The Pittsburgh Steelers have spent the last few offseasons placing a Band-Aid on their quarterback problem. Kenny Pickett didn’t work out, and that’s left the Steelers looking for their next franchise signal caller. Unfortunately, that hasn’t been easy as they haven’t been in position to spend a high draft pick on a quarterback in recent drafts. While many fans hope that 2025 sixth-round pick Will Howard can be the franchise’s future under center, former NFL offensive lineman Jeremiah Sirles said Howard is fool’s gold.

Only he put it in blunter terms.

“I think Will Howard is terrible. He wasn’t very good in college,” Sirles said recently on his OLine Committee podcast. “I’ll never forget when he slid early against Oregon and lost the football game. There’s a lot of people like, ‘He’s a dude.’ No, he’s really not that good… Start Drew Allar, see what happens.”

It’s fair to say that the Howard hype has gotten a little out of control. He went in the sixth round for a reason. Few quarterbacks taken that late end up succeeding. Even fewer become franchise players.

Still, Howard wasn’t as bad in college as Sirles makes it seem. That mistake against Oregon was huge, but Howard made up for it later that season. Ohio State faced Oregon in the playoffs a few months later and avenged that earlier loss with Howard throwing for 319 yards and three touchdowns.

While he could’ve allowed that low moment against Oregon in the regular season weigh on him, he persevered and bounced back. He was instrumental in Ohio State winning the national championship that season. One poor decision shouldn’t take away from all the other good plays he had.

There are reasons to like Howard. He threw with good touch and accuracy in college. While he might be limited in other ways, he could develop into a decent player with the right guidance.

Also, it’s not like Allar is perfect. Even though he wasn’t a Day 3 pick like Howard, he had more low moments in college. That includes throwing a huge interception in the college football playoffs in 2024 that caused Penn State to lose the game.

Yes, Allar has a bigger arm than Howard, but Howard’s still got more NFL experience even if he missed most of his rookie season because of a hand injury. Additionally, he got to learn from Aaron Rodgers last season, which counts for something.

Both Allar and Howard have issues. Neither should be the Steelers’ Week 1 starter with each needing more development. The rest of this offseason should help determine where they are. Condemning Howard now doesn’t make a lot of sense, though. Let’s see him play in an actual NFL game before passing any kind of judgement, good or bad, on him.