{"id":54802,"date":"2025-06-10T02:59:20","date_gmt":"2025-06-10T02:59:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=54802"},"modified":"2025-06-10T02:59:20","modified_gmt":"2025-06-10T02:59:20","slug":"breaking-qb-will-howard-delivers-strong-message-on-fellow-steelers-rookie","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=54802","title":{"rendered":"BREAKING: QB Will Howard Delivers Strong Message on Fellow Steelers Rookie.."},"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\/06\/GettyImages-2202506318-2.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=780\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 820px) 95vw, 780px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/GettyImages-2202506318-2.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=780 780w, https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/GettyImages-2202506318-2.jpg?quality=15&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1100 1100w, https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/GettyImages-2202506318-2.jpg?quality=35&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1350 1350w\" alt=\"Will Howard JJ Galbreath\" width=\"780\" height=\"439\" data-img-load-time=\"134\" data-dom-ready-time=\"179\" \/><\/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 quarterback Will Howard sent a strong message on rookie tight end JJ Galbreath.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>There\u2019s been plenty of hype around\u00a0Pittsburgh Steelers\u00a0rookie quarterback\u00a0Will Howard. But during the final week of the team\u2019s offseason workouts, Howard gave a lot of love to another fellow Steelers first-year player.<\/p>\n<p>Howard shared with reporters on June 5 how well undrafted tight end\u00a0JJ Galbreath\u00a0has been doing in Steelers workouts this spring.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s the guy, man. We\u2019ve been doing a lot of work, us rookies together and walking through stuff after every practice,\u201d Howard said of Galbreath,\u00a0via The Pittsburgh DSEN. \u201cEvery rep that we don\u2019t get, making sure we bang those out.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI mean, shoot, JJ\u2019s been getting open for me.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Steelers announced\u00a0signing Galbreath as an undrafted free agent on May 9. In 45 games for South Dakota during his college career, Galbreath posted 93 catches for 1,355 receiving yards and 12 touchdowns.<\/p>\n<p>In his final season at South Dakota last year, the tight end registered 32 receptions, 469 receiving yards and four touchdowns. For his season, he received several All-American and All-Conference team nominations.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>Steelers Rookie TE JJ Galbreath Turning Heads at OTAs<\/h2>\n<p>Thanks in part to Howard\u2019s comments on the rookie tight end, analysts are starting to take notice of the Steelers\u2019 rookie tight end.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPittsburgh Steelers\u00a0rookie tight end\u00a0JJ Galbreathis impressing his teammates early on at OTAs,\u201d\u00a0wrote PennLive.com\u2019s Nick Farabaugh. \u201cWhen\u00a0Donald Parham went down, Galbreath was someone who stepped up with more chances, and proved he deserved those opportunities.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Furthermore, Farabaugh added Galbreath has been impressive in individual drills.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDespite standing at just 6-foot-3, 231 pounds, Galbreath ran a 4.67 40-yard dash and his explosion drills were impressive, too. He had a 38-inch vertical and 10-foot-3-inch broad jump,\u201d\u00a0Farabaugh wrote. \u201cEven his agilities were great, as Galbreath posted a 4.20 short shuttle and 6.02 3-cone.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Galbreath played through \u201ca nagging shoulder injury\u201d last fall, which may have negatively impacted his statistics. In 2023, he registered a career-high 36 catches, 579 receiving yards and five touchdowns.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>Galbreath\u2019s Opportunity With Donald Parham Jr. Injury<\/h2>\n<p>Galbreath\u2019s emergence is happening at a key time for the Steelers.<\/p>\n<p>ESPN\u2019s Adam Schefter reported\u00a0on June 3 veteran tight end\u00a0Donald Parham Jr. sustained a season-ending Achilles injury. The Steelers still have\u00a0Pat Freiermuth\u00a0and\u00a0Darnell Washington at the top of their tight end depth chart, but losing Parham hurts the team\u2019s tight end depth.<\/p>\n<p>Depth at that position is particularly key in Steelers offensive coordinator Arthur Smith\u2019s system.<\/p>\n<p>With the injury,\u00a0trade rumors that Pittsburgh could\u00a0acquire veteran tight end\u00a0Jonnu Smith\u00a0re-emerged.\u00a0The Steelers are also reportedly\u00a0interested in\u00a0Atlanta Falcons\u00a0tight end\u00a0Kyle Pitts, who previously played for Smith.<\/p>\n<p>But the best case scenario for the Steelers is Galbreath becoming a reliable depth tight end for Pittsburgh.<\/p>\n<p>If the rookie proves he can give quality snaps behind Freiermuth and Washington, the Steelers can continue to use two and three-tight end sets without needing to execute a trade.<\/p>\n<p>In addition to Freiermuth, Washington and Galbreath, the Steelers also have\u00a0Connor Heyward\u00a0on their roster. Heyward lines up as a fullback and tight end in Pittsburgh\u2019s offense and plays on special teams.<\/p>\n<p>Freiermuth finished\u00a0second for the Steelers with 653 receiving yards and had a team-high seven touchdowns during 2024. Washington registered 19 catches, 200 receiving yards and one score.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Getty Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Will Howard sent a strong message on rookie tight end JJ Galbreath. There\u2019s been plenty of hype around\u00a0Pittsburgh Steelers\u00a0rookie quarterback\u00a0Will Howard. But during&#8230; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":54806,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-54802","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: QB Will Howard Delivers Strong Message on Fellow Steelers Rookie.. - 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=54802\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"BREAKING: QB Will Howard Delivers Strong Message on Fellow Steelers Rookie.. - 24\/7 News America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Getty Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Will Howard sent a strong message on rookie tight end JJ Galbreath. There\u2019s been plenty of hype around\u00a0Pittsburgh Steelers\u00a0rookie quarterback\u00a0Will Howard. But during...