Steelers Expected To Try An Aggressive Will Howard Plan In Latrobe

The Pittsburgh Steelers are just about a month away from reporting to St. Vincent College for training camp. Out of all the storylines heading into the season, Pittsburgh has important decisions to make regarding their offense. There are ideas out there of deepening their depth with Stefon Diggs, but who knows what'll happen with situations like that. On top of that, the Steelers will have the tough task of cutting some important players, especially as it pertains to the quarterback room.

There's been a lot of discussion out there regarding what Pittsburgh is going to do with their four quarterbacks. You can pencil in Aaron Rodgers as the starter and then Drew Allar as the emergency guy, but the backup spot is still up for grabs. That battle remains with Mason Rudolph and Will Howard. It's a good problem to have when you have a surplus of value at one position. The hard part is choosing the right one. 

The organization is very familiar with what Rudolph can bring to the table, but Howard hasn't gotten a chance to prove himself in a game, or many practice reps. It's his second season in the league, but with Allar and Rudolph in the mix, he is running into some roster trouble.

Reps are going to be difficult to come by with four guys in the mix, but the Steelers might be strategic in how they deploy them. Team insider Christopher Carter recently spoke on 93.7 The Fan regarding what fans may see out of Howard at training camp. His idea wasn't about winning the backup spot, it was about creating value and potentially dealing him to a team that needs another quarterback.

"But I think you’re going to see a lot of Will Howard because they want to see what they have in Howard," Carter stated. "I think they also kind of want to show off what they have in Howard."

This isn’t just about showcasing to the organization what he can do, but Pittsburgh themselves may try to maximize his reps to make the decision easier. Perhaps Howard does very well in Latrobe, but so does Rudolph. 

Cutting players who are excelling would be very difficult, so that opens up the idea of trying to showcase them around the NFL to maybe trade them. Carter believes that for that reason, we are going to see a lot of Howard this summer.

"I do think by towards the end of training camp, towards the end of preseason, the Steelers, I think, are going to be hoping there’s someone that experiences an injury or their training camp just doesn’t work out, or they don’t like their backup quarterback situation, and they’re looking around for a last-second addition to the roster," Carter added. "The Steelers can either dangle young Will Howard or experienced Mason Rudolph."

So with a big roster decision approaching and the possibility of teams needing another quarterback, the expectation from Carter is to see heavy amounts of Howard. On top of trying to maximize his value in an attempt to get a late draft pick, it does make sense to try this in this slower, developing year for Allar. While seeing as much action as possible is important for Allar, they cannot rush him. Taking his development slow gives the organization the best chance to unlock him as a potential franchise quarterback.

Steelers Training Camp Will Be Shaped By Howard

This is an important training camp for a multitude of reasons and this Howard situation is one of the main ones. He has value and he could be a solid NFL quarterback, but the Steelers aren't in position to try him just yet. 

Whether it's Howard or Rudolph, one of them likely has to go, so Carter expects a big summer from Howard in Latrobe.

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