Sometimes, when college football players transfer, they are looking for greener pastures that never come. There are countless examples of a player disgruntled and buried on a depth chart that makes a decision to transfer and just goes out of the frying pan into the fire — still stuck in the same type of scenario.
Will Howard doesn’t fit that description. There’s simply no doubt that his decision to transfer from Kansas State to Ohio State was a slum dunk. He may have gotten passed over as the starter in Manhattan to a younger guy, but found his way to the banks of the Olentangy where he became the leader and a star of an Ohio State team that went on a memorable run to the first ever 12-team College Football Playoff national championship.
Howard improved his NFL draft stock and is now looking to further his career at the next level, and there’s a good chance those dreams may have died had he stayed with the Wildcats.
But it’s more than what he did on the football field. Howard showed leadership, guts, and a work ethic that made his teammates and opponents take notice. It also made Jon Gruden take notice.
Gruden does something all football junkies have come to love. He sits with some of the top, draftable NFL quarterbacks and goes through a video segment titled, “Quarterback Class.” It’s a YouTube sensation that many can’t wait to see, and Howard was chosen to take part.
If you haven’t seen the segment, it’s well worth a watch, especially as an Ohio State football fan. We’ve added the full episode below thanks to Gruden’s X account. In it, you’ll come away impressed with Howard not only for how engaging he is, but his knowledge and command of the game, both with concepts and knowledge.
We don’t know exactly where Howard will go in the draft, but there’s no doubt he’ll hear his name called at some point. If he can translate the improvement he showed at Ohio State to the next level, there’s an organization out there that’s going to be awfully happy.
Contact/Follow us @BuckeyesWire on X (formerly Twitter) and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Ohio State news, notes and opinion. Follow Phil Harrison on X.
