Ohio State’s decision to sign Will Howard out of the transfer portal last January received mixed reviews at the time. Over the course of the year that followed, it became increasingly clear that the Buckeyes hit a home run.
Howard was ranked as just the seventh-best quarterback available in the transfer portal by 247Sports, and there were questions about Howard would be an upgrade over Kyle McCord, who left Ohio State for Syracuse when the Buckeyes declined to commit to him as the starter for 2024. Given that Howard had completed only 58.8% of his passes in four seasons at Kansas State, there was uncertainty about whether he had the passing prowess to lead Ohio State to a championship.
Those questions lingered for most of the offseason as Howard struggled as a downfield passer in spring practices that were open to the media and didn’t win the starting quarterback job outright until August. Going into the season, Howard’s ceiling at quarterback was viewed as one of the team’s biggest question marks along with its offensive line.
In the end, however, Howard proved to be exactly what Ohio State needed at quarterback all along. He wasn’t just good enough for Ohio State to win a national championship, he was one of the biggest reasons why the Buckeyes won it all as he got better and better as the season progressed, blossoming into arguably college football’s best quarterback by the time the Buckeyes hoisted the national championship trophy in Atlanta.
Following Ohio State’s win over Notre Dame on Monday, Ryan Day said Howard exceeded even his expectations, though Day always believed Howard was capable of leading Ohio State to its biggest goal.
“When I first met Will, I saw something in him, a football IQ, intelligence. I saw him play on film at Kansas State and win championships and win big games and be able to make an impact with his feet, but also throw with accuracy and anticipate throws. And those are things that are hard to find. And then you see a guy, you meet him, and his football IQ and maturity is what kind of captured me,” Day said. “But what I didn't know was how special his leadership is and his resilience and his positive mindset.”
Howard was excellent throughout the season, completing a school-record 73% of his pass attempts for 4,010 yards and 35 touchdowns with only 10 interceptions in 16 games while also rushing for 226 yards and seven touchdowns, but he was particularly great in the games that mattered most. Across Ohio State’s four College Football Playoff games, Howard completed 75.3% of his pass attempts (82 of 109) for 1,150 yards – good for a whopping 10.6 yards per attempt – for eight touchdowns with two interceptions, all the while playing some of the best defenses in the country and making some key plays with his legs.
Per ESPN’s Total QBR metric, Howard was so good in the CFP that he received a score of 90 or better (out of 100) for all four of Ohio State’s playoff games, giving him an overall QBR of 89.6 for the season – better than any other FBS quarterback in 2024.
What allowed Howard – who ranked 22nd nationally with a total QBR of 75.3 in his final season at Kansas State in 2023 – to elevate his play to an elite level in 2024? Howard credits Day, Ohio State offensive coordinator Chip Kelly and the rest of the Buckeyes’ coaching staff with pushing him toward greatness.
“Man, first and foremost, I owe so much to this guy sitting right next to me. He gave me a chance here and he bet on me, and I am forever indebted to him for that. Probably the best coach I've ever been around,” Howard said while sitting alongside Day at a press conference Tuesday morning. “I've never been coached this hard. I knew I was going to get coached hard, and that's what I needed. I needed that. And if it weren’t for me coming here to Ohio State and getting developed by Coach Day and Coach Kelly and Billy Fessler and Riley (Larkin) and all the guys in that room, man, I really wouldn't be the player that I am right now.”
Howard was pursued by several other marquee programs when he entered the transfer portal in December 2023, and he also considered the option of entering the 2024 NFL draft rather than using his final year of collegiate eligibility. Now that he’s a national champion, Howard knows he made the perfect decision by choosing to become a Buckeye.
“I came to the right place. I don't think I could have made a better decision for myself,” Howard said Wednesday while participating in a celebratory event with Jack Sawyer at Raising Cane’s. “Everything that this year meant to me, it was just amazing. And I'm just so thankful that God gave me a chance to be a Buckeye, man, because getting to be here and play with guys like Jack and getting to be a part of this brotherhood, it's truly like nothing else.”
Ohio State is equally thankful that Howard chose to be a Buckeye, and not just because of the plays he made with his arm and his legs. What truly made Howard the perfect fit for Ohio State’s national championship team was his leadership, which was the first thing mentioned by just about every Ohio State coach and player who was asked about Howard after the national championship game.
“His mentality, his personality,” Ohio State wide receiver Emeka Egbuka said when asked why Howard was the right quarterback to lead the Buckeyes to a title. “He was a perfect fit from the moment he stepped on campus, and he's a Buckeye through and through, and I wouldn't rather have anyone else lead my team.”
Howard consistently exuded confidence, poise and a strong determination to win throughout Ohio State’s championship season, and that rubbed off on the entire team. Day said Howard provided crucial leadership for the offensive line as it worked through the adversity it faced with two of its stars suffering season-ending injuries, and numerous players on Ohio State’s defense also touted Howard’s leadership ability after the national championship game.
“He's the best leader there is, the best leader out there,” said Ohio State cornerback Jordan Hancock.
Now that Ohio State’s championship season is complete, a new round of discourse about Howard will begin as NFL scouts and draft analysts debate how highly he should be selected in this year’s draft. Adding another layer to that debate is the fact that two other quarterbacks who were previously at Ohio State before transferring elsewhere, McCord and Quinn Ewers, are among the QBs who he’s jockeying for position with on the draft board.
Ohio State wide receiver Jeremiah Smith thinks the answer for where Howard should be drafted is clear.
“In my eyes, he's a first-round draft pick,” Smith said.
Any NFL coaches who ask Day about Howard will get a ringing endorsement of his pro potential from the Ohio State coach, too.
“When Will's feet are right, he is as good as anybody I've been around,” said Day, who was an NFL quarterbacks coach for two years before joining Ohio State’s staff. “His accuracy, his ability to see, the way he commands the team, his work he puts in. I think the thing that nobody is probably going to understand how much credit he deserves is how much he can take on. I mean, 90% of the calls that went in the other day (in the national championship game) had two or three plays into it. He's calling a play or two in the huddle and then checking the play at the line of scrimmage. That's NFL material right there. That's special. So whichever organization decides to draft Will is going to get, like, a pro day one walking in the door.”
Regardless of where Howard gets drafted and how well he ultimately fares in the NFL, what’s no longer up for debate is whether Howard was the right quarterback to lead Ohio State in 2024. He proved that beyond any shadow of a doubt by leading the Buckeyes back to the top of the sport, cementing his place in Ohio State history as a Buckeye legend even though he spent just one year in Columbus.
