterback in the sixth round with the 185th overall pick.
In his one season with the Buckeyes after spending the previous four at Kansas State, Howard led Ohio State to their first National Championship since 2014. Howard threw 4,010 passing yards and 35 touchdowns, which ranked third for the most in a single season by an Ohio State quarterback.
With the Steelers, Howard is likely to be the third string at quarterback behind Mason Rudolph and Aaron Rodgers. The Steelers signed Rodgers earlier this week after months of speculation that he would be signing with the team.
Will Howard says 'speed' is biggest difference between Steelers and college
In an interview with reporters on Friday after Steelers practice, Howard spoke about the adjustment from college to the NFL.
"For me, it's the speed, the speed of everyone across the board," said Howard, via the Pittsburgh DSEN YouTube channel. "Obviously, in college, you got guys that are really fast, but everybody here is fast. I mean, you got D-linemen that are tracking you down and linebackers that run like DBs in college. That is definitely different."
While Aaron Rodgers is expected to be the starting quarterback for the Steelers, many fans believe that Howard has the potential to be a starting quarterback in the NFL. With Rodgers being 41 years old, it's hard to predict how long Rodgers' stint with the Steelers will last and if it'll even work, given his time with the New York Jets didn't go the way that many were expecting it would.
Along with the difference in speed form college to the NFL, Howard also has gotten used to the play calling in practice at the NFL level. Howard has outperformed his pre-draft scouting report, including an impressive performance at the NFL Draft combine. Howard is in a great position heading into Steelers training camp, and it'll be interesting to see how he continues to improve as the season approaches.