Is Will Howard going to be the answer for Ohio State football?
It looks like Ohio State football has a new starting quarterback in former Kansas State starter Will Howard, who announced his transfer to Ohio State on Thursday.
But it's worth asking, is Will Howard really an upgrade from Kyle McCord? McCord is a former five-star recruit. He also passed for over 3,000 yards last season to go along with 24 touchdowns compared to six interceptions.
Yes, McCord didn't play as well as Ohio State football fans wanted against Michigan, but some of that, especially the last interception, wasn't his fault. Marvin Harrison Jr. certainly helped, but I have concerns about Will Howard who also threw 24 touchdown passes for Kansas State last season.
Howard has never been a full-time starter and before last season, he didn't have a season with a completion percentage higher than 60 percent. Will Howard is a true dual-threat quarterback and that's one area where he is better than McCord.
The former Kansas State starter has two seasons with at least 350 rushing yards. He's also got 19 rushing touchdowns including nine last season. For his career, Howard has 48 touchdown passes but also 25 interceptions -- which is 25 interceptions in 34 games.
A couple of things to keep in mind: Howard will be surrounded by the best offensive talent of his career. We have also been talking about how Ohio State football needs to get back to running the quarterback and this could be a step in that direction. That will take some adjusting by Ryan Day. The Buckeyes have been purely built around drop-back quarterbacks and Howard isn't that.
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As a passer, I'd say Howard is a downgrade from McCord. The X-factor is his ability to run and if used properly, Howard could be an upgrade for Ohio State football in 2024. That's a big if though.