Seattle Seahawks Draft: Could national champion be future QB?

With Geno Smith entering the final year of his contract, the Seattle Seahawks could be in need of a quarterback after the 2025 season.

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The NFL Draft presents an opportunity for the Seahawks to address that potential need, but unfortunately for the Seahawks, this year’s quarterback class is considered to be a big step back from last year’s group that featured six taken in the first round.

The top two quarterbacks in the 2025 class, Miami’s Cam Ward and Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders, are expected to be off the board long before Seattle makes its first pick at No. 18 overall. With other clear needs like the offensive line, the Seahawks likely aren’t in a spot to gamble with reach on the next tier of quarterbacks either.

However, a national championship winning quarterback could be available in the mid-to-late rounds. And despite not carrying a early-round draft profile, he isn’t one that should be written off as a potential quarterback of the future, according to NFL Network draft analyst Eric Edholm.

During a conversation with Seattle Sports’ Wyman and Bob, Edholm was asked for his analysis of Ohio State quarterback Will Howard.

“I kind of wonder if this isn’t the year where you’re better served to be in the kind of position where you don’t need a quarterback, but if there’s one you like, you draft them,” Edholm said. “… When you get down to that group of the next tier, I think Will Howard’s pretty close to the top of that group. Again, I’m probably talking Day 3 (of the draft). That’s just me, but maybe my conversations are changing as I get in front of more scouts this next week (at the Senior Bowl).”

The 6-foot-4, 235-pound signal caller the No. 6 quarterback in ESPN Draft expert Mel Kiper’s position rankings. Pro Football Network projected Howard as a fifth-round talent, but noted he could go earlier due to the light quarterback class.

Howard, who played his first four college season at Kansas State, completed 73% of his passes for 4,010 yards, 35 touchdowns and 10 interceptions while leading Ohio State to the national title in his lone season with the Buckeyes. He played arguably the best stretch of his college career during Ohio State’s four-game College Football Playoff run, amassing 1,150 yards and eight touchdowns with just two interceptions against some of the nation’s best programs.

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In the national title game, Howard had a standout performance while completing 17-of-21 throws for 231 yards and two touchdowns and adding a season-high 57 rushing yards.

“You saw an interesting game from him,” Edholm said. “He ran a lot more than you normally see from him, but he’s got power, he’s a big-framed guy (and) has played some big games (including when he) was at Kansas State before he came to Ohio State. And obviously this year after after the Michigan game, he was terrific. So I still think there’s some things that need to be kind of rounded into form with this game, but he showed some guts in that one and hit a deep ball late and looked like a very interesting sort of developmental quarterback.”

Hear the full conversation at this link or in the audio player near the top of this story. Listen to Wyman and Bob weekdays from 2-7 p.m.

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