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=54802\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"24\/7 News America\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-06-10T02:59:20+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Screenshot-2025-03-24-092539-8.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"551\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"387\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=54802\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=54802\",\"name\":\"BREAKING: QB Will Howard Delivers Strong Message on Fellow Steelers Rookie.. - 24\/7 News America\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=54802#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=54802#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Screenshot-2025-03-24-092539-8.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-06-10T02:59:20+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-06-10T02:59:20+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/4fd584257b8aaef08c4e2bc73ee6a914\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=54802#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=54802\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=54802#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Screenshot-2025-03-24-092539-8.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Screenshot-2025-03-24-092539-8.jpg\",\"width\":551,\"height\":387},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=54802#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"BREAKING: QB Will Howard Delivers Strong Message on Fellow Steelers Rookie..\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/\",\"name\":\"24\/7 News America\",\"description\":\"Breaking Stories, Real Insights&quot;\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/4fd584257b8aaef08c4e2bc73ee6a914\",\"name\":\"Admin\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ab07af1f129ef9c67f3a58e6273eac4d8eb51a1cb066ea995eb6d5f03eceb61b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ab07af1f129ef9c67f3a58e6273eac4d8eb51a1cb066ea995eb6d5f03eceb61b?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Admin\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?author=2\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"BREAKING: QB Will Howard Delivers Strong Message on Fellow Steelers Rookie.. - 24\/7 News America","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=54802","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"BREAKING: QB Will Howard Delivers Strong Message on Fellow Steelers Rookie.. - 24\/7 News America","og_description":"Getty Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Will Howard sent a strong message on rookie tight end JJ Galbreath. There\u2019s been plenty of hype around\u00a0Pittsburgh Steelers\u00a0rookie quarterback\u00a0Will Howard. But during...","og_url":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=54802","og_site_name":"24\/7 News America","article_published_time":"2025-06-10T02:59:20+00:00","og_image":[{"width":551,"height":387,"url":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Screenshot-2025-03-24-092539-8.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Admin","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Admin","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=54802","url":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=54802","name":"BREAKING: QB Will Howard Delivers Strong Message on Fellow Steelers Rookie.. - 24\/7 News America","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=54802#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=54802#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Screenshot-2025-03-24-092539-8.jpg","datePublished":"2025-06-10T02:59:20+00:00","dateModified":"2025-06-10T02:59:20+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/4fd584257b8aaef08c4e2bc73ee6a914"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=54802#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=54802"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=54802#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Screenshot-2025-03-24-092539-8.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/Screenshot-2025-03-24-092539-8.jpg","width":551,"height":387},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?p=54802#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"BREAKING: QB Will Howard Delivers Strong Message on Fellow Steelers Rookie.."}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/","name":"24\/7 News America","description":"Breaking Stories, Real Insights&quot;","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/4fd584257b8aaef08c4e2bc73ee6a914","name":"Admin","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ab07af1f129ef9c67f3a58e6273eac4d8eb51a1cb066ea995eb6d5f03eceb61b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/ab07af1f129ef9c67f3a58e6273eac4d8eb51a1cb066ea995eb6d5f03eceb61b?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Admin"},"url":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/?author=2"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54802","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=54802"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54802\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":54807,"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54802\/revisions\/54807"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/54806"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=54802"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=54802"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/usatoday.azontree.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=54802"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}