Despite being a sixth-round pick, the hype among Pittsburgh Steelers fans for quarterback Will Howard is unwavering. But what other fanbases may see as blind hope is quickly being justified as Howard continues to shine at Steelers training camp.
Of course, as a player competing at the bottom of the QB depth chart, he has to make the most of every rep. But Steelers fans have already seen that with his cadence alerting a blitzing nickel corner and delivering clean passes throughout team drills.
That’s why it isn’t much surprise that Will Howard received most of the reps with the third string ahead of Skylar Thompson in Friday’s practice, according to Nick Farabaugh.
Pittsburgh Steelers waste no time elevating Will Howard in practice rotation
While Howard won’t be leapfrogging backup Mason Rudolph, fans began debating on social media Friday what it would take for the Steelers to uproot their obvious plans to grab a quarterback in next year’s draft in Pittsburgh and ride with the national champion with Ohio State, instead.
Of course, it’s one step at a time. Howard is heading into his first preseason and is expected to get plenty of game action there to preserve Rodgers and Rudolph ahead of him. Still, that might just drive up the hype if he performs well in all three games.
Another aspect that is driving Steelers fans into a frenzy over the rookie quarterback is how open Rodgers has been about their relationship.
“He's been picking my brain,” Rodgers said recently. “I told him last night; he was in the room where he was talking about signals. I said, “What can I do for you?” I want to be a support system for him and pass on anything I can. I don't want to overstep my bounds. If he wants to learn anything or pick my brain and be in my pocket, I'm all for it. So, I'm looking forward to growing that friendship. But he has all the ability and the talent, and when his time comes, I think he's going to have a great chance to be a long-term guy in the league."
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Howard is already putting things he’s learned from Rodgers to work for himself, as the example of drawing in the nickel blitzer showcased.
It’s no doubt an uphill battle for Howard to stick as a long-term option for Pittsburgh. After all, he has less than a calendar year to truly impress the coaching staff and front office to keep him in consideration, and most of that will be as an inactive player on Sundays, barring total catastrophe.
Nonetheless, many Steelers fans are hell-bent on seeing him get every chance imaginable to be the quarterback of the future, no matter how long the odds.