Source: Will Howard not shutting door on NFL, possible destinations to watch

Kansas State quarterback Will Howard officially entered his name into the transfer portal on Monday night. With one year of eligibility remaining, he’s one of the most experienced quarterbacks to enter the portal ahead of free agency officially opening on Dec. 4.

The grad transfer is not shutting down the possibility of entering the NFL draft, however, a source close to the quarterback told On3 on Tuesday morning. While Howard is in the portal and openly looking for a school to finish out his collegiate career, he’s been graded by some scouts as a fourth to sixth-round draft prospect. That’s with just an average Pro Day, too.

Finding a school that can protect him in the pocket and elevate a draft stock will be a must. Playing in the SEC would be a bonus. Entering the portal now also gets the process started before a rush of quarterback entries this weekend.

According to the source, Washington, Louisville, Mizzou, Kentucky and Auburn will all be schools to watch as possible landing spots.

With Michael Penix leaving for the NFL draft, the Huskies are widely considered buyers in the transfer portal market. The same goes for Louisville and Kentucky, losing Jack Plummer and Devin Leary, respectively.

Brady Cook has the option to enter the NFL draft, too. He’s led Mizzou to a 10-2 mark this year, throwing for 3,189 yards, 20 touchdowns and six interceptions. Auburn head coach Hugh Freeze has been open about adding depth at the quarterback position.

Will Howard finished with 2,643 passing yards and 24 touchdowns with eight interceptions this year. The former three-star recruit also completed 61.3% of his passes. He led Kansas State to the Big 12 title last year, the Wildcats’ first since 2012.

He leaves K-State with 5,786 passing yards, 48 touchdowns and 25 interceptions, on top of 934 rushing yards and 19 touchdowns. Howard started 27 of his 33 career games in his four years in Manhattan.

He’s also not the first quarterback to hit the portal for the Wildcats. K-State backup Jake Rubley announced his intentions to enter the portal on Monday.

Thank you Wildcat Nation. For everything 💜 pic.twitter.com/C9SSz8xtAJ

— Will Howard (@whoward_) November 27, 2023

To keep up with the latest players on the move, check out On3’s Transfer Portal wire. 

Transfer portal background information

The NCAA Transfer Portal, which covers every NCAA sport at the Division I, II and III levels, is a private database with names of student-athletes who wish to transfer. It is not accessible to the public.

The process of entering the portal is done through a school’s compliance office. Once a player provides written notification of an intent to transfer, the office enters the player’s name in the database and everything is off and running. The compliance office has 48 hours to comply with the player’s request and that request cannot be refused.

Once a player’s name shows up in the portal, other schools can contact the player. Players can change their minds at any point and withdraw from the portal. However, once a player enters the portal, the current scholarship no longer has to be honored. In other words, if a player enters the portal but decides to stay, the school is not obligated to provide a scholarship anymore.

The database is a normal database, sortable by a variety of topics, including (of course) sport and name. A player’s individual entry includes basic details such as contact info, whether the player was on scholarship and whether the player is transferring as a graduate student.

A player can ask that a “do not contact” tag be placed on the report. In those instances, the players don’t want to be contacted by schools unless they’ve initiated the communication.

The portal has been around since Oct. 15, 2018 and the new calendar cycle within the portal begins each August. For example, the 2021-22 cycle started Aug. 1. During the 2020-21 cycle, 2,626 FBS football players entered the transfer portal (including walk-ons). That comes after 1,681 entered during the 2019-20 cycle and 1,709 during the abbreviated 2018-19 cycle. In comparison, 1,833 Division I basketball players entered the portal during the 2020-21 cycle after totals of 1,020 in 2019-20 and 1,063 in 2018-19.