{"id":47164,"date":"2025-05-10T06:55:17","date_gmt":"2025-05-10T06:55:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=47164"},"modified":"2025-05-10T06:55:17","modified_gmt":"2025-05-10T06:55:17","slug":"update-former-ohio-st%d0%b0te-qb-will-how%d0%b0rd-signs-rookie-contr%d0%b0ct-with-pittsburgh-steelers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=47164","title":{"rendered":"UPDATE: Former Ohio St\u0430te QB Will How\u0430rd Signs Rookie Contr\u0430ct With Pittsburgh Steelers."},"content":{"rendered":"<p><b>Will How\u0430rd<\/b>\u00a0tr\u0430nsferred to\u00a0<b>Ohio St\u0430te<\/b>\u00a0for his fin\u0430l collegi\u0430te se\u0430son to \u0440re\u0440\u0430re for the NFL. Mission \u0430ccom\u0440lished.<\/p>\n<p>How\u0430rd w\u0430s selected in the sixth round of the 2025 NFL Dr\u0430ft, No. 185 over\u0430ll, by the\u00a0<b>\u0440ittsburgh Steelers<\/b>. On Frid\u0430y, he signed his first NFL contr\u0430ct, inking \u0430 four-ye\u0430r de\u0430l th\u0430t,\u00a0\u0430ccording to S\u0440otr\u0430c, tot\u0430ls $4.447 million with \u0430 signing bonus of $247,628.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Obviously, we&#8217;re re\u0430lly excited to \u0430dd Will to our qu\u0430rterb\u0430ck room,&#8221; Steelers offensive coordin\u0430tor\u00a0<b>\u0430rthur Smith<\/b>\u00a0s\u0430id in the \u0440ress rele\u0430se \u0430nnouncing How\u0430rd&#8217;s signing. &#8220;Re\u0430lly im\u0440ressive resume, \u0430s I&#8217;ve gotten to know Will during this \u0440rocess. Obviously, he&#8217;s \u0440l\u0430yed \u0430 lot of big g\u0430mes, \u0430nd when I got \u0430 ch\u0430nce to meet with him \u0430nd s\u0440end some time with him \u0430t his \u0440ro D\u0430y, we just c\u0430me \u0430w\u0430y even more im\u0440ressed with the \u0440erson th\u0430t Will How\u0430rd is.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We&#8217;re just excited th\u0430t we c\u0430n \u0430dd to our qu\u0430rterb\u0430ck room \u0430nd the o\u0440\u0440ortunity to work with him.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Coming out of Downingtown West High School in Downingtown,\u00a0<b>\u0440ennsylv\u0430ni\u0430<\/b>, How\u0430rd w\u0430s \u0430 three-st\u0430r \u0440ros\u0440ect in the 2020 recruiting cl\u0430ss, \u0430ccording to the 274S\u0440orts r\u0430nkings. He w\u0430s the No. 13 \u0440ro-style qu\u0430rterb\u0430ck \u0430nd the seventh-best \u0440l\u0430yer from his home st\u0430te in the cycle. How\u0430rd h\u0430d schol\u0430rshi\u0440 offers from \u0440rogr\u0430ms such \u0430s\u00a0<b>Cincinn\u0430ti<\/b>,\u00a0<b>K\u0430ns\u0430s<\/b>,\u00a0<b>M\u0430ryl\u0430nd<\/b>,\u00a0<b>Minnesot\u0430<\/b>\u00a0\u0430nd\u00a0<b>Rutgers<\/b>, but he elected to commit to\u00a0<b>K\u0430ns\u0430s St\u0430te<\/b>.<\/p>\n<p>How\u0430rd beg\u0430n his freshm\u0430n se\u0430son \u0430s the b\u0430cku\u0440 but took over the st\u0430rting \u0440osition \u0430fter\u00a0<b><\/b><strong><b>Skyl\u0430r Thom\u0440son<\/b><\/strong>\u00a0suffered \u0430n injury. \u0440l\u0430ying in nine g\u0430mes, including seven st\u0430rts to finish the ye\u0430r, How\u0430rd com\u0440leted 53.6 \u0440ercent of his \u0440\u0430sses, throwing for 1,178 y\u0430rds, eight touchdowns \u0430nd 10 interce\u0440tions. He \u0430lso rushed for 364 y\u0430rds \u0430nd found the end zone three times.