One of the most noteworthy statements in the opening press conference of new Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike McCarthy was his unprompted praise of second-year quarterback Will Howard.
Howard was drafted by the Steelers in the sixth round of the 2025 NFL Draft out of Ohio State, and after suffering a broken finger in the middle of training camp, ending up not taking a single competitive snap in his rookie season, finishing the year third on the depth chart after Aaron Rodgers and Mason Rudolph when he eventually returned from the injured reserve list.
Howard, who won a national championship with the Buckeyes in his lone season in Columbus after transferring from Kansas City, was expected to be drafted earlier, but fell to the Steelers in the sixth round.
Despite that meager draft status, Howard has become a phenomenon among Steelers fans. The loudest cheer of the entire training camp at St. Vincent College in 2025 came for Howard's first team snap, and there are many fans that want him to start the 2026 season as the starter.
McCarthy didn't put out any fires with his comments about the young passer.
"I'm real excited about Will Howard ," McCarthy said at his opening press conference. "I think he's someone that I thought really came on there at Ohio State. I'm anxious to work with him."
There isn't much to go on when it comes to projecting Howard's potential NFL career, with his rookie season basically a wash. All there is to go on is what other teams thought of him last year, and that was for him to fall toward the bottom of the sixth round.
Obviously, quarterbacks from the sixth round have had success in the NFL before — Tom Brady , the greatest quarterback in NFL history, was a sixth-round pick. But he's obviously an outlier. What's likely? What's a reasonable expectation for a sixth-rounder's NFL career?
Seven-time Super Bowl champion Tom Brady before a Steelers-Eagles game on Dec. 15, 2024. — Ed Thompson / Steelers Now
The short answer is to expect him to not have one.
From 2000 to 2024, there were 50 quarterbacks drafted in the sixth round. Twenty of them, or 40%, never threw for a single NFL passing yard. Twenty-eight of them, or 56%, never started a single game in their NFL career.
Only five players (10%) have thrown for more than 10,000 career passing yards: Brady, Marc Bulger, Tyrod Taylor , Gardner Minshew and Derek Anderson . They're also the only five that have ever been a team's choice as a starting quarterback. Bulger was a six-year starter for the St. Louis Rams. Taylor started three seasons in a row for the Buffalo Bills from 2015-17. Minshew started for the Las Vegas Raiders for nine games in 2024 before being benched. Twice, he started more than 10 games after his team's starter was injured. Anderson had a three-year run as the starting quarterback of the Cleveland Browns .
Indianapolis Colts quarterback Gardner Minshew in a game against the Pittsburgh Steelers at Lucas Oil Stadium on Dec. 16, 2023. — Ed Thompson / Steelers Now
Even including the outlier that is Brady, the average numbers are bleak. The average career of a sixth-round quarterback in the sample is starting 14 games and throwing for 3,437 yards. The player in the group whose numbers most closely resemble the average is Jeff Driskel .
The median player, probably more representative of reasonable expectations, is Nate Sudfeld , who has never started a game and has 188 passing yards in his career so far.
Brady shows that anything is possible, and even a career like that of Bulger, Taylor, Minshew or Anderson would be a huge success for a sixth-round pick.
But the idea that Howard could become the Steelers' starting quarterback of the future? That looks pretty far-fetched based on the data.
Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Will Howard in a game against the Buffalo Bills on Dec. 1, 2025. — Ed Thompson / Steelers Now
| Year |
Player |
GS |
Yards |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 |
Tom Brady |
333 |
89214 |
| 2000 |
Marc Bulger |
95 |
22814 |
| 2011 |
Tyrod Taylor |
62 |
13033 |
| 2017 |
Gardner Minshew |
47 |
11987 |
| 2005 |
Derek Anderson |
49 |
10878 |
| 2006 |
20 |
4057 |
|
| 2016 |
Jeff Driskel |
12 |
2394 |
| 2014 |
10 |
2347 |
|
| 2003 |
Brooks Bollinger |
10 |
2226 |
| 2016 |
10 |
1882 |
|
| 2002 |
J.T. O'Sullivan |
8 |
1866 |
| 2009 |
8 |
1681 |
|
| 2012 |
Ryan Lindley |
6 |
1372 |
| 2004 |
Jim Sorgi |
0 |
929 |
| 2020 |
3 |
624 |
|
| 2023 |
2 |
597 |
|
| 2000 |
Spergon Wynn |
3 |
585 |
| 2021 |
3 |
573 |
|
| 2019 |
1 |
502 |
|
| 2014 |
2 |
477 |
|
| 2024 |
0 |
424 |
|
| 2018 |
2 |
416 |
|
| 2014 |
0 |
287 |
|
| 2010 |
Rusty Smith |
1 |
234 |
| 2016 |
Nate Sudfeld |
0 |
188 |
| 2003 |
Drew Henson |
1 |
98 |
| 2007 |
0 |
66 |
|
| 2010 |
Tony Pike |
0 |
47 |
| 2016 |
0 |
24 |
|
| 2003 |
Kliff Kingsbury |
0 |
17 |
| 2024 |
0 |
0 |
|
| 2018 |
0 |
0 |
|
| 2017 |
0 |
0 |
|
| 2014 |
0 |
0 |
|
| 2014 |
0 |
0 |
|
| 2010 |
0 |
0 |
|
| 2009 |
Tom Brandstater |
0 |
0 |
| 2009 |
Mike Teel |
0 |
0 |
| 2009 |
Keith Null |
0 |
0 |
| 2008 |
Colt Brennan |
0 |
0 |
| 2008 |
Andre Woodson |
0 |
0 |
| 2006 |
Reggie McNeal |
0 |
0 |
| 2004 |
Andy Hall |
0 |
0 |
| 2004 |
0 |
0 |
|
| 2004 |
Jeff Smoker |
0 |
0 |
| 2002 |
Steve Bellisari |
0 |
0 |
| 2001 |
Josh Booty |
0 |
0 |
| 2001 |
Josh Heupel |
0 |
0 |
| 2000 |
JaJuan Seider |
0 |
0 |
| 2000 |
Todd Husak |
0 |
-2 |
| |
Average |
13.76 |
3436.74 |
This article originally appeared on Steelers Now : What Are Reasonable Expectations for Steelers QB Will Howard?
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