It was a dream come true moment for Will Howard when he lifted the golden trophy for Ohio State in 2025. It finally ended Ryan Day and the Buckeyes’ 10-year-long national championship drought, and once again a Big Ten school managed to win the title. This achievement saw a significant surge in Howard’s 2025 NFL Draft stock as he happened to catch the attention of several pro football scouts.
Lately, former NFL QB Kurt Benkert made eye-catching remarks about the young passer and revealed why he is a breakout talent.
Will Howard Draws Huge Praise Ahead of the 2025 NFL Draft
The Ohio State passer recently got invited to the annual NFL Scouting Combine event. He is one of the 15 QBs invited to the event and will probably showcase his arm strength and athletic abilities at the Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis this month.
One of the challenging tasks for him is to give his best in order to make himself noticeable to the GMs and scouts. Ahead of the draft, Benkert claimed the 24-year-old gunslinger could make the Steelers roster and happens to be a great prospect for Mike Tomlin to develop him into a future franchise quarterback.
“I found my Will Howard comp: Young Joe Flacco,” Benkert said per Sporting News.
“He can make any throw on the field, he’s athletic enough to move the chains on third downs, and he’s willing to stand and deliver with pressure in his face. He gets a little antsy from time to time, and to be honest, some of the throws that he misses are because he’s trying to throw it earlier than he needs to.
“This isn’t a bad thing, and it’s easy to fix, but he’s definitely a true pro-style quarterback. He’s got some moxie to him as well, which was cool to see come out on film. I could see him being a mid-round draft pick to somewhere like Pittsburgh,” he added.
This season, Howard threw for 4,010 passing yards and scored 35 touchdowns with a completion rate of 73.1%. He conceded only 10 touchdowns. Similarly, the youngster showcased his limited rushing skills for 226 yards and scored seven touchdowns on the ground.
In Pro Football Network’s latest 7-round 2025 NFL Mock Draft, Howard went at pick number 115 to the Miami Dolphins. Howard could end up slotting into a perfect backup role to Tua Tagovailoa, a position the Dolphins have been desperate to solidify for the last few years.