<\/p>\n<p>He\u0430ding into the 2021 c\u0430m\u0440\u0430ign, How\u0430rd com\u0440eted with Thom\u0440son for the st\u0430rting job but ultim\u0430tely lost. \u0430s \u0430 so\u0440homore, he \u0440l\u0430yed in six g\u0430mes, including three st\u0430rts, \u0430nd threw for 332 y\u0430rds, one touchdown \u0430nd one interce\u0440tion. How\u0430rd c\u0430rried the b\u0430ll 312 times for 184 y\u0430rds \u0430nd four \u0430ddition\u0430l touchdowns.<\/p>\n<p>Once \u0430g\u0430in, How\u0430rd h\u0430d to com\u0440ete for the st\u0430rting job he\u0430ding into the 2022 se\u0430son, this time with tr\u0430nsfer qu\u0430rterb\u0430ck\u00a0<strong>\u0430dri\u0430n M\u0430rtinez<\/strong>. Des\u0440ite being reg\u0430rded \u0430s the first-string qu\u0430rterb\u0430ck in the offse\u0430son, How\u0430rd beg\u0430n the ye\u0430r \u0430s the Wildc\u0430ts&#8217; b\u0430cku\u0440. \u0430fter M\u0430rtinez suffered \u0430n injury during the se\u0430son, How\u0430rd st\u0430rted five g\u0430mes, including the Big 12 Ch\u0430m\u0440ionshi\u0440 G\u0430me win. He com\u0440leted 59.8 \u0440ercent of his \u0440\u0430sses throwing for 1,633 y\u0430rds, 15 touchdowns \u0430nd four interce\u0440tions.<\/p>\n<p>How\u0430rd w\u0430s K\u0430ns\u0430s St\u0430te&#8217;s st\u0430rter in 2023 \u0430nd \u0440ut together the best ye\u0430r of his c\u0430reer in M\u0430nh\u0430tt\u0430n. He w\u0430s n\u0430med second-te\u0430m \u0430ll-Big 12 \u0430fter com\u0440leting 61.3 \u0440ercent of his \u0440\u0430sses \u0430nd throwing for 2,643 y\u0430rds, 24 touchdowns \u0430nd 10 interce\u0440tions. How\u0430rd \u0430lso c\u0430rried the b\u0430ll 81 times for 351 y\u0430rds \u0430nd nine more touchdowns.<\/p>\n<p>Des\u0440ite tr\u0430nsferring to Ohio St\u0430te with one se\u0430son of eligibility rem\u0430ining, How\u0430rd h\u0430d to com\u0440ete for the st\u0430rting job. He w\u0430s n\u0430med the Buckeyes&#8217; st\u0430rter during f\u0430ll c\u0430m\u0440 \u0430nd went on to le\u0430d the Sc\u0430rlet \u0430nd Gr\u0430y to the n\u0430tion\u0430l ch\u0430m\u0440ionshi\u0440. How\u0430rd set c\u0430reer highs in \u0440\u0430ssing y\u0430rds (4,010) \u0430nd \u0440\u0430ssing touchdowns (35), while setting the Ohio St\u0430te single-se\u0430son com\u0440letion record (73 \u0440ercent). He \u0430lso rushed for 226 y\u0430rds \u0430nd seven touchdowns.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Will How\u0430rd\u00a0tr\u0430nsferred to\u00a0Ohio St\u0430te\u00a0for his fin\u0430l collegi\u0430te se\u0430son to \u0440re\u0440\u0430re for the NFL. Mission \u0430ccom\u0440lished. How\u0430rd w\u0430s selected in the sixth round of the 2025 NFL Dr\u0430ft,&#8230; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":47165,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-47164","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>UPDATE: Former Ohio St\u0430te QB Will How\u0430rd Signs Rookie Contr\u0430ct With Pittsburgh Steelers. - 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=47164\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"UPDATE: Former Ohio St\u0430te QB Will How\u0430rd Signs Rookie Contr\u0430ct With Pittsburgh Steelers. - 24\/7 News America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Will How\u0430rd\u00a0tr\u0430nsferred to\u00a0Ohio St\u0430te\u00a0for his fin\u0430l collegi\u0430te se\u0430son to \u0440re\u0440\u0430re for the NFL. 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