Will Howard is feeling settled in as a Buckeye now that he’s been at Ohio State for six months.
The Kansas State transfer quarterback had plenty to learn when he arrived at Ohio State in January, and there were evident growing pains this spring as he went through his first 15 practices as a Buckeye. As a result, the starting quarterback job remains open for competition entering preseason camp.
Howard still ended the spring by taking the first reps at quarterback in the spring game, though, and the starting job may still be his to lose when the Buckeyes return to the practice field in August. In the meantime, Howard has been continuing to prepare for his first and only season as a Buckeye after four seasons with the Wildcats by going through summer workouts alongside his new teammates.
He’ll go into preseason camp with a different level of confidence as he says he’s feeling “so much more” comfortable now than he did when he first arrived in Columbus.
“The guys have taken me in a ton, and being able to go through this second training cycle here, obviously we had the winter, spring ball, and then now this summer, I've really felt like I've kind of settled in,” Howard said Friday at the Special Skills Football Invitational. “The guys have been great to me, and we're really starting to come together as a team, I think. We've still got a ways to go, but we're on the right track.”
A 27-game starter at Kansas State who earned second-team All-Big 12 honors last season, Howard said he thinks the most important thing he needs to do during preseason camp is prove to his teammates that they can trust him as a leader.
“You know, there's a lot of different things I could say,” Howard said when asked what his goals are entering preseason camp. “I think just my leadership and making sure that I show up every day and show the guys how willing I am to work and how committed I am, and even if I slip up, taking ownership for it, and showing those guys that I really do care about them. And it's all about, we talked about it today, it's about doing it for the love of your brother.”
“We're really starting to come together as a team, I think. We've still got a ways to go, but we're on the right track.”– Ohio State quarterback Will Howard
Howard will face plenty of competition to lead Ohio State’s quarterback depth chart until Ryan Day names a starter. Devin Brown, Lincoln Kienholz, Julian Sayin and Air Noland all remain on the roster as none of Ohio State’s five scholarship quarterbacks entered the transfer portal following spring practices, giving the Buckeyes rare depth at the position.
Even though they’re all competing for one job, Howard says there’s no animosity between the quarterbacks. While all of them want to have the opportunity to play this season, Howard says they’re aligned in working together toward achieving the team’s goals of beating Michigan, winning the Big Ten championship and winning the national championship.
“It’s really good,” Howard said when asked about the camaraderie in the quarterback room. “We're all super tight, and the bottom line is that we all know what the goal is, and the goal is to win them all. And that's all that matters. We don't care who's out there, who plays; all that matters is the Buckeyes, and that's the thing I think that's the best about that quarterback room.”
