Will Howard shares his mindset in practice amid quarterback competition

Ohio State’s quarterback competition is still ongoing after the first few days of Fall camp. With that being the case, QB Will Howard is still approaching it the same way with the focus on himself and how he can best help the Buckeyes.

Howard addressed the position battle and his mindset towards it during a media availability on Tuesday. As for himself, he isn’t worried about anything but being the best he can in every snap of every practice. If he does that, he’ll show everyone what he’s wanting to about who he is and what he wants.

“I’m just trying to be the best version of myself every single day,” said Howard. “That’s all I’m trying to do.

“You know, whenever I get throwing in there, I’m going to go in there and make the best out of my reps and, you know, show this team that I’m going to fight for them and do everything that we need to do to win.”

Howard is the presumed starter for Ohio State as the one with the most collegiate experience. That’s the case after a four-year career at Kansas State. Over that span in Manhattan, he appeared in 34 games with 28 starts, including all of their first dozen last season at K-State in what was a career-year for him. While a Wildcat, he completed 58.8% of his throws for 5,786 yards, 48 touchdowns, and 25 interceptions. He also rushed for nearly 1,000 more yards and 19 more scores. All that ranked him highly on several record lists for the program after his senior year.

Following the regular season, Howard entered his name into the transfer portal. He did so as the No. 4 QB and No. 15 overall player per On3’s 2024 Transfer Portal Top Players. After his recruitment involved several top programs nationally as well as consideration for the NFL, he did eventually commit to Ohio State.

However, Howard’s choice didn’t just guarantee him the job in Columbus. He was already going to have to compete with a pair of returners in Devin Brown and Lincoln Kienholz. The Buckeyes then added Air Noland as part of their recruiting class before also ending up with Julian Sayin, an even more highly-touted prospect, after he transferred from Alabama ahead of his own freshman year there.

Still, Howard has embraced that process throughout over the past few months at Ohio State. He just wantsto be who he is and let the depth chart come out as it may sometime here soon.

“That’s all that matters to me – just getting better and being the best teammate I can be,” Howard stated.