How good is Will Howard? What Kansas State transfer quarterback brings to Ohio State

The Buckeyes are going from one former Pennsylvania high school quarterback to another.

Kyle McCord is off to Syracuse, and replacing him will be Will Howard, Kansas State's quarterback of the past four years.

Beyond being quarterbacks from around Philadelphia, McCord and Howard don't have a whole lot in common. McCord was a five-star recruit and the No. 28 prospect in his recruiting class (2021). Howard was a three-star recruit and the No. 888 prospect in his class (2020). McCord hardly used his legs as the starter. Howard has rushed for at least 300 yards twice.

With McCord headed to the ACC, Howard appears in line to be the starter at Ohio State in 2024. Devin Brown started the team's Cotton Bowl game against Missouri, but was injured during the contest. Freshman Lincoln Kienholz struggled filling in as the Buckeyes scored only three points in the loss, their fewest point total in the Ryan Day era.

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Ohio State has been trending in the wrong direction in recent years, having lost three straight games to rival Michigan, which will now be playing in a national championship. Despite having Marvin Harrison Jr. catching passes, Ohio State's offense also largely struggled throughout 2023 under McCord, who appeared to be a dropoff from the Buckeyes' past quarterbacks of Justin Fields and C.J. Stroud, both of whom went on to be first-round NFL picks. The hope behind bringing in Howard is that his experience and talent can turn Ohio State around.

The experience is certainly going to be there, as he has played in at least six games in each of the past four seasons. But what about the talent? Here's all you need to know about Howard.

Is Will Howard good?

That's the question that will likely be on everyone's mind. And despite lacking the usual pedigree that has come with Ohio State QBs in the past, Howard boasts an impressive resume.

He arrived in Manhattan, Kansas, as an under-recruited quarterback from Downingtown West, a high school just west of Philadelphia. Skylar Thompson was Kansas State's starter in 2020, but was injured in Week 3 against Texas Tech, thrusting Howard into the spotlight right away. Howard had moments where he shined — he threw for two touchdowns in a win over Kansas and rushed for 125 yards against Oklahoma State — but it was still an inconsistent season, as he finished with eight touchdown passes and 10 picks with a 53.6 completion percentage. Still, he was one of only four true freshman to start at least seven games in 2020 and showed promise as the QB of the future.

Thompson returned to starting action in 2021 with Howard playing sparingly. In 2022, Howard shared time at quarterback with Nebraska transfer Adrian Martinez, who was used more often as a dual-threat quarterback for the Wildcats. Howard completed only 59.8 percent of his passes, but he also had a much-improved 15-to-four touchdown-to-interception ratio. Howard helped lead Kansas State to the Big 12 Championship, where he had a standout three-touchdown performance (two passing, one rushing) to help lead the Wildcats past TCU to win the conference title.

The 2023 season was Howard's first in which he had no competition for the starting role. The job was his at the beginning of the year, and his throughout the campaign without splitting any time. Howard posted career highs across the board with a 61.3 completion percentage, 2,643 passing yards, 24 passing touchdowns and 10 interceptions. His nine rushing touchdowns were also a career-high, and his 351 rushing yards were second only to 2020.

That doesn't quite answer the question of whether Howard is good. Instead, it's best to dive deeper into how he performed.

Running ability

Howard is a different quarterback than McCord, but it is still important to look at how the two compare. McCord came out of high school praised for his poise, touch on passes and his accuracy. Howard earned high marks for his mobility and a powerful arm.

The most noticeable difference will be Howard's ability to run. McCord finished the 2023 season with 13 rushes for 37 yards (sack-adjusted). Howard ran 66 times for 427 yards and scored nine touchdowns. He also ran for 111 yards against Oklahoma State.

Ohio State fans might be pining for the days of Fields, whose combination of a howitzer for an arm and explosive speed made him a near-impossible quarterback against whom to gameplan. Howard is not that type of dynamic runner. Only eight of his rushes in 2023 were qualified as "breakaway" runs by ProFootballFocus (gaining 15-plus yards on designed runs) and he only forced eight missed tackles. But he tallied 385 rushing yards on designed runs compared to only 42 as a scrambler, indicative of his mobility being written into the play sheet.

