There’s a Will, but apparently not a way.
Not a way to the Steelers’ starting quarterback job, anyhow, now that the team chose Penn State’s Drew Allar in the third round Friday and is still waiting hopefully on Aaron Rodgers (don’t worry; any day now).
Where does this leave Will Howard, maybe the most hyped sixth-round pick in NFL history?
Steelers brass talked up Howard all offseason, pandering to a fan base that loves him, making it sound like Howard was a selling point for prospective coaches after Mike Tomlin resigned. The candidates just couldn’t wait to work with him, team president Art Rooney II said.
Once Mike McCarthy was hired, he dutifully played along — maybe as a smokescreen to cover the organization’s interest in Allar, as it turns out.
“I love the way he plays the game,” McCarthy said, even though Howard had never even played a preseason NFL game. “If I was drafting players (last) year, he wouldn’t be around in the fifth or sixth round. I valued him higher than that. I think he’s a real prospect as a starting quarterback.”
General manager Omar Khan shovelled the biggest pile of horse bleep, unsolicited at the NFL Scouting Combine.
“We’re excited to work with Will,” Khan said. “Coach McCarthy, he’s talked about how much he liked Will coming out, and him and I have spent some time watching his (Steelers) practice tape. Obviously, we didn’t have the ability to watch him in games, which would’ve been good. He got hurt in the preseason.
“But we watched all the practice tape and saw the progression, and there’s some exciting stuff to see.”
Well, we’ll always have the practice tape, I suppose, but I do not see a viable path for Howard unless there are injuries in front of him. Allar is clearly the better prospect and was just drafted 109 spots ahead of Howard.
Allar didn’t win the big games in college (0-6 against top-five opponents) but he has the bigger arm and those big hands that McCarthy and Khan seem to value so much in an “AFC North” quarterback (never mind that Joe Burrow and Lamar Jackson have toddler hands).
Howard did win the big games, including the biggest one of all, but a quick look at recent national championship quarterbacks reveals how little that means at the next level. Josh Heupel, Ken Dorsey, Craig Krenzel, Matt Mauck, Matt Leinart, Chris Leak, Matt Flynn, Tim Tebow (twice), Greg McElroy, A.J. McCarron, Stetson Bennett (twice), Jake Coker and Cardale Jones won national titles, too.
Now let’s talk about the impossibility of developing multiple young quarterbacks at the same time.
Let’s assume Rodgers returns and Mason Rudolph is jettisoned (though for all I know he’ll stick around). It simply isn’t realistic to pour the required time, attention and practice reps into two project quarterbacks behind your starter. One will be shortchanged. One must be put in front of the other, unless you resort to playing ridiculous games like switching the reps behind Rodgers and trying to please everyone. That would leave both players shortchanged.
Somebody has to take the back seat, and based on where they were picked, plus the disparity in physical talent, smart money says that somebody will be Howard. His best hope is that he outplays Allar in a pressurized situation — like everyone else has — in limited reps.
Also, what about next year? That’s supposedly a better year for college quarterbacks. How could it not be? The Steelers should be aiming to move up as high as possible (assuming they finish 10-8 again after a horrific playoff loss) to target the next face of their franchise, instead of wasting draft picks on lottery tickets.
But how can you do that now that you have two project quarterbacks on your hands, including one you just took 76th overall? How can you make a fair evaluation on Allar, or Howard for that matter, if neither plays this season?
Now, if the Allar pick signaled that Rodgers is retiring? Oh boy. Then we have a better story. Then we have a Will Howard-Drew Allar quarterback controversy.
Sign me up for that.