‘Why Ohio State?’ QB Will Howard Explains Spurning NFL for the Buckeyes

The former Kansas State signal-caller spoke to OSU media for the first time Tuesday.

Kansas State quarterback Will Howard entered the transfer portal on Nov. 27. After what he admits was a “long, weird journey” in the portal, he finally committed to Ohio State on Jan. 4.

Howard and the team’s other new transfers spoke to members of the Buckeyes media for the first time on Tuesday. The first question he received as the team’s presumptive 2024 starting quarterback was a straightforward one: “Why Ohio State?”

“When I got to the end, it was more, ‘Why not?’” Howard said. “I felt I had a really good relationship with Coach [Ryan] Day, thought he was a really good guy, and obviously I didn’t know the Coach [Bill] O’Brien news, but that fires me up too.“

New Ohio State QB Will Howard spoke to the local media for the first time on Tuesday :: Doral Chenoweth/The Columbus Dispatch/USA TODAY Network

Howard is coming off of an impressive run at Kansas State, and was among the most highly regarded quarterbacks available in the portal. Playing in the Wildcats’ run-heavy system in 2023, Howard threw for 2,643 yards, 24 touchdowns and 10 interceptions, adding 351 yards and nine touchdowns on the ground.

While he acknowledges that he had other good options including Miami and USC, ultimately the decision came down to Ohio State vs. the 2024 NFL draft.

“In the last week before I committed here, I got a Senior Bowl invite. That was probably the thing that I was closest to doing, was going to the draft,” Howard said. “I was projected a third to sixth round [draft pick], that’s what I was hearing. You can never really trust anything that you hear, but that was consensus what I was hearing.”

“I just felt like I had the opportunity and I felt like my talent level didn’t really match where my stock was,” he continued. “And I felt like I couldn’t pass up an opportunity to bump that up and compete for a national championship.”

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Howard said that while he’s happy to run the ball frequently if it helps Ohio State win games, he is excited to play in a more pro-style system under Day and O’Brien, the Buckeyes’ new offensive coordinator with deep NFL roots. 

“A lot of these other schools that I was looking at, these air raid type schools, have great offenses and I could put up a lot of numbers but I don’t know how much that would develop me for the NFL,” he said.

The move to Columbus opens the doors for Howard to play with one of college football’s most talented rosters. At Kansas State, he said the team thrived because of its strong culture, overcoming a potential talent gap against some of its Big 12 rivals. Ohio State delivers the best of both worlds, and Howard believes that has the team prepared to play for a national title.

“Coming from a place like Kansas State where we really prided ourselves on our culture. I feel like we won a lot of games because of our culture,” he said. “We beat Oklahoma three years in a row, we didn’t necessarily have more talented guys than them. That is why we won games there. 

“And coming here, we have all the talent in the world,” he added. “I think you’d be hard-pressed to find a more talented roster in America right now than we have. And you put that in with the culture we have here, and it’s special.”