Steelers Rookie QB Will Howard Compared to Recent Super Bowl Champ

Pittsburgh Steelers sixth-round rookie quarterback Will Howard has drawn comparison to a recent Super Bowl champ.

Pittsburgh Steelers rookie quarterback Will Howard fell to the sixth round in the 2025 NFL Draft, but that doesn’t many there weren’t any people around the league that thought highly of the 23-year-old.

Bleacher report insider James Palmer revealed someone compared Howard to Philadelphia Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts during the pre-draft process.

“Will Howard has some traits that some people really, really liked in this draft,” Palmer said on Bleacher Report’s “NFL Insider Notebook.” “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.”

Howard does seem to have the tools to be successful at the next level. He stands at 6-foot-4, 236 pounds and has the collegiate production to back it up.

In 2024, he led Ohio State to a College Football National Championship while passing for 4,010 yards, 35 touchdowns and 10 interceptions and rushing for 226 yards and seven more scores.

This isn’t the first time Howard has been compared to a highly-touted quarterback, either. Former NFL head coach Jon Gruden also compared him to reigning NFL MVP Josh Allen this offseason.

“I made the comparison to Josh Allen,” Gruden said. “I said he’s 6-foot-4, 236. I want you to get a feel for how big this guy is, and he can run the direct power plays, he can run the zone reads. He has four touchdown runs of over 70 yards. He won big at Kansas State. He won it all at Ohio State, and he can play in cold weather, which you got to do to beat Buffalo or you got to beat Kansas City on the road, and not a lot of people can play in bad weather.”

Putting Howard in the same company as Hurts and Allen is premature, but the Steelers are planning to do whatever it takes to help him have success in the NFL. Only time will tell if that will translate to similar production as Hurts and Allen.

This article originally appeared on Steelers Now: Steelers Rookie QB Will Howard Compared to Recent Super Bowl Champ