And while he runs often, he has been a solid caretaker of the football. He fumbled only twice in all of 2023. By comparison, McCord fumbled three times.

Arm talents

Howard has a cannon for an arm. The accuracy, however, is the larger question.

The 2023 campaign marked the first time in Howard's career he completed passes at a 60 percent clip or better, and it was still only at 61.3 percent. McCord completed 65.8 percent of his passes. There is the receiver talent for which to account — throwing 50/50 balls to Harrison and Emeka Egbuka tends to always be a bit more favorable than 50/50 — but it is still striking to note.

In 2023, PFF charted 4.5 percent of Howard's throws as "big time throws," which is described as a "pass with excellent ball location and timing, generally thrown further down the field and/or into a tighter window." McCord had 4.9 percent such throws. Howard also had a turnover-worthy play rate of 3.5 percent, just under McCord's rate of 3.9 percent.

Howard does have a strong arm, though it hasn't always played out on the field, particularly in 2023. Last season, only 12.8 percent of his passes were classified as deep throws (20-plus yards, per PFF) while McCord attempted such passes as a 13.6 percent clip. On those deep throws, Howard completed 32.6 percent of the time for six touchdowns and four interceptions, while McCord had a 50 percent completion rate with six touchdowns and no interceptions.

The year prior was a different story for Howard. He attempted more deep passes (19.1 percent) and was more successful when doing so, completing 42.1 percent of 20-plus yard passes for six touchdowns and no interceptions.

Going to Ohio State, there should be more of an opportunity to get back to attempting deep passes more at his 2022 clip than 2023 rate. He'll have more receiving talent around him and will be working in an offense that likes to attack down field a bit more often.

Passing under pressure

Quarterback was one of Ohio State's top priorities to address in the transfer portal. Offensive line might be next. PFF graded Ohio State as ranking 76th in pass blocking grade in 2023, and it was an area in which McCord frequently struggled to adjust.

All told, McCord was under pressure on 24.9 percent of his dropbacks in 2023. During such plays, he completed 39.2 percent of his passes for 387 yards with two touchdowns and three interceptions. He had a 4.7 percent big-time throw rate and 7 percent turnover-worthy play rate. He was also sacked 11.8 percent of the time and scrambled just three times.

Howard was by no means perfect, but he was much improved when rushed. He was pressured on 31.1 percent of dropbacks and completed 45.1 percent of his passes for 555 yards with eight touchdowns and four interceptions. His big-time throw rate was 4.7 percent and his turnover-worthy play rate was 4.1 percent. He was sacked 11.9 percent of the time and scrambled once.

It was dangerous to blitz against Howard, who was often at his best with the defense rushing at him. He completed 61.9 percent of his passes for 1,065 yards with 13 touchdowns and only two interceptions when blitzed, which happened 37.1 percent of the time. His PFF grade when blitzed was 77.5, an 11-point jump from the 66.4 grade when he was not blitzed.

Big-game ability

There might not be an area more important for Ohio State fans than playing well when the games matter the most. McCord crushed teams like Youngstown State, Michigan State and Purdue. In the Buckeyes' more challenging games, like facing Michigan, Notre Dame, Penn State or Wisconsin, he wasn't quite as sharp. McCord completed 60.9 percent of his passes for 1,023 yards with five touchdowns and four interceptions in those four games. He completed 68.6 percent of his passes for 2,147 yards with 19 touchdowns and two interceptions in all others.

That was not the case for Howard. If anything, Howard seemed to play at his best when the lights were on him the most with one major exception: Oklahoma State, in which he had arguably the worst passing game of his career. But against Missouri, the team that held Ohio State to three points, Howard completed 64.1 percent of his passes for 270 yards with three touchdowns and a pick. Against Texas, a College Football Playoff team, he completed 63.4 percent of his passes for 327 yards with four touchdowns and an interception.

Howard arrives at Ohio State where the only games that matter are the big ones. The expectation is that the Buckeyes will beat all their opponents, chiefly arch-rival Michigan, which has supplanted them as the top Big Ten program over the past three seasons. McCord and C.J. Stroud both came up short when facing Michigan in their combined three games. It will be up to Howard to snap the losing streak.

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