Will Howard

Nor does it mean he is a bust. Put him out on the field and see what he has.

 

he came into a completely different system and won a national championship. sure they had good players around him but don't you think he will have that here as well? he threw for over 4,000 yards. 35 TD's to 10 interceptions in that one year. most of those picks came earlier in the season. he learns and is coachable. can't ask for much more.

 

Well you will need a ton of time if your going to compile a list of 6th round busts. I dont think anyone is arguing that a 1st round qb is a sure thing, but if I had to make decision on a QB which could define me as a GM, I'm probably betting on the 1st round pick.

 

Is there a good OSU QB? They all seem to put up video game numbers in college as OSU outclasses almost their entire schedule by a country mile. Then they hit the NFL and the talent disparity evaporates and they struggle. Am I missing a recent OSU example? CJ Stroud?

 

Can a 6th round pick even be a bust?

Realistic expectations for a 6th round pick have to be no better than a coin flip to make a team.

It's too bad that he got hurt so early that we didn't even get to see him take snaps in the preseason.

 

I wouldn't get too excited about this.

Don't think anyone who wants to get hired is going to come in and **** all over the players on the roster.

I hope Howard ends up being the next Tom Brady. But so far he's just got an "incomplete".

 

Oh, for sure - but, since Howard was specifically name dropped by Art, allegedly speaking on behalf of MM, I figured it might be pertinent to this particular thread. There is a 0% chance that he would say anything bad about anyone, obviously, although I think it is at least mildly noteworthy that Howard was the only QB referenced two different times in the same answer.

My own personal thoughts regarding Howard are basically what I would describe as tempered by realism. It would be nice if we found Mr. Irrelevant-caliber, franchise-caliber QB in the 6th round, but I'm not exactly betting the house on it happening. I do find it almost crazy at times how boderline cult-like some Steelers fans talk about him, as if they fully believe that he's going to be the next Stroud or Brady. I'd love it if he was, but we haven't even seen him play yet.

 

Watch it now...we have people on this board that call 7th round picks busts all the time.

I believe I read someone call an undrafted rookie a bust a few years back.

 

They didn't have four healthy quarterbacks when those decisions were made. Howard was placed on IR before the season. Thompson went on IR Sept. 10 and I don't think he was ever activated.

Teams stash injured players all the time, so what they did with Howard wasn't unusual at all.

 

The Steelers did a good job getting pressure on him at times, which helped create the turnovers, but Stroud was panicking. That is why the turnovers were happening, and it is why they continued the following week, when he handed the game to the Patriots with four interceptions in the first half.

 

Well, yes... but that doesn't mean the kid can't play. Lots of young QB's have accuracy inconsistencies (his seem to stem from his weight transfer from time to time), and his arm is good enough to be in the NFL. I understand a reluctance to relying on a kid that's never played in the NFL to lead the team, but its a better option than a career back up like Mason. I'd rather lose with Howard and draft high enough for a high end QB in 27, than win 8-9 games with Mason somehow too.

The point I was trying to make is that as a college player, he's not really that far off the level of prospect that guys like Mendoza and Simpson are, and he shares a lot of the same pros and cons that Dak Prescott had coming out of school (who was also a day 3 pick, but came in as a starter and performed well as a rookie). I don't think there's "no hope" for him to be a good player. This is what we brought McCarthy in for... develop the QB. So he either develops Howard (or if we draft someone in April, develop them), or he's wasting our time as a franchise.

 

Except Mendoza doesn't struggle with accuracy issues his ball placement on those back shoulder throws are some of the best I have seen.

 

Howard was more accurate his final year of college than Mendoza was? And its not like Mendoza has a better arm or physical traits than Howard has either.

Mendoza throws a good back shoulder ball, yes... but that's his main throw. Miami showed the playbook on how to beat him. Pressure. He isn't just poor under pressure, he's dreadful because he is not good at throwing on the run. If you keep Mendoza clean and give him good weapons, he will play pretty well. Anything short of that and I can see him struggling. I think his ceiling in the league is Flacco, though with his ceiling being quite low, his floor is quite high. He's a good enough player to at least be as solid back up in line with Mason Rudolph (who I think Mendoza's game really closely resembles).

 

So, the exact same playbook that works on every other quarterback. Remember when the Chiefs seemed inevitable in 2020, then the Bucs beat them with overwhelming pressure on Patrick Mahomes in the Super Bowl? Remember the Giants beating Tom Brady's Patriots twice by generating consistent pressure on arguably the best quarterback in NFL history?

 

Why would they cut a guy when they can stash him on IR? Did you forget that the Steelers also stashed Donte Kent, one of their seventh-round picks, on IR in August and kept him even though injuries kept him out all season?

This idea that the Steelers made some special exception for Howard simply doesn't hold up.

What they don't normally do is hold on to four healthy quarterbacks, which they didn't do in this case, either.

 

The way he was literally beaten against the Texans I don't know if he will. And personally its time to move forward. He will just stunt the growth with Howard or another younger QB. Plus he would command a sizable payday all guaranteed i'm sure. Needs to get the most quality acid Maybe back as a QB coach.

I'm not saying Howard is the answer but how the hell are we going to find out? Preseason? Plus we have the Reindeer still around.

 

IMO most project QB'S fail being forced to play to soon..IMO another year with AR with a better system and better talent will set Will up to be the QB of the future ..I dont like Mason much I hope we trade him off somewhere..

 

IMO most project QB'S fail being forced to play to soon..IMO another year with AR with a better system and better talent will set Will up to be the QB of the future ..I dont like Mason much I hope we trade him off somewhere..