It’s easy for fans to overvalue players drafted by their favorite team. You could certainly argue that is what has happened with sixth-round QB Will Howard. All 32 teams passed on him at least three or four times, and in some cases many more times. But it sounds like there are people throughout the league who share in Steelers fans’ optimism.
According to former NFL Network and current Bleacher Report insider James Palmer, someone made a rather lofty comparison for Howard and praised some of his traits.
“Will Howard has some traits that some people really, really liked in this draft,” Palmer said in a video on Bleacher Report. “I’ll be honest, big, strong, athletic guy. There was one comment that I thought was interesting. Somebody compared him, when I was talking in the draft process, to Jalen Hurts. Just kind of in terms of the physicality and the size he can run with. I think Hurts is a better athlete out in space, but I just thought that was interesting that somebody brought that up.”
To a much lesser degree, Hurts was somebody who got overlooked by the NFL. He slid out of the first round to the Philadelphia Eagles in the middle of the second round at No. 53 overall. QBs with first-round grades rarely make it out of the first round. There were obviously some positive traits to make the Eagles take Hurts at No. 53, but if anyone anticipated he would be a two-time Pro Bowler and a Super Bowl champion after five seasons, he never would’ve made it out of the first round.
Listed at 6-1, 223 pounds, Hurts is actually quite a bit smaller than Howard. At the 2025 NFL Scouting Combine, Howard measured in at 6042 and 236 pounds. That was near the top of the class in height and by far the most weight. Despite that size, much like a young Ben Roethlisberger, Howard is capable of running the football and winning with a combination of athleticism and size.
Ohio State ran more of a pro-style offense and didn’t have Howard using his legs as much, but he had 226 rushing attempts at Kansas State for 921 yards and 19 TDs. And when it really mattered in the College Football Playoffs, Ohio State had Howard carry the ball 16 times for 57 yards in the national championship game to help top Notre Dame and its excellent defense.
Check out our Jonathan Heitritter’s film room breakdown of Howard’s mobility. Mason Rudolph told the media that Howard has “lots of tools” in his early impression of him at OTAs. His athleticism is an underrated component of that.