Jack Sawyer Explains Why Steelers Are Getting a Steal in Will Howard
PITTSBURGH — Former Ohio State quarterback Will Howard fell to the sixth round in the 2025 NFL Draft, landing with the Pittsburgh Steelers at 185th overall. Howard was ranked as the No. 102 overall player on the NFL Mock Draft Database consensus big board, so it was surprising that he dropped that far.
Fellow Steelers rookie draft pick and Ohio State teammate, Jack Sawyer, was surprised like everyone else that Howard dropped to the sixth round.
“Yeah, I was surprised that he was still there (in the sixth round). Will is everything that you want in a quarterback,” Sawyer said at the first day of Steelers rookie minicamp. “Obviously, I’m biased because I won a National Championship with him, but he’s confident, he presents himself well, he handles himself well and goes about preparation really hard like I haven’t seen anyone else. Will’s a great guy, good leader, and I think he’s going to have a great career.”
Howard played a key part in Ohio State’s National Championship run last season. The 6-foot-4, 235-pound signal-caller has the tools to succeed. He stared down pressure well and set the Buckeyes’ single-season and career completion records.
Howard enters a Steelers quarterback room that includes Mason Rudolph and former Kansas State teammate Skylar Thompson. Howard isn’t getting head of himself with the opportunity he has.
“I’m just treating it like any other day, man,” Howard said. “I just wanna come in here, I wanna learn, I wanna get better — and that’s how I’m looking at this. Who knows what happens?”
The Steelers’ selection of Sawyer in the fourth round of the 2025 NFL Draft raised some eyebrows, as the outside linebacker position wasn’t a major need. The Steelers already have a solid trio in T.J. Watt, Alex Highsmith and Nick Herbig.
Steelers All-Pro defensive tackle Cam Heyward is happy with the Sawyer selection, however. He thinks Sawyer gives the Steelers a lethal four-man rotation at OLB.
“I think we were always looking for a third or fourth outside linebacker along with Nick Herbig. So, you know, when you’re able to have interchangeability between T.J. Watt, Alex Highsmith, and then bring on a Nick Herbig and a Jack Sawyer, that’s a hell of rotation,” Heyward said on his Not Just Football podcast when asked about the Steelers’ outside linebackers room. “It only creates for more havoc on the field, keeps T.J. fresh, keeps Alex fresh.
“And we know when we get T.J. Watt fresh in the fourth quarter, that kills a lot of teams. So, I’m looking forward to that.”
Sawyer is well-aware of the Steelers’ rich tradition at outside linebacker.
“It’s exciting for me, because it’s a standard to uphold,” Sawyer said about the Steelers’ tradition at OLB and playing under T.J. Watt, Alex Highsmith and Nick Herbig. “Obviously, I got three really good players in my room. I’m excited to put my head down and work and do anything I can to help the team and learn as much from those guys that I can.
Sawyer said Watt reached out to him after he got drafted.
“He’s the best edge rusher in the league. Being able to come in here and learn from him is going to be awesome,” Sawyer said of Watt. “Haven’t seen him around the facility, obviously, those guys aren’t here right now. But he did reach out to me after I got drafted, which was really cool.”
Alan Saunders and Brenden Howe contributed reporting from Pittsburgh.