Steelers Were ‘A Little Premature’ On Will Howard Hype, Mark Kaboly Says: Even ‘Flawless Camp’ May Not Save Him

Despite HC Mike McCarthy’s praise for Will Howard throughout the offseason, Mark Kaboly doesn’t see him on the 53-man roster. Not because of Howard, but just because of the situation the Steelers are in at quarterback. Even still, he questioned the approach the Steelers took publicly with the young quarterback this offseason.

“I still think the whole offseason ‘I really like Will Howard’ was a little premature. I think it was”, Kaboly said on 93.7 The Fan yesterday. And if we’re being honest, it very clearly was for a player who hasn’t even played a preseason game. As a reminder, McCarthy went so far as to say that Howard will be a starter in the NFL.

And he said that about Howard after the Steelers used a third-round pick on Drew Allar. Which tells me that the public messaging is very intentional and designed, in part, for Howard to hear. But Kaboly doesn’t seem to think he meant that if he believes McCarthy wouldn’t trust Howard to be the backup this year.

“I don’t even know that if he has a flawless camp you keep him, because they put so much into this year and I’m just not willing—or the organization should not be willing—to just go with a guy, a sixth-round pick, 185 overall, who has no career snaps, who played well maybe against Buffalo in the final preseason game, to maybe get us through a week or two when my 41-, almost 42-year-old quarterback has a toe injury”, he said of Will Howard.

To that point, fans may be all over the find-the-quarterback-of-the-future plan this year, but the Steelers are not. They want to win the Super Bowl, which is why they brought Aaron Rodgers back this year. The question is, are they prepared to let Will Howard be the backup with no experience at all? Kaboly clearly doesn’t think so, but that doesn’t mean he’s right. He could be, but we won’t know for months.

“They’re gonna have to make a hard decision on Will Howard here, and I think they’ll try to get him on the practice squad”, Kaboly said, adding that were it his decision, he would carry all four on the 53-man roster. “I would not try to dump Will Howard whatsoever”.

Yet, he believes that later this year, “they’ll have no choice” but to cut Howard when push comes to shove. I’m less convinced it will play out that way, because I’m less convinced the Steelers believe they need an experienced backup, just a qualified backup. And I’m also less convinced that Mason Rudolph is the qualified backup many believe. He’s fine, but he’s hardly irreplaceable.

Almost everybody agrees, rightfully I think, that Aaron Rodgers and Drew Allar are untouchable. The equation, then, is simple: do you keep Will Howard or Mason Rudolph, or manage both? One variable is the level of interest either would have around the league, which may not be as robust as Steelers fans might imagine. It’s possible that either one of them could wind up on the practice squad, realistically.