Steelers QB Reveals Tough Start at OTAs

Pittsburgh Steelers rookie quarterback Will Howard impressed throughout rookie minicamp, but he admitted that the difficulty ramped up this past week as OTAs began.

“First day was a work in progress,” Howard said, per PennLive's Nick Farabaugh. “I didn’t feel great about my first day, just coming off the field. But it was a good learning experience for me. I wasn’t expecting to be perfect on my first day. I’m not going to be perfect. That’s the thing. You’ve gotta learn. Especially me being young, you’ve gotta be able to roll with the punches and know that you’re going to make some mistakes, especially being a rookie. It’s how you learn from it, come back from it and don’t get affected by that. The second I mess up and then get in my head and shut down, that’s when problems happen. I felt like Day 1, just wasn’t really comfortable yet, didn’t really know where my feet were, was a little off timing. And then Day 2 and 3, I think I’ve been a lot better.”

Howard, a sixth-round pick, earned plenty of experience throughout his collegiate career, but it's tough for players to simulate the speed, feel and complexity of the NFL before actually encountering it themselves.

“The speed of the game, the disguises the defense shows,” Howard said. “You look out there and you see Minkah [Fitzpatrick] and DeShon [Elliott] and you don’t really know where they’re going to. I remember just my first day of rookie minicamp, I remember there was a check. It was a one-high, two-high check. It looked like it was going one-high, but then it went two-high. That kind of stuff is all just different. It all happens a little faster. It’s slowed down for me over the course of the last three days, but just gotta continue to keep working and getting used to this level of football and this speed of football. I feel like I played at the highest level of college, so I have a good foundation. But nothing compares to this.”

Without Aaron Rodgers on the roster, Howard is currently serving as Mason Rudolph's backup quarterback at this stage of the offseason program.

The Pennsylvania native spent parts of four seasons at Kansas State, making 27 starts and throwing for a program record 48 touchdowns to go alongside 5,768 yards and 25 interceptions, before transferring to Ohio State for his final year of eligibility in 2024.

Howard subsequently helped lead the Buckeyes to their first national title in a decade, accumulating 4,010 yards, 35 touchdowns and 10 interceptions across 16 total games.

The 23-year-old has generated plenty of hype throughout his short time with the Steelers thus far, and while OTAs may have gotten off to a rocky start, it's a necessary learning experience that should aid Howard in the long run.