Former Ohio State football player Will Howard was the perfect quarterback for the Buckeyes as they went on to win the national championship. He helped the Buckeyes win it all thanks to his leadership, ability to run, and ability to hit timely passes. He was the perfect addition from the Transfer Portal.
After the Ohio State Buckeyes won the national title, Howard entered the NFL Draft. He surprisingly fell all the way until the sixth round when he was taken by the Pittsburgh Steelers. Early on in training camp, Howard was impressive, turning heads of both other players and the coaching staff.
Right before preseason games were getting ready to start, Howard suffered a fluke injury. He hurt his hand during a botched center-quarterback exchange and broke a bone in his hand. Now, he will miss the rest of the preseason and might lose a chance at making the team.
Former Ohio State football player Will Howard is at risk of being cut after a fluke injury
Howard was on track to possibly win the backup job in Pittsburgh behind starter Aaron Rodgers before the injury. Instead, he will now have to sweat out making the team after Skylar Thompson had a fantastic game in the first preseason game against the Jaguars.
The Steelers are only going to keep three quarterbacks on their roster. Rodgers is the starter for this season, and Mason Rudolph is the current backup. Rudolph, Howard, and Thompson are all fighting for the backup quarterback and third-string quarterback spots.
If Howard can't play at all during the preseason, he won't have an opportunity to show what he can do in an NFL system, and Thompson has a chance to prove that he deserves another job. With Howard only being a sixth-round pick, he is on the chopping block.
Howard has to hope that his performance in the limited practice reps he got is enough to keep him from being released by the team. His opportunity was cut short to do that in preseason, although he will be healthy once the regular season starts. He just has to hope he's still with the Steelers when that happens.
Even if Howard doesn't make the active roster, the good news for him is that he will likely still be signed to the practice squad. That still can't make him feel great, knowing that his NFL life is out of his hands right now.