One narrative floating round Pittsburgh Steelers’ rookie quarterback Will Howard is concern over his lack of expertise underneath heart. The pitfalls of the trendy faculty offense which can be shotgun-heavy and don’t put together gamers for working underneath heart on the NFL stage.
However is it true? The info tells the story. Courtesy of our buddy Andrew Shaver from PFF, he pulled the under-center snaps for every of the 12 FBS quarterbacks drafted in 2025.
Beneath is the info, exhibiting profession snaps, profession snaps underneath heart, and move/run splits from underneath heart.
| Title | Profession Snaps | Automotive Move Performs | Automotive Run Performs | Snaps Underneath Middle | Move Performs UC | Run Performs UC |
| Kurtis Rourke | 2760 | 1528 | 1232 | 22 | 3 | 19 |
| Riley Leonard | 2380 | 1297 | 1083 | 46 | 8 | 38 |
| Jalen Milroe | 1780 | 882 | 898 | 55 | 6 | 49 |
| Cam Ward | 4005 | 2823 | 1182 | 60 | 11 | 49 |
| Shedeur Sanders | 3362 | 2303 | 1059 | 66 | 11 | 55 |
| Jaxson Dart | 3125 | 1619 | 1506 | 72 | 25 | 47 |
| Quinn Ewers | 2347 | 1331 | 1016 | 75 | 13 | 62 |
| Dillon Gabriel | 4553 | 2490 | 2063 | 93 | 23 | 70 |
| Tyler Shough | 2048 | 1149 | 899 | 100 | 34 | 66 |
| Kyle McCord | 1897 | 1134 | 763 | 225 | 39 | 186 |
| Will Howard | 2776 | 1346 | 1430 | 265 | 56 | 209 |
| Graham Mertz | 3004 | 1473 | 1531 | 1197 | 268 | 929 |
Howard had the second-most snaps underneath heart, with 265. The overwhelming majority have been handoffs, however he nonetheless ranked second in passes underneath heart.
To place the numbers in higher perspective, right here’s the share of profession snaps underneath heart.
Rourke: 0.8-percent
Ward: 1.5-percent
Leonard: 1.9-percent
Sanders: 2.0-percent
Gabriel: 2.0-percent
Dart: 2.3-percent
Milroe: 3.1-percent
Ewers: 3.2-percent
Shough: 4.9-percent
Howard: 9.5-percent
McCord: 11.9-percent
Mertz: 39.8-percent
Even with a relative dataset, Howard ranks third behind Florida’s Graham Mertz and Syracuse’s Kyle McCord. Mertz’s numbers primarily come from his time at Wisconsin, a program that runs a pro-style offense, earlier than he transferred to Florida. And McCord frolicked at Ohio State earlier than transferring to Syracuse for his remaining season.
Whereas Howard’s numbers aren’t big in mixture, they’re among the many better of the 2025 class. A lot bigger in comparison with No. 1 general choose Cam Ward or first-rounder Jaxson Dart.
Each quarterback coming from faculty has an adjustment to make. There can be a studying curve, and Howard will function underneath heart extra typically in Pittsburgh than in faculty. However his studying curve is simpler, not tougher, than almost each quarterback on this 12 months’s class. He has expertise and reps that the majority others don’t.
Mix this knowledge with different recognized components of Howard’s sport, and he has an NFL-ready profile. At Ohio State, he used a cadence and was requested to make checks and audibles all through his profession. Ohio State’s offense was RPO-heavy, however these are well-liked in Pittsburgh, and he nonetheless was requested to make full-field reads in apparent move conditions.
Not one of the knowledge suggests Howard ought to have extra or particular concern in regards to the faculty programs he’s coming from. If something, they level to somebody who received’t be bothered by getting underneath heart this summer time. It’s one thing he’s used to doing.
