{"id":47372,"date":"2025-05-11T02:19:40","date_gmt":"2025-05-11T02:19:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=47372"},"modified":"2025-05-11T02:19:40","modified_gmt":"2025-05-11T02:19:40","slug":"mike-tomlin-sends-clear-message-on-qb-will-howard-at-steelers-rookie-minicamp","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=47372","title":{"rendered":"Mike Tomlin Sends Clear Message on QB Will Howard at Steelers Rookie Minicamp.."},"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-2185261456-4.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-2185261456-4.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=780 780w, https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/GettyImages-2185261456-4.jpg?quality=15&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1100 1100w, https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/GettyImages-2185261456-4.jpg?quality=35&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1350 1350w\" alt=\"Mike Tomlin Will Howard\" width=\"780\" height=\"439\" data-img-load-time=\"712\" data-dom-ready-time=\"719\" \/><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"wp-caption-text\"><span class=\"caption-credit\">Getty<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"c-post-image-caption-text\">Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin addressed how rookie quarterback Will Howard is preforming at the team&#8217;s rookie minicamp.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>The longer the\u00a0Pittsburgh Steelers\u00a0go without being able to sign veteran\u00a0Aaron Rodgers, the longer Steelers Nation can dream about the possibility of sixth-round pick\u00a0Will Howard\u00a0emerging as the team\u2019s starting quarterback.<\/p>\n<p>Head coach Mike Tomlin didn\u2019t suggest Howard is anywhere close to being in the starter discussion yet. But during his first media session at Steelers rookie minicamp, Tomlin provided an overall positive update on how Howard has been performing.<\/p>\n<p>Tomlin also said the team is using rookie minicamp to get better acquainted with all of their rookies, including Howard.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe\u2019s doing great,\u201d\u00a0Tomlin told reporters. \u201cWe\u2019re at the very beginning of it. I don\u2019t know that we\u2019re looking at it through that lens in terms of evaluating him.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s more about getting to know him and just laying a good foundation that way.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Steelers added seven draft picks in the 2025 class. The team selected Howard in the sixth round of\u00a0the 2025 NFL Draft.<\/p>\n<p>Pittsburgh also has eight undrafted rookies attending rookie minicamp.\u00a0Several first-year and tryout players have been\u00a0in attendance at Steelers rookie minicamp as well.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>Steelers\u2019 Mike Tomlin on Will Howard, Rookie QBs<\/h2>\n<p>Before diving into Howard specifically, Tomlin spoke generally about what he likes to look for in young signal-callers, particularly in a rookie camp setting.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHuddle command and communication, the ability to regurgitate new information, and by new information, I mean information that\u2019s new to them, and so I don\u2019t want to underscore how difficult it is to receive some of the verbiage from a play caller and have to regurgitate it to 10 others that are waiting for it,\u201d\u00a0said Tomlin.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe giving and receiving of information is a central component of leadership at that position.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Steelers might be able to expect Howard to excel in that area.\u00a0Steelers Depot\u2019s Ross McCorkle argued\u00a0Saturday that \u201cthe mental aspect of Howard\u2019s game\u201d is where he really likes \u201cto shine.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHis 94th-percentile SAT score speaks to how smart he is, and the fact that he went from transferring schools to winning the national championship is further proof,\u201d\u00a0McCorkle wrote. \u201cHe had to pick up on a whole new set of lingo and play calls in an entirely different offensive system than K-State and lead his offense with it.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere were growing pains, but he got better as the season went on and was excellent in the playoffs.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>McCorkle also reference an answer Howard gave at the NFL combine about his mental strengths.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI can talk through pretty much any play. If you want to bring up a play, I\u2019ll tell you why I did what I did, what the read was, what the play call was, what the protection was,\u201d Howard said,\u00a0via McCorkle. I know pretty much all that stuff.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think that\u2019s one of the best parts of my game; I believe I\u2019m an elite processor; I can recall things like nothing.\u201d<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>Steelers Still Waiting on Aaron Rodgers<\/h2>\n<p>It\u2019s safe to state Howard is the apple of the average Pittsburgh fan\u2019s eye at the moment. After the draft, he endeared himself to the team and fan base with\u00a0instant messages of how badly he wanted\u00a0to play for the Steelers.<\/p>\n<p>The Philadelphia Inquirer\u2019s Devin Jackson reported on April 30 Howard asked for the team\u2019s playbook the day after the draft.<\/p>\n<p>All of it led to immediate hype for the quarterback. But while it\u2019s fair to be excited about Howard, the Steelers are still trying to sign Rodgers to a contract.<\/p>\n<p>That hasn\u2019t changed\u00a0even with the\u00a0George Pickens\u00a0trade Thursday.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFrom their end, [the Pickens trade] doesn\u2019t have any impact at all on whether [Rodgers] signs with the team,\u201d Dulac said while appearing on\u00a0The Dan Patrick Show.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s not clear if Rodgers\u2019 opinion of wanting to sign with the Steelers has changed with the trade. Then again, Rodgers hasn\u2019t really been publicly expressing a lot of excitement about playing for Pittsburgh anyway.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019m open to anything and attached to nothing,\u201d\u00a0Rodgers told\u00a0Pat McAfee on his ESPN show on April 17.<\/p>\n<p>If the Steelers sign Rodgers, Howard won\u2019t have as many opportunities for snaps this summer and preseason. But until the veteran signs, Howard is one of just three quarterbacks on Pittsburgh\u2019s roster, and one of the others was drafted even later than Howard was this spring.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Getty Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin addressed how rookie quarterback Will Howard is preforming at the team&#8217;s rookie minicamp. The longer the\u00a0Pittsburgh Steelers\u00a0go without being able&#8230; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":47373,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-47372","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>Mike Tomlin Sends Clear Message on QB Will Howard at Steelers Rookie Minicamp.. - 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=47372\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Mike Tomlin Sends Clear Message on QB Will Howard at Steelers Rookie Minicamp.. - 24\/7 News America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Getty Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin addressed how rookie quarterback Will Howard is preforming at the team&#8217;s rookie minicamp. 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