Daniel Jeremiah places Will Howard 'right on the borderline' of top 50 picks

Will Howard may not be getting first round hype for the 2025 NFL Draft, but the Ohio State quarterback surely improved his stock with his performance during the Buckeyes’ National Championship run.

Miami‘s Cam Ward and Colorado‘s Shedeur Sanders are both expected to come off the board within the first five picks but beyond that, opinion is split on which quarterback could come next and when. Enter Howard, who led Ohio State to its first National Championship since 2014. NFL Network draft analyst Daniel Jeremiah has yet to even dive into Howard’s College Football Playoff tape but already believes he’s “at the borderline of a top 50 pick.”

“He’s [6’3 7/8″], 240 pounds… he can move around, he can make all the different throws, and he got on an epic heater at the most important time,” Jeremiah said Thursday on The Pat McAfee Show. “He’s right at the borderline of a top 50 pick for me at this point in time, but I’m telling you that because I haven’t had the chance to watch his playoffs. … He’s a Day 2 guy more as we sit right now, and we’ll see through the rest of the process.”

Howard, 23, arrived in Columbus for his final collegiate season after spending the previous four years at Kansas State. Already a Big 12 champion with the Wildcats, Howard had a career season with the Buckeyes. In 16 games, he threw for 4,010 yards, 35 touchdowns and 10 interceptions on 73.0% passing, also rushing for seven scores.

Will Howard shines for Ohio State in College Football Playoff

Howard completed 17-of-21 passes for 231 yards and two touchdowns in Ohio State’s 34-23 College Football Playoff National Championship Game victory over Notre Dame this past Monday. Howard earned the Offensive MVP honor for his efforts.

Now, Howard did play around some of college football’s best players, including the running back duo of TreVeyon Henderson and Quinshon Judkins, and the receiver trio of Jeremiah Smith, Emeka Egbuka and Carnell Tate. But as Jeremiah mentioned, the same was said about Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow and Washington Commanders quarterback Jayden Daniels.

Both those guys have turned out just fine in the NFL.

“If he aces — like teams meet with him and fall in love with him and everything — then sure, who knows how high he can go,” Jeremiah said. “When I’m watching him, I can’t take my eyes off 4 [Jeremiah Smith], I can’t take my eyes off TreVeyon Henderson. … It’s hard to separate someone from their situation. There were people with [Joe] Burrow that said he’s got Ja’Marr Chase, and he’s got Justin Jefferson, like how much of this is Burrow and how much of this is the supporting cast?

“We saw it last year with Jayden Daniels with Malik Nabers and the other freak who went to Jacksonville [Brian Thomas Jr.], so this is the way it works. Most of these quarterbacks especially in the NIL era where you can move around, they’re gonna gravitate toward where all the receivers are so they can play with them.”