Ben Roethlisberger raves over Steelers draft pick Will Howard

Former Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger was a big fan of Will Howard as the team’s sixth round draft pick. The former Ohio State and Kansas State QB really impressed the Steelers’ legend.

Howard’s perseverance late in the season and performance in the College Football Playoff sold Roethlisberger. In an uncertain quarterback room in Pittsburgh, Howard could be an intriguing option.

Howard was full of emotion when he was selected. And if he brings that passion to the Steelers, he could be a fan favorite.

“I’m really excited about this pick,” Roethlisberger said on Footbahlin. “Don’t know him. Heard some really good things about him. I just saw the clip that has been going around … You see tears coming down his face. I mean to me, that’s a love of the game, not caring where you’re getting drafted, not caring what round you’re getting drafted, being excited to get to the NFL. I think that that is what you want. You want a guy that wants to be here … Some guys can come in and just like, hey, this is my job. I’m just gonna go do it. Some guys, you gotta love it because from Monday to Saturday is work, Sunday is fun. You gotta love this game because of what it puts you through.” 

Howard was in the crosshairs when he slid and cost Ohio State a win over Oregon earlier in the season. But that’s where Big Ben loved the bounceback from Howard, considering he didn’t play well against Michigan either.

Ohio State went on a tear, beating Tennessee, Oregon, Texas and Notre Dame to win it all. Howard’s play elevated the offense.

“I talked about it here. I’ll say it again: when he played Oregon early in the season and he slid and basically lost the game, I’ll say it. Lost the game,” Roethlisberger. “And if we get Will on the show, I would love to talk about this. And I say you slid, you lost it. What was going through your mind as soon as that happened … And I’ve been there. I’ve thrown an interception at the end of the game when you were leading, you didn’t need to or done some, some sort of bonehead play. It just happens.

“You’re a competitor … it’s hard to keep everything perfect all the time, yeah, but what I said, and I stand by this, is, he didn’t let it keep him down. He probably was in that locker beating himself up … they went on and won a national championship. They beat some unbelievable football teams, and he played what I thought was really good football.:”