{"id":202285,"date":"2026-05-26T03:00:19","date_gmt":"2026-05-26T03:00:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/202285\/"},"modified":"2026-05-26T03:00:19","modified_gmt":"2026-05-26T03:00:19","slug":"steelers-will-howard-could-be-pittsburghs-most-adaptable-qb-fourth-playbook-in-4-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/202285\/","title":{"rendered":"Steelers’ Will Howard Could Be Pittsburgh’s Most Adaptable QB: “Fourth [Playbook] In 4 Years”"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Pittsburgh Steelers<\/a>\u00a0have started going through Organized Team Activities under an entirely new coaching regime led by Head Coach Mike McCarthy<\/a>. As several rookies are being given the chance to turn heads, the team will look to find success through new philosophies and hit the reset button heading into the 2026<\/a> regular season. Aaron Rodgers<\/a>\u00a0is officially back with the team for a second season, and will reunite with his former head coach for the first time since they were together with the Green Bay Packers. He will also have the chance to mentor a couple of younger quarterbacks on the roster.<\/p>\n

\"Steelers<\/p>\n

Associated Press<\/p>\n

Quarterback Aaron Rodgers and Head Coach Mike McCarthy talking on the sidelines during their time in Green Bay with the Packers.<\/p>\n

With the team having not won a playoff game now in nine years, the organization was directly focused on retooling for 2026, rather than trying to rebuild entirely. General Manager Omar Khan<\/a>\u00a0did a great job supplying the team with more weapons on offense, which started in the offseason with a trade for wide receiver Michael Pittman Jr.<\/a>\u00a0The team then traded up in the 2026 NFL Draft<\/a> to select Alabama\u00a0wide receiver Germie Bernard<\/a>, to help keep attention off of Pittman and veteran wide receiver DK Metcalf<\/a>. For McCarthy, who is an offensive-minded coach, getting more weapons ahead of the 2026 season, compared to what they had last year, was a great strategy.<\/p>\n

However, looking beyond this season, the organization will need to find its long-term answer at quarterback. Insider Gerry Dulac\u00a0of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on Monday wrote that one young quarterback may be\u00a0setup for long-term success<\/a> already. Dulac cites that quarterback Will Howard<\/a>\u00a0has been in situations like this before, as he learns a new offense under McCarthy.<\/p>\n

“By now, Will Howard should be accustomed to learning a new playbook,” Dulac wrote. “After all, Mike McCarthy\u2019s offense is his fourth in four years. He feels Howard is ‘wired’ for the task.”<\/p>\n

Howard’s college experiences are a big sign of the challenges he has faced in his football career to learn new offenses. He transferred to Ohio State University\u00a0for the 2024 college football season from Kansas State\u00a0for his senior season.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Steelers'<\/p>\n

Harry How \/ Getty Images<\/p>\n

Will Howard of the Ohio State Buckeyes holds the Leishman Trophy after defeating the Oregon Ducks 41-21 in the Rose Bowl at Rose Bowl Stadium Jan. 1, 2025, in Pasadena, Calif.<\/p>\n

The 2024 season resulted in a college football playoff National Championship for him and the Buckeyes. He was then drafted by the Steelers in the sixth round of the 2025 NFL Draft. He’s yet to take a professional snap outside of practice, but Dulac believes Howard already has what it takes for the long haul.<\/p>\n

Steelers Have A Chance To Develop Howard With Rodgers’ Leadership<\/p>\n

With Rodgers’ return to the Black and Gold finally official, the team can now use his experience and leadership to help develop Howard, as well as newly-drafted quarterback Drew Allar<\/a>. McCarthy has also made his feelings publicly known<\/a> about the Ohio State product and it appears that he will have a great chance to win the starting job ahead of the 2027 season. For now, he has a great chance to continue to learn behind a 4-time NFL MVP during the 2026 campaign.<\/p>\n

\"Steelers<\/p>\n

Gene J. Puskar \/ AP Photo<\/p>\n

Pittsburgh Steelers QB Will Howard (right) watches as veteran QB Aaron Rodgers (left) gets ready to throw the football during a drill in the 2025 season at practice.<\/p>\n

Howard dealt with an injury during his rookie season in 2025 and ultimately never saw the field, even in the preseason as mentioned. With Rodgers turning 43 in December, Howard should be able to get a long look at the position in the 2026 preseason, assuming he stays healthy. Considering the praise his new head coach has given him, this gives the second-year quarterback a chance to audition a little bit ahead of the 2027 season for when Rodgers will seemingly decide to be done with his professional football career.<\/p>\n

Thoughts on Dulac’s comments? Be sure to follow us for more Steelers news!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Pittsburgh Steelers\u00a0have started going through Organized Team Activities under an entirely new coaching regime led by Head…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":202286,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[3269,6538,60466,564,13891,63989,41057,4917,89364,61956,8203,1418,57023,43210,73,75,74,25828,1833,1829,22891,84139,39813],"class_list":["post-202285","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-pittsburgh","tag-aaron-rodgers","tag-dk-metcalf","tag-drew-allar","tag-featured","tag-forum","tag-germie-bernard","tag-gerry-dulac","tag-green-bay-packers","tag-kansas-state","tag-michael-pittman-jr","tag-mike-mccarthy","tag-nfl","tag-ohio-state-university","tag-omar-khan","tag-pittsburgh","tag-pittsburgh-headlines","tag-pittsburgh-news","tag-pittsburgh-post-gazette","tag-pittsburgh-steelers","tag-steelers","tag-steelers-news","tag-university-of-alabama","tag-will-howard"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/202285","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=202285"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/202285\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/202286"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=202285"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=202285"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=202285"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}