Why Will Howard deserves to be mentioned in the Heisman Trophy conversation

Will Howard has had a dominant season for the Ohio State football team according to every statistical metric. Through nine games he has thrown 22 touchdown passes, to just five interceptions and 2,237 yards passing. He also has a completion percentage of 74%, which is excellent.

The counterargument is that Howard is surrounded by elite talent, but someone must get them the ball, and Will Howard has constantly helped lead one of the best offenses in College Football.

Comparing him to Kyle McCord last year, his completion percentage of 74% is nine points better, up from 64% from McCord last year. He also has added a rushing attack to the offense. He has rushed for six touchdowns and several key first downs.

On the flip side, Kyle McCord rushed for zero touchdowns last year. An example of this was in the Penn State game, where he rushed for the first down on the last two plays of the game to ice the game. Will Howard’s ability to run the ball has added another dimension to the Ohio State offense.

Howard has been the leader of the number two team in the country. He stood up and admitted when he had made mistakes and that he needed to play better. You can tell that Howard is respected by his teammates and the coaching staff. I know that is necessary for the Heisman Trophy, but it shows how much impact has been made on this team. This is especially key since he has only been in Ohio State since January.

Will Howard has performed his best during the Ohio State football team's biggest games

Against Oregon and Penn State, two top-five road opponents, Howard played well overall and, for the most part, made plays when his team needed it. He threw for 508 yards, four touchdowns, and one interception. His quarterback rating was 163.5 in both games combined.

Now, for some context, in both games, he made some huge mistakes. Against Oregon, he made the blunder at the end of the game to cost them a game-winning field goal attempt by running out the clock. Against Penn State, he had an interception that was returned for a touchdown and a fumble that cost Ohio State a touchdown.  In the Penn State game, he rallied to help close out the game. Even with these mistakes, I think Howard has played well overall in these big games.

The Buckeyes are currently 8-1 in the year and have several big games left on their schedule. Ohio State has big games against Indiana, Michigan, and Oregon in the Big Ten Championship Game. If he plays well in all three of these games and Ohio State wins all three, he will be in the mix for the Heisman Trophy.

Howard has had a good year for Ohio State and should continue to play at a high level. No matter what happens, Ohio State feels like they have upgraded at the position and are happy with Will Howard as their quarterback in their quest to win a National Championship this season.