With the draft just less than three weeks away, the adrenaline rush is hitting hard. While Shedeur Sanders, Cam Ward await their potential first and second pick on the radar, the Ohio QB, Will Howard, tries to make his case a little stronger. The crown jewel of the defending champion team faced a tumultuous turn of fate ever since lifting the Natty. A bitter-sweet, rather, a sweet-to-bitter transition left his draft stock in the bus just within a month. Howard bestowed his best performance in the grey and scarlet and received a hero’s farewell. But it’s not just the numbers that matter. Fans called out major loopholes in his resume behind his poor NFL stock. When the league tries to cover it up, it comes out even worse.
After a long four-year stretch with the Kansas State Wildcats, Howard stepped into Columbus and immediately turned heads. In his first and final year with the Buckeyes, he racked up a total of 4,010 yards and 35 TDs. On the historic night at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium on January 20th, Howard finished it with a title-clinching catch against the Irish. All this heroics countered his early-season struggle a bit and earned him a coveted invite to the NFL combine.
But guess what, Howard let that go in vain as well, solidifying the critic’s stance that Day didn’t make the right call for the QB1 without taking a scanning time. He was reportedly inaccurate at all levels during the throwing session at Indianapolis. He missed multiple throws, going high and behind his targets. Howard managed to put up a 31.5” vertical jump and a 9.4” broad jump. It led to a 6.0 prospect grade overall. Pretty basic? Yes. But his timid attitude, nervous moves made it even more ugly for a QB coming fresh off a champion’s shoutout.
The draft masters continue to lower their bar, predicting a third round, a fourth round, or even worse for the former Ryan Day guy. But, it’s safe to say, there have been mixed feelings. Some analysts like Brent Sobleski still kept him higher on the “under the radar” prospect list. He sees him going smoother than expected, probably as a late second-round pick. It’s up for debate. But the NFL picked the greener side of the grass as they went on to the final social media promotion for the athletes before the draft night approaches. They compiled a bunch of highlights and posted it with the caption: “Will Howard is ready to take his championship pedigree to the next level. Where will he land? “
Fans vehemently answered the comments, signifying that the hollow hype clips had zero effect on their mind. Will Howard continues to be under the gun, so on and so forth!
Fans made Will Howard a laughing stock over the NFL’s exaggerated attempt to hype
No matter how bad Howard’s current impression in the league is, there have been hopes that he can still do better. Just because he needs some time to develop under the shadow of a QB1, he can have the tools to slide through the Raiders’ QB board under Chip Kelly ( his former offensive coordinator at Columbus), given they already have Geno Smith on the class as the frontrunner. But fans think he isn’t even worth a second backup call. “Argue w me if u want to. But this QB3 for me in the draft,” one fan devalued his stock even more.
Howard defended himself, doing pretty well in the combine, but the fans’ sentiment highly differs. They have him nowhere in the first round, second round, third round, and not even in the fourth round contention. In a humiliating projection, one user set the bar lower than ever, saying, “Future 5th round QB.”
One fan went too extreme with the backlash and said, “Let’s be honest here, this guy’s not getting drafted.”Some Ohio State fans have some very specific expectations for Will Howard. So to say, he just comes up and beats the Wolverines so bad that they struggle to get away with the blow. Howard certainly didn’t match that bingo card. Rather, he scored his season-low in the Game and, for the first time, scored multiple interceptions as a Buckeye in a single game. One fan vented out that frustration and wrote, “Notice how there are no highlights against Michigan.” Last but not least, another one joined the roasting club, saying, “Canadian league prob”.
How much insult is too much? Well, the sky is the limit if Howard fails to snag a decent NFL spot and proceeds well in his pro career.
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