Former Ohio State Star QB Had ‘Ugly’ Showing at NFL Scouting Combine
When transitioning from college football to the NFL, life can come at you quickly.
Less than two months ago, Ohio State quarterback Will Howard was at the top of the college football world, leading the Buckeyes program to its title since the inaugural College Football Playoff in the 2014 season. Over the past few days, he was looking to ride that momentum at the NFL scouting combine in Indianapolis at Lucas Oil Stadium.
Unfortunately for him, he didn’t quite have his best showing. In fact, Howard’s showing was so unimpressive that CBS Sports’ NFL draft insider Chris Trapasso went as far as calling it ugly and label him as one of the biggest losers out of all the quarterbacks.
“Howard was one of the biggest quarterbacks among this year’s group — unquestionably a positive,” Trapasso wrote. “While he deserves respect for testing, Howard had the lowest vertical and broad of the tiny collection of quarterbacks. Beyond that, he was noticeably inaccurate at all levels of the field during the throwing session, missing high and behind his targets. It was ugly.”
While Howard hasn’t been in the conversations to be a first-round pick as Athlon Sports’ Luke Easterling ranks him as the No. 9 quarterback in the class, there was a thought that he could possibly boost his stock in a big way.
Instead, Howard has ended up with a viral mixtape of his brutal misses when throwing to receivers.
The criticism online has gotten so bad that Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders sent a message to those going after Howard, expressing how difficult it is to thrive in a combine-like setting with new receivers.
“I don’t understand y’all hating on @whoward_ he just won a natty,” wrote Sanders. “It’s hard to throw to WR’s that you don’t know, everyone run routes different !”
Whether or not NFL teams will see it this way is to be determined, but Howard can redeem himself a bit at Ohio State’s pro day on March 26.
