Steelers' Will Howard Receives Brutal Criticism from Former NFL QB

The Pittsburgh Steelers opted to pass on a quarterback early on in the 2025 NFL draft. Despite having multiple opportunities to select one, they opted to wait until the sixth round, where they selected former Ohio State Buckeyes standout quarterback Will Howard.

Howard was able to lead Ohio State on a magical national championship run in 2024. He started the season as a major question mark and ended it as one of the reasons the team made the run it did.

Entering the draft, Howard was one of the more intriguing prospects to watch. He has a good arm, but not an elite arm talent. However, no one can argue with the fact that he's a proven winner and has always defied the expectations set for him.

At this point, the Steelers have just two quarterbacks in their starting competition. Mason Rudolph and Howard are the two options right now. Aaron Rodgers could still sign at some point, but for now, Howard has a huge opportunity ahead of him.

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That being said, one former NFL quarterback has spoken out with brutal criticism for the former Buckeyes' star.

Chris Simmons shared his thoughts on Howard in a recent appearance on "Chris Simms Unbuttoned." His opinion is not one that Pittsburgh fans or Howard will love.

"Why isn't Will Howard being talked about as a first-round or a second-round quarterback? I don't know, because his arm is below average," Simms said. "He's not incredibly accurate, and he's not the greatest athlete in the world ... it's just the expectations."

In response to Howard leading Ohio State to a national championship, Simms fired back and brought up how good the team around him was.

"There's a bunch of first-round players on the football team with him," Simms declared. "[Howard] is getting the benefit of how awesome the team is there."

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Throughout the course of the 2024 college football season, Howard completed 73.1 percent of his passes for 4,010 yards, 35 touchdowns, and 10 interceptions. He also picked up 226 yards and scored seven more touchdowns on the ground.

Howard has faced doubts and criticism throughout his entire career. Now, he'll have a chance to prove Simms wrong and make him reverse his opinion.

Obviously, the Steelers are high on the young quarterback. Hopefully, he can prove them right in the coming years.

For more on the Steelers, head on over to Newsweek Sports.