Ohio State quarterback Will Howard helped lead his Ohio State Buckeyes team to a national championship on Monday. The Buckeyes defeated the Notre Dame Fighting Irish 34-23 to claim the College Football Playoff National Championship. After the game, star wide receiver Jeremiah Smith sat down for an interview, sharing his thoughts on Will Howard and how he should be a first-round pick.
Jeremiah Smith Thinks Teammate Will Howard Should Be First-Round Pick in the 2025 NFL Draft
Smith has made plenty of headlines for his excellent play at such a young age.
However, after the title game on Monday (Jan. 20), he made headlines for what he said. He gave a lot of praise for Howard, saying that he thinks Howard should be a first-round pick in the upcoming NFL Draft.
“Just the type of quarterback he is. In my eyes, he’s a first-round draft pick. Will’s just a great leader on and off the field as well. He’s just great with the preparation and leading us to the victory.”
"In my eyes he's a first round draft pick."
Jeremiah Smith had some high praise for his quarterback Will Howard 👀 pic.twitter.com/7IsvLr9zzi
— The Sporting News (@sportingnews) January 21, 2025
Despite leading his team to the CFP National Championship, Howard is not on PFN’s Top 100 Big Board. He is in a QB class with Miami’s Cam Ward, Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders, Oregon’s Dillon Gabriel, and Alabama’s Jalen Milroe.
Howard does not have as flashy stats as some of the other players poised to be selected. However, he has proven that he can perform well in big games.
Howard had four of his best games of the season in the College Football Playoff. During the National Championship, he had his highest QBR of the season at 99.1. He completed 17 of 21 passing attempts for 231 yards and two TDs. In all four games in the CFP, he had a QBR over 90 — in the regular season, he only had three of those games.
As a result, it would not be shocking to see Howard’s draft stock increase in the coming months. Notably, this is viewed by most draft experts as a weak quarterback class. There are some analysts who have said that the top quarterback in this draft would not be among the top five in the 2024 Draft.
Could that lead to Howard earning a higher draft selection? NFL decision-makers often value winning over other more tangible skills. So, it will be interesting to see if Howard jumps over players like Gabriel or Milroe in the coming months.