With Thursday's announcement making his starter status official, Ohio State quarterback Will Howard enters the 2024 season as possibly the most important college football player in the country.
In what coach Ryan Day is deeming a national championship-or-bust season in Columbus, Howard must deliver. The transfer quarterback from Kansas State has all the attributes to be enough, especially with a star-studded supporting cast for the No. 2 Buckeyes, but an up and down last 12 months naturally led to questions about whether he will be enough.
From having to fend off a hard-charging Avery Johnson last season at Kansas State to navigating a wild transfer portal market to a first spring at Ohio State that elicited mixed reviews, Howard entered fall camp as a seasoned, been-there-done-that 22-year-old (he will be 23 in September) who had tasted just about everything the modern college football experience can present a quarterback. and yet he was in a five-man quarterback battle that wasn't guaranteed to go his way.
But he showed up to fall camp leaner with better throwing velocity and more sure of himself in a Chip-Kelly orchestrated offense. He used the adversity of the last year to power growth displayed in fall camp that now has him ready to lead will be a high-octane Buckeyes offense.
"He went through a lot of stuff that a lot of guys would have folded over and he made it through victorious regardless what perception could be," said Vernard Abrams, who has worked with Howard since he was a high school sophomore.
Abrams knew Howard had something special the first time he saw him throw back in 2017. He's helped shepherd him from being a "tall, lanky kid" into one of the most productive returning quarterbacks in college football. He was there when at one point it looked like Howard would head to an Ivy League school before Kansas State offered and again when he became one of the most sought-after quarterbacks in the transfer portal market with a NIL starting price of more than $500,000, according to sources familiar with his value. Ohio State spent about $20 million on its superteam roster, athletics director Ross Bjork told Yahoo! Sports.
When Howard ultimately picked Ohio State after also visiting Miami and USC, he arrived on campus as the presumed starter. He had started 28 games at Kansas State, racking up 5,786 passing yards and 48 touchdowns plus 19 rushing touchdowns. He guided the Wildcats to the 2022 Big 12 Championship. It wasn't always smooth in 2023 for Howard, however, who also threw for 10 interceptions and got pulled while struggling against Texas Tech in favor of Johnson. Returning Buckeye QB Devin Brown, who pushed Kyle McCord for the starting job the prior season, had the early edge in the competition, displaying more confidence and knowledge of the system in the spring, while true freshman Julian Sayin earned the adoring title of QB-of-the-future.
Kelly and Day laid out a blueprint for what Howard needed to work on in the offseason. He slimmed down from his 249 pounds to 233 when he got back on campus. He had bulked up over time at Kansas State to handle the hits that came with running and used the breakup to change his body. Even after dropping the weight, Howard looked stronger and exhibited better velocity on his throws in fall camp, according to practice and scrimmage reports. That's due, in part, to a summer emphasis with Abrams on his lower body strength. Abrams told Howard that when he actually utilizes his lower body in his throwing motion: "You're as strong as an ox and explosive."
"The crazy part is the kid has a strong arm," Abrams said. "I think it's underestimated. I think him being comfortable in the offense and then going out and playing and allowing himself just to play is going to show itself."
The Ohio State coaches saw that firsthand when he got back for fall camp.
"Will has really taken a command of the offense, I believe," Day said Thursday. "You feel him in the huddle. You feel his experience. I think he did a really good job, as we talked about, of changing his body in the offseason. So he's become a threat both with his legs and with his arm. And the more he understands what he's doing out there, and when he does, he's really executing very well."
Day said that when they graded the five quarterbacks, Howard finished "significantly ahead" and really separated himself over the last week. Declaring the QB competition over on Aug. 15 is significantly earlier than how Day handled last season's McCord-Brown battle which stretched into the season. Day and Kelly are betting on Howard's experience and resolve to be what gets the Buckeyes over the hump this season after three consecutive losses to Michigan and the last national championship coming in 2014.
Howard gets to work with a group that includes a stacked running back room of TreVeyon Henderson and Quinshon Judkins, the nation's No. 1 overall recruit in the class of 2024 (Jeremiah Smith) and one of the Big Ten's top returning receivers in Emeka Egbuka. Those around Howard love his fit at Ohio State and think the combination of the surrounding talent and the hard coaching of Day and Kelly will bring the best out of him. Just like Howard took a leap from spring to fall, Abrams expects him to only get better as the season progresses and he gets more comfortable with his new environment. There could be some hiccups along the way, especially with Day relinquishing play-calling duties to Kelly this season, but the Buckeyes have a month to figure it out before the schedule really intensifies with Iowa (Oct. 5) and at Oregon (Oct. 12).
If Ohio State is going to meet its title-or-bust preseason expectations, it'll need the best version of Howard anyone has seen yet.
"This is his last rodeo," Abrams said. "He's going to go out and do everything he can to bring in some (wins). It's going to be exciting."
