After quarterbacking Ohio State to a national championship in 2025, Will Howard now finds himself navigating even choppier waters: the NFL Draft.

With no Quinshon Judkins, Emeka Egbuka, and Jeremiah Smith to help him achieve his goals, Howard's tape is being evaluated all on his own, with the general consensus being he's more of a Day 3 prospect than a future NFL starter who can elevate a promotion in Year 1.

And yet, in the opinion of the journeyman collegiate quarterback, those evaluations are shortsighted, as Howard believes he has the talent, physical and intangible, to become a big star at the next level.

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“First and foremost, man, if you don't have that belief in yourself, then what are you doing? I'm a confident guy, I have an intrinsic confidence in myself, I believe I have the arm strength, I believe I have the accuracy – all the physical traits,” Will Howard said on NFL Live. “What really sets me apart is my mind, my ability to deal with adversity. I've seen pretty much every situation a college quarterback can see in my 40-some-odd starts. I've played a lot of football, I've done a lot of stuff, not a lot phases me. I believe I'm an elite processor, and my ability to assess what a defense is doing and what we are doing to combat that is what really sets me apart.”

Standing 6-foot-4, 236 pounds, Howard does have prototypcal size for an NFL prospect, with his extensive experience in college first at Kansas State and then at Ohio State helping to check many of the boxes old school NFL evaluators look for. With that being said, one of the biggest concerns about Howard's pro potential is his processing, with Lance Zierlein noting that his inability to manipulate college defenses with his eyes could ultimately prevent him from becoming more than an NFL backup moving forward.

If Howard's own assertion is correct, and he's become a certified field general capable of picking apart defenses with ease, then who knows? Maybe the OSU product could be the big feel-good story of 2025. But if he continues to be more of a game manager than a difference maker, then his NFL career may fall closer to Zierlein's evaluation.