Will Howard has been an underdog his entire career. A Pennsylvania kid, he had few offers coming out of high school, not even an offer from either of his home state teams, Penn State or the Pitt Panthers. He ended up heading to Manhattan, Kansas, to play for the Wildcats before transferring to Ohio State, where he would become a Buckeye legend.

Will Howard, the quarterback out of Ohio State, was the pick for the Steelers. He is fresh off of leading the Buckeyes to a national championship win last year, and his draft stock took a huge rise from where it had been at the start of the 2024 college football season.

Will Howard, once considered a fringe Day 2 to early Day 3 QB prospect, found himself unselected until the sixth round of the 2025 NFL Draft — an unforeseen circumstance the Steelers would ultimately alleviate.