{"id":46297,"date":"2025-05-06T02:52:51","date_gmt":"2025-05-06T02:52:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=46297"},"modified":"2025-05-06T02:52:51","modified_gmt":"2025-05-06T02:52:51","slug":"breaking-steelers-will-howard-turns-heads-after-nfl-draft-weekend-playbook-request","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=46297","title":{"rendered":"BREAKING: Steelers\u2019 Will Howard Turns Heads After NFL Draft Weekend Playbook Request.."},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"post-featured-container-id\">\n<div id=\"post-featured\" class=\"wp-caption \">\n<div class=\"h-responsive\">\n<figure class=\"h-responsive__inner\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"attachment-featured-image size-featured-image wp-post-image\" src=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/GettyImages-2202506295.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=780\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 820px) 95vw, 780px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/GettyImages-2202506295.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=780 780w, https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/GettyImages-2202506295.jpg?quality=15&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1100 1100w, https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/GettyImages-2202506295.jpg?quality=35&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1350 1350w\" alt=\"Will Howard\" width=\"780\" height=\"439\" data-dom-ready-time=\"627\" data-img-load-time=\"1207\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wp-caption-text\"><span class=\"caption-credit\">Getty<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"c-post-image-caption-text\">New Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Will Howard is turning heads with the playbook request he made during NFL Draft weekend.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Ohio State quarterback\u00a0Will Howard\u00a0conveyed on Day 3 of the 2025 NFL Draft how\u00a0excited he was to be going\u00a0to the\u00a0Pittsburgh Steelers. Then the next day, he showed his excitement with a request.<\/p>\n<p>The Philadelphia Inquirer\u2019s Devin Jackson reported\u00a0on April 30 that Howard waited one day into his Steelers tenure before asking quarterbacks coach Tom Arth for the team\u2019s offensive playbook. According to Howard\u2019s mother, the quarterback wanted an early jump on studying the team\u2019s plays.<\/p>\n<p>It left Arth impressed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201c[Arth] wrote [Will] back and said, \u2018Hey, we were going to give you the weekend off, but this is why we drafted you, because it\u2019s the kind of worker you are,\u2019\u201d\u00a0said the quarterback\u2019s mother, Maureen Howard.<\/p>\n<p>When the story reached social media over the first weekend of May, it also left Steelers fans on X impressed.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLike I said, he\u2019s going to be the starter, and he\u2019s gonna be elite as well. Just watch,\u201d\u00a0wrote on X user.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI love having players on a roster that know what winning at high levels feels like and even if he doesn\u2019t win the job having a guy that wants to win on the roster is huge,\u201d\u00a0wrote another user. \u201cAttitude matters.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Steelers fans were already pretty excited about the team drafting Howard. It reached a fever pitch for some fans after they learned about his playbook request.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWill Howard will without a doubt be the greatest 6th round QB of all time,\u201d\u00a0wrote a Steelers fan.<\/p>\n<p>As the No. 199 overall pick in 2000, Tom Brady currently holds that title.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI had him as my number 2 QB on the draft boards only behind Jaxson Dart \u2026 but maybe he should have been number 1,\u201d\u00a0tweeted another Steelers fan.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>Ohio State Fans Express Displeasure Browns Drafted Shedeur Sanders Instead of Will Howard<\/h2>\n<p>Some Ohio State fans responded to Howard\u2019s early playbook request as well on X. Although it was unclear if the Buckeyes fans also support the\u00a0Cleveland Browns, they appeared frustrated the Browns picked other quarterbacks instead of Howard.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHey Browns fans, at least Dillon Gabriel is making tik ticks with his lady and Shedeur is walking up a hill,\u201d\u00a0tweeted a Buckeyes fan.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHoward played in a much more Pro Style Offense (Kevin Stefansi type),\u201d\u00a0wrote another Browns fan. \u201cHad options to call audibles at the LOS, played well under center, and is a proven leader.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019d take him 10 times out of 10 vs. either of the Browns picks.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPicking Dillon Gabriel over Will Howard or Shedeur Sanders shows why the Browns are the worst sports organization in all of sports history,\u201d\u00a0wrote another X user.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>Howard\u2019s Mother Delivers Message on QB<\/h2>\n<p>As exciting as adding Howard is for the Steelers, it\u2019s important to keep in mind 184 prospects went off the draft board before him. There\u2019s a reason for that.<\/p>\n<p>NFL draft analysts question Howard\u2019s arm strength. The prospect also only emerged as a star at Ohio State with all the top offensive talent around him.<\/p>\n<p>For Howard to become even a steady backup in the NFL, he\u2019s going to have to develop. But the quarterback\u2019s mother told Jackson that he is ready to put the work in for that to happen.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo one will outwork [Will],\u201d\u00a0Maureen said. \u201cI can guarantee you that he\u2019ll give it everything he has.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>At Ohio State last season,\u00a0Howard posted\u00a04,010 passing yards with 35 touchdowns. He also registered a 73% completion percentage while averaging 9.5 yards per attempt.<\/p>\n<p>Howard led the Buckeyes to a 14-2 record and national championship title.<\/p>\n<p>In four seasons with Kansas State prior to 2024, Howard recorded 5,786 passing yards and 48 touchdowns in 34 games. He also had a 58.8% completion percentage and averaged 7.4 yards per pass.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Getty New Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Will Howard is turning heads with the playbook request he made during NFL Draft weekend. Ohio State quarterback\u00a0Will Howard\u00a0conveyed on Day 3&#8230; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":46302,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-46297","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>BREAKING: Steelers\u2019 Will Howard Turns Heads After NFL Draft Weekend Playbook Request.. - 24\/7 News America<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=46297\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"BREAKING: Steelers\u2019 Will Howard Turns Heads After NFL Draft Weekend Playbook Request.. - 24\/7 News America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Getty New Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Will Howard is turning heads with the playbook request he made during NFL Draft weekend. 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