Steelers Now
After dropping four of their last six games, nearly every ounce of optimism associated with the Pittsburgh Steelers’ red-hot start has faded into the abyss. If not for some surprising in-stadium chants from its fan base and the collective ineptitude within the AFC North, all eyes would have already shifted towards the 2026 NFL Draft.
Following what has turned out to be a truly disastrous offseason, this organization still has a good chance to host a playoff game should they be able to knock off the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday. But what happens if they fall short?
At that point, I think you have to consider making a quarterback change and use the final month of the season to evaluate Will Howard.
The Steelers and Aaron Rodgers‘ marriage seems to be coming to an anticlimactic conclusion, with the now-42-year-old ranking 24th in EPA/play and 28th in success rate this season. He’s still proven that he’s capable of operating quick-game passing concepts and disrupting the ball underneath, but it’s impossible to build a sustainable, threatening passing attack out of YAC alone. At this stage of his career, he can no longer function under pressure in the pocket, and it hinders the offense’s ability to stretch the field vertically. This is hardly a surprising outcome. After all, Pittsburgh was Rodgers’ only suitor this offseason, leading to him signing a cheap one-year deal. The unfortunate reality is that when you aim low at the sport’s most important position, you often get what you pay for.
That’s not to say that he’s the lone problem on an offense that currently ranks 19th in points per drive either. For the second year in a row, the pass-catching talent remains an unmitigated mess, and the scheme as a whole is hardly the gold standard for offensive innovation. Benching an all-time great won’t solve those issues, nor will it sit well with the future Hall of Famer himself. But it’s become abundantly clear that there isn’t a ceiling here worth continuing to pursue, no matter how underwhelming the AFC North is.
Howard finished the 2025 NFL Draft cycle as my QB6 with a late fourth-round grade and is someone that I felt that could develop into a quality backup quarterback during his rookie contract. Nabbing him with the 185th overall selection in the sixth round felt like nice value at the time given the uncertainty at the position in Pittsburgh. A broken pinky on his throwing hand caused him to miss the entirety of the preseason, which was a bummer, given that those exhibition games are a prime time to gauge the development of youngsters. The good news is that he comes with a plethora of starting experience capped off by playing some of the best ball of his career down the stretch during Ohio State’s run to the National Championship last season.
The skinny on his game is that Howard has excellent size and solid athleticism to make plays with his legs, whether as a...
