Former Ohio State Buckeyes quarterback Will Howard’s hopes of joining an NFL team in the draft next month suffered an obstacle when he had questionable throws at the scouting combine.
Howard appeared to put the memory of missed throws behind him with a solid performance at Ohio State Pro Day on Wednesday. He’s still unlikely to be a first-round draft pick, but a quarterback-needy team may be looking at him as a late-round selection.
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Will Howard drops back to pass during the pro day for NFL scouts at the Woody Hayes Athletic Center on March 26, 2025. (Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch/USA Today Network via Imagn Images)
Amid the hoopla over how he performed at the NFL Scouting Combine, Howard said it may have been Michigan Wolverines fans who began the overreactions.
“The combine, obviously, there were some things said about it afterwards, but I thought I did pretty well,” he said, via WBNS-TV. “I think, really, it was team up north’s fans blowing it out of proportion. I missed two throws obviously, but other guys did too.
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Former Ohio State Buckeyes quarterback Will Howard throws during the pro day for NFL scouts on March 26, 2025. (Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch/USA Today Network via Imagn Images)
“Obviously, it’s definitely better being here in this building with my guys. You’re more comfortable, but you always want to put yourself in uncomfortable situations. I wasn’t mad about it. I thought I did well at the combine and I got good feedback from people except pretty much the media. It is what it is, it’s part of it.”
Howard’s own analysis was more in line with what NFL Network draft analyst Daniel Jeremiah said about it during the workout in March.
He said Howard had a “solid” combine performance despite some of his balls looking “flat.” He added that Howard “looked very comfortable from under center.”
Fellow NFL prospect Shedeur Sanders even came to the defense of Howard.
“I don’t understand y’all hating on @whoward_ he just won a natty. It’s hard to throw to WR’s that you don’t know, everyone run routes different!” the former Colorado Buffaloes quarterback wrote on X.
Howard started his collegiate career at Kansas State and transferred to Ohio State before the start of the 2024 season. He led the Buckeyes to a national championship.
Ohio State quarterback Will Howard during the 2025 NFL Combine at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, March 1, 2025. (Kirby Lee-Imagn Images)
Howard threw for 4,010 passing yards and 35 touchdown passes in his lone season in Columbus.
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At the combine, he measured a 31.5-inch vertical jump, 9-foot-4-inch broad jump and scored 7.13 seconds in the cone drill and 4.33 seconds in the 20-yard shuttle.
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