National Champion QB Sends Message After Landing With Steelers in Sixth Round

The Pittsburgh Steelers have added a new quarterback. During the sixth round of the 2025 NFL Draft, the Steelers selected Ohio State signal-caller Will Howard.

The Steelers grabbed Howard at No. 185 overall on Day 3 of the 2025 draft.

After hearing his name called in the draft, the quarterback celebrated with a social media message that the Steelers posted on X (formerly Twitter).

“What’s up, Steelers Nation. Just jumped in the pool with my family to celebrate,” Howard said. “Can’t wait to be apart of this. Can’t wait to get to Pittsburgh and get started. Let’s go.”

Howard led the Ohio State Buckeyes to the national championship during the 2024-25 season. The West Chester, Pa., native finished first in the Big Ten with a 73% completion percentage, 4,010 passing yards and 35 touchdowns last season.

Steelers Draft Ohio State QB Will Howard

NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport and ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported during their network’s respective draft broadcasts Thursday that the Steelers organization was split at No. 21 overall whether to select defensive lineman Derrick Harmon or quarterback Shedeur Sanders.

The Steelers selected Harmon at that selection. Sanders unexpectedly slid to Day 3, though, so the Steelers had another opportunity to draft the high-profiled quarterback. But they didn’t at No. 83 or No. 123 overall.

Syracuse quarterback Kyle McCord was another signal-caller the Steelers may have been interested in. McCord visited the Steelers during the pre-draft process, but the Philadelphia Eagles selected McCord at No. 181 overall.

The Steeler grabbed Howard four picks later.

Pittsburgh may have found value in selecting Howard in the sixth round. Some draft analysts had the Ohio State signal-caller landing with the Steelers in their predictions before earlier on Day 3.

“Once again, I nailed a QB mock pick — just a few rounds too late,” NFL.com’s Eric Edholm wrote. “Howard made sense as a poised, tough, big-framed project behind whoever signs as the Steelers’ starter (wink, wink).

“Stepping into a high-pressure environment at OSU, all Howard did was win a natty after a few missteps along the way.”

Howard began his college career at Kansas State. In four seasons with the Wildcats, he threw for 5,786 passing yards and 48 touchdowns.

During his first season with the Buckeyes, Howard’s completion percentage jumped from 61.3% to 73%. His yards per attempt average also increased nearly two yards per pass.

Ohio State’s receivers certainly helped Howard’s statistics. Howard, though, will have plenty to work with receivers D.K. Metcalf and George Pickens in Pittsburgh if he has an opportunity for any snaps with the Steelers first-team offense.

Aaron Rodgers Still Coming to Pittsburgh?

Edholm alluded to the elephant in the room for the Steelers — Aaron Rodgers. The NFL.com analyst strongly hinted with his Howard analysis that Rodgers will eventually sign in Pittsburgh.

As has been the case for most of the offseason, all signs point to that happening.

Steelers team president Art Rooney II didn’t really provide a new update. But while speaking on Steelers Nation Radio before Day 2 of the draft, Rooney indicated the team is getting the same signs from the quarterback.

“We’re still kind of getting the same signals we’ve been getting recently that he does want to come here,” Rooney said. “I do think we may get word soon.”

Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin appeared to make his own “wink” during an interview with NFL Network’s Rich Eisen on Saturday.

Eisen asked if the fact the Steelers didn’t draft a quarterback in the first five rounds meant the team was expecting Rodgers to come to Pittsburgh. Tomlin kept his answer brief, saying he would allow Eisen to make that connection because “he was going to anyway.”

Tomlin told reporters Tuesday that Rodgers wouldn’t have any impact on the team’s draft plans this weekend.

Now that the draft is complete, the question becomes flipped — did the draft do anything to influence whether or not Rodgers wants to join the Steelers?

Howard is an exciting young signal-caller, but his selection is unlikely to sway Rodgers from wanting to play for the Steelers (if that’s actually what he wants to do).