Former NFL HC Thinks Steelers Got One of Biggest Steals in 2025 NFL Draft
Former NFL head coach Jon Gruden thinks the Pittsburgh Steelers got one of the biggest steals in the 2025 NFL Draft in QB Will Howard.
The Pittsburgh Steelers 2025 NFL Draft class has received mixed reviews from the national media. But former NFL head coach Jon Gruden believes one player could be their saving grace.
Gruden thinks the Steelers are getting one of the biggest steals in the draft in quarterback Will Howard, who they selected with the No. 185 overall pick in the sixth round.
“I’ll go on record here. The Pittsburgh Steelers got a steal in Will Howard. Let me tell you something. That guy is a stud,” Gruden said on SiriusXM NFL Radio. “I think there are some guys that are pretty darn good in this year’s class. They just got to go prove it.”
Howard, 23, did fall much further than expected. He entered the draft ranked as the sixth-best quarterback and No. 101 overall player on the NFL Mock Draft Database consensus big board.
However, Howard is ready to prove all of his doubters wrong at the next level, just as he has throughout his entire football career.
Howard seems to have the tools to be successful in the NFL. He stands at 6-foot-4, 236 pounds and has the collegiate production to back it up.
In 2024, he led Ohio State to a College Football National Championship while passing for 4,010 yards, 35 touchdowns and 10 interceptions and rushing for 226 yards and seven more scores.
That’s why Gruden sees shades of a NFL MVP in Howard.
“I made the comparison to Josh Allen,” Gruden continued. “I said he’s 6-foot-4, 236. I want you to get a feel for how big this guy is, and he can run the direct power plays, he can run the zone reads. He has four touchdown runs of over 70 yards. He won big at Kansas State. He won it all at Ohio State, and he can play in cold weather, which you got to do to beat Buffalo or you got to beat Kansas City on the road, and not a lot of people can play in bad weather.”
Putting Howard in the same company as Allen is a bit premature, but they do have similar body frames. It seems like the Steelers are going to be patient with Howard, just as the Bills were with Allen at the start of his NFL career, too.
That will give Howard the best opportunity to be successful in the NFL, and just maybe prove Gruden right.