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The Ohio State Buckeyes won their first national championship in over a decade, thanks in part to their quarterback Will Howard. Widely projected as a mid-to-late-round pick, Howard set a College Football Playoff championship game record after connecting his first 13 passes.
He matched the record just before halftime with a 20-yard pass to Carnell Tate on 3rd-and-7, then broke it with a 15-yard pass to Jeremiah Smith on the very next play. His streak ended when Notre Dame safety Xavier Watts intercepted a pass he threw to TreVeyon Henderson near the goal line.
In light of his national championship production, many are asking why Howard is being left out of NFL Draft conversations for a Day 1 pick, including Pat McAfee, who raised this same question to NFL Draft analyst Daniel Jeremiah on Jan. 23.
Daniel Jeremiah on Ohio State QB Will Howard’s Standing in 2025 NFL Draft
Appearing on “The Pat McAfee Show,” Jeremiah shared his take on the Ohio State signal caller, who is receiving increasing buzz from the public following his standout win.
“Here’s the Will Howard discussion: He went on an epic run, and I’m excited to go get a chance to go through all the All-22 stuff and these playoff games because he played great, and I’m excited to get a chance to dig in on that,” Jeremiah said on McAfee’s eponymous show.
“I’m excited to dig in further on Will Howard..
I have him as a top 50 pick right now but I have to go thru some more of his tape” @MoveTheSticks #PMSLive https://t.co/KsE5Ti5CmL pic.twitter.com/B0Bx5PFoOI
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) January 23, 2025
He further notified that he’s only studied three of Howard’s games at this point, in which the QB played well but made some mistakes, and Jeremiah’s current view of the QB is based on those showings.
Talking about Ohio State’s first loss of the season, Jeremiah detailed: “The first Oregon game, made some nice throws, he had a couple that got away from him down the field. On the whole, I thought he played well, but then at the end of the game, how it ends, he takes off, kinda a little bit of a brain cramp and slides and it goes zeroes and they lose the game.”
However, he went on to praise the quarterback: “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. … 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.”
In the CFP National Championship game, Howard threw for 231 yards and two touchdowns. Including the 1,150 yards and eight touchdowns he had in the playoff games, the QB totaled 4,010 yards with 35 passing scores this season.
