Ohio State’s Will Howard: ‘My mission is to make sure NFL teams regret not picking me’

Will Howard‘s collegiate career ended with him helping the Ohio State Buckeyes win their first national championship in 10 years. And now the quarterback is hungry to climb the ladder and prove everybody wrong again at the next level.

“I feel like my whole career, I’ve been overlooked,” Howard said in ESPN’s “Hey Rookie: Welcome to the NFL.” “I didn’t have an offer from Pit; I didn’t have an offer from Syracuse; I didn’t have an offer from Boston College, Penn State, Duke, North Carolina, none of those schools offered me [a deal]. I was trying for years, and I went to Kansas State, and I said ‘I want to prove those people wrong.’ I hope Penn State looks back and says ‘damn, we missed out on Will Howard.’

“When I get to the NFL, I don’t want you guys to miss out on me because every single team that picks a quarterback in front of me, I’m going to make it my mission to make sure that they regret not picking me.”

Howard, who grew up in Downingtown, Pennsylvania, spent the first four seasons of his college football career at Kansas State, where he was its primary starter as a freshman in 2020 and then took back the full-time starting role midway through the 2022 season in the wake of quarterback Adrian Martinez suffering a leg injury. After an impressive showing to end 2022 and playing well in 2023, Howard transferred to Ohio State for 2024.

In said 2024 campaign, Howard totaled 4,010 passing yards, 35 passing touchdowns, 10 interceptions and a 175.3 passer rating, while completing 73% of his passes. Howard’s passing yards, passing touchdowns and completion percentage all led the Big Ten.

Across Ohio State’s four games in the 2024 College Football Playoff, Howard averaged 287.5 passing yards per game and completed 75.2% of his passes. He also rushed for 226 yards and seven touchdowns on the season.

Jalen Milroe & Will Howard in Joel Klatt’s Top 5 QBs in 2025 NFL Draft

As for the quarterbacks whom Howard is vying with to be selected in the early portion of the draft, Miami‘s Cam Ward, a 2024 Heisman Trophy finalist, looks poised to be selected by the Tennessee Titans with the No. 1 pick, and Colorado‘s Shedeur Sanders could be taken in the top 10.

Ole Miss‘ Jaxson Dart, Alabama‘s Jalen Milroe and Louisville‘s Tyler Shough are prime candidates to be selected in the late first round/early second round. Other quarterbacks in the draft who had an impressive college career include Texas‘ Quinn Ewers, Oregon‘s Dillon Gabriel, a 2024 Heisman finalist, and Syracuse’s Kyle McCord.

Howard will learn his fate between April 24-26 in Green Bay, Wisconsin, site of the 2025 NFL Draft.

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