Ohio State Buckeyes quarterback Will Howard is once again in the crosshairs, as he did not exactly have a great NFL Scouting Combine, and his draft stock has been called into question.
Howard is certainly not new to criticism, as he experienced it throughout all of 2024 and will almost certainly deal with quite a bit of it heading into the NFL Draft next month.
The 23-year-old understands how to deal with critics, so he should be just fine. However, another quarterback has stepped up to defend him in the wake of it all: Shedeur Sanders.
Sanders took to social media to fire a shot at Howard's doubters as the Scouting Combine came to a close, which was definitely rather surprising.
I don’t understand y’all hating on @whoward_ he just won a natty. It’s hard to throw to WR’s that you don’t know, everyone run routes different !
— Shedeur Sanders (@ShedeurSanders) March 2, 2025
The general consensus is that Sanders is one of the two best quarterback prospects in this draft class along with Cam Ward, but there are some who felt that Howard had a shot of being No. 3.
Howard's uneven showing in Indianapolis seems to have changed that, even after his brilliant performance throughout the College Football Playoff on the way to leading Ohio State to its first national championship in a decade.
The former Kansas State product threw for 4,010 yards, 35 touchdowns and 10 interceptions on the year overall, setting the Buckeyes' single-season record by completing 73 percent of his passes.
Howard has great size and decent athleticism for the position, but there have been some questions about his arm strength, and others have wondered if he was largely a product of Ohio State's uber-talented roster.
We'll see when Howard hears his name called at the end of next month.
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