It’s only April. The roster is far from set. The new coaching staff is still teaching new terminology. No pads are on. The presumed starting quarterback isn’t even signed.
But within all of that context noted, the Pittsburgh Steelers are operating with a timeshare at the top of their quarterback depth chart during voluntary veteran minicamp this week.
“This is a very beneficial time for Will (Howard) and Mason (Rudolph) right now,” coach Mike McCarthy said during a news conference Tuesday. “They split all the reps today and the last two days, and they did some great work. And when you see the improvement from one day to the next, that’s what you’re looking for.”
McCarthy outwardly maintained the status quo in regards to the status of 42-year-old presumed starting quarterback Aaron Rodgers, saying “nothing’s changed” but allowing that “I think Aaron is probably more in-tuned than we would realize.”
But while the Steelers wait for the four-time NFL MVP to officially sign to play a 22nd pro season, the work in directing the “football-in-shorts” glorified walkthroughs falls to the other two quarterbacks on the roster: eight-year veteran Rudolph and 2025 sixth-round pick Howard.
McCarthy on Tuesday described the demeanor of those two as, “All football.”
“You play quarterback in this league, the opportunity to command the huddle and be ‘the guy’ in those reps are so valuable,” McCarthy said. “So I think they both clearly had a better day today than they did yesterday, and that’s the norm. That’s how these things go.”
Howard is something of a fan favorite as a Pennsylvania native who led Ohio State to the national championship 15 months ago. But a hand injury during last year’s training camp prevented him from playing in even preseason games.
Since he was hired in January, McCarthy has repeatedly sung Howard’s praises. Now that he’s had an opportunity to get an up-close look at Howard throwing to teammates in a practice-like setting, what has his new coach seen?
“I think he’s done a really good job from (the standpoint of) what most rookies go through, they go to pro football and they say, ‘OK, I played at Ohio State,’ or ‘I played at a big-time place, won a national championship,’ and I think you realize that everybody in the locker room has a level of physical gifts, special individuals,” McCarthy said. “(Howard’s) level of conditioning and preparation, I know just meeting with him in January, compared to today, he’s had a really good offseason before the offseason. He’s in much better shape.
“I’ve been very impressed with his movement skills. We’re just two days into footwork drills, which we’ve been allowed to do the last two days, and I’ve been impressed.”