Will Howard has a good chance of winning the starting quarterback job for the Ohio State Buckeyes. Although the competition is still ongoing, it is almost a foregone conclusion that Howard will be the starting quarterback at the beginning of the year.
The real battle is between Devin Brown and Julian Sayin for the backup quarterback job. However, Brown seems to be winning this battle if nothing changes.
There are huge expectations on Howard’s shoulders heading into the 2024 season. After transferring from Kansas State, he is now in a great position to lead the Buckeyes to the national championship if all goes well.
Ohio State offensive coordinator Chip Kelly recently spoke about his quarterback and where he sees Howard currently.
“I think Will did a really good job in the offseason of working on the playbook and studying film so he knows where to run the football when a play is called.”
There are many legitimate questions about Howard and whether he is really the man who can lead the Buckeyes to the championship title.
During the 2023 college football season with Kansas State, Howard completed 61.3 percent of his pass attempts for 2,643 yards, 24 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. He also rushed for 351 yards and nine touchdowns on the ground.
Those numbers aren’t elite. In fact, they’re far from it. However, he didn’t have the kind of supporting cast and weapons he’ll have with the Buckeyes.
Howard is a completely unproven quarterback. The quarterback position is the big question mark that Ohio State must answer entering the season.
Although Howard faces more pressure than most quarterbacks in college football, he generally says the right things and performs well in practice.
Only time will tell if he’s the one to finish the season as the starting quarterback, but Kelly clearly likes what he sees from the young signal caller. There are plenty of reasons for optimism, but now it all has to play out on the field when the season gets underway.
