Many Pittsburgh Steelers fans were disappointed to learn that it was Mason Rudolph—not Will Howard—who began the team's 2026 training camp as the QB2. But perhaps there's a reason for that.
Howard, a second-year QB and 2025 sixth-round pick, has a cult following among the fanbase, thanks to his reputation as a national championship quarterback for Ohio State. Unfortunately, we just witnessed why Howard might not be as close to Rudolph in the backup quarterback race as we had hoped.
On Thursday, just the second training camp practice of the year, Howard had an egregious pass over the middle of the field that resulted in an interception. One fan in the stands at Saint Vincent College captured the moment on video... and it was as ugly as it gets.
On this particular training camp rep, Howard was in shotgun with trips-bunch to the right. But from the moment he snapped the ball, the young quarterback stared down receiver Max Hurleman. Howard proceeded to double clutch before letting the football loose amid a swarm of four yellow jerseys (that's the defense, by the way; the offense is in white).
This egregious decision resulted in an ugly interception—and perhaps the worst single play at practice so far.
While we don't want to read too deeply into one decision, these types of plays could point to what the Steelers' coaching staff is seeing from Howard so far.
Will Howard needs to improve decision-making if he wants to compete for the Steelers' QB2 role
I don't want to come down too hard on Howard for his interception on Day 2 of Steelers camp. I credit the young QB for hanging in the pocket (albeit in a no-contact setting) and looking to make a play deep over the middle of the field.
However, it was clear that Hurleman wasn't open and that this was the wrong read.
On this exact play, wide receiver Ben Skowronek threw his hands up in the air after getting wide open on a deep in-breaking route, while tight end Jaheim Bell was signaling for the football after dusting his defender on a slot fade.
After Howard released the ball over the middle of the field in Hurleman's direction, Bell's body language said it all. He threw his head back in frustration as Howard missed what would have been a wide-open touchdown with Bell down the right sideline.
The good news is that it's early. Head coach Mike McCarthy chose to have cameras everywhere for a reason. They'll take this one to the film room, and Howard will walk through what he should have done on this play.
The bad news is that training camp only runs for a few weeks, and with plays like this, it puts the nearly 25-year-old quarterback even further behind in the backup quarterback competition.
Will Howard could very well explode for a dominant performance before the week is finished, but plays like this are going to have Steelers fans quickly realizing why the sixth-round pick from last year is currently running as the third-string quarterback.
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