Vernard Abrams has known Will Howard since the Ohio State quarterback was a self-proclaimed “skinny pocket passer” at Downingtown West High in Pennsylvania. He has watched Howard grow up, adding weight and muscle. But even he was surprised when he saw Howard show up for one of their workouts back home in March.
“First thing I said to him was, ‘Did you lose some weight? It looks good on you,’” said Abrams, who trained Howard in high school.
Howard weighed 249 pounds when he arrived at Ohio State as a transfer from Kansas State in January. He entered the spring at 237 pounds and is down to around 233-235 pounds with preseason camp underway.
“I had a little portal weight,” Howard said, laughing.
The smile that followed gave off a sense of peace from Howard. He’s not overly stressed about a preseason quarterback competition with Devin Brown because he knows how he executed the offseason has him right where he wants to be.
🏈 Glad to see my guy! #OhioState Quarterback @whoward_ working to fine tune before heading back to spring ball. 🎯 📈✈️
Let’s go Buckeyes! 🌰🔴⚪️ ♠️ @ACEQBandWR #Dedication #OhioStateFootball #GoBuckeyes #OSU #OSUfootball #ACEit #ACEQB #OhioState #Buckeyes pic.twitter.com/ZaHBpIst5s
— Vernard Abrams ACEQB (@iamCoachAbe) March 15, 2024
The plan all along was for Howard to get closer to 230-235 pounds for the season. He did exactly that, and it has impacted more than just his speed, which offensive coordinator Chip Kelly said was clocked at 22 mph this summer, the highest among Ohio State’s quarterbacks.
The offseason has also included some mechanical tweaks he worked on with Abrams and quarterbacks coach Jeff Christensen, plus the knowledge he has gained from Kelly and Ryan Day. It all has Howard throwing with more power and confidence than he’s had in the previous eight months as a Buckeye.
“I’m getting a deeper level of coaching than I ever have before,” Howard said. “I have a deeper understanding of the offense and what the defense is doing. Everything has been faster.”
And it has Howard, who started 27 games at Kansas State, in a great position to earn the starting job at Ohio State.
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When Howard arrived in Columbus, he had a meeting with strength and conditioning coach Mickey Marotti and the team’s performance dietitian, Kaila Olson. They had a specific workout and diet plan for Howard, which meant that, along with coming in for more conditioning drills on the weekends, the quarterback also had to cook his own meals at home.
“I was feeling a little more grown up. I had fun with that,” Howard said. “It feels good to eat well and treat your body right.”
His dedication showed when he met up with Abrams, and their workouts, along with Howard’s offseason time with Christensen, focused on maximizing what he could do with less weight.
Abrams said one thing Howard mentioned before they worked out was getting more “twitchy” in his mechanics. That meant Howard wanted his feet moving better and his hips snapping faster — anything he could do to get rid of the ball more quickly and with more strength while also maintaining accuracy.
One of Howard’s best attributes is his pocket presence and ability to keep his eyes downfield while avoiding pressure. His throw that led to Emeka Egbuka’s one-handed catch in the spring game was a perfect example of that.
Still, Abrams said they worked on his footwork and that losing the weight would allow him to showcase his pocket presence.
“The more weight you have, the more weight it wants to fall backward,” Abrams said. “Losing a few pounds will help him settle his feet and get him in the ground quicker and start the rotation of the throw quicker. Moving in the pocket, having a guy at your feet and sliding back without the weight going against you is beneficial.”
Those things were important for Howard, who believes his lower body is stronger than ever. Right away, as they were working on drills to throw tighter spirals, Abrams said he could see a difference in the velocity of Howard’s throws.
“There’s a misconception about his arm strength, because not everybody throws that perfect spiral, but he has a lot of arm strength,” Abrams said. “Sometimes you underestimate how hard the ball is being thrown and how much velocity it has.”
The lost weight didn’t hurt his arm strength; in some ways, with the small changes he made, it helped him.
It’s not just the physical changes that have helped Howard take a step this summer, either. It’s the mental aspect as well.
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Howard said he was doing more processing in spring practice because he was new to the system. He felt like he was “drinking from a firehose” when it came to learning the offense. That led to some mechanical issues.
“A couple times this spring, I got caught on my back foot guessing a little bit, not being sure where the ball was going,” Howard said. “My mechanics have cleaned up, and the ball is coming out a lot cleaner.”
A week through preseason practice, Howard doesn’t seem to be guessing when he’s releasing the ball anymore. In the four open practices reporters got to see, Howard was delivering the ball on time and with confidence. He was accurate and threw receivers open in tight windows. He wasn’t perfect and wants to improve the air he gets underneath his deep ball, but everybody watching him can see an improved power behind his throws.
“Sometimes zip is: Do you know what you’re doing? ‘I have confidence and know the progression right away, and I can rip it,’” Kelly said. “Sometimes you’re tentative, so the ball might not come off your hand the right away.”
Ohio State isn’t tipping its hand yet about the quarterback battle Howard is in with Brown. Day said in an ideal world, it would work itself out in the next week or two. Kelly downplayed any talk about depth charts from practice reps and didn’t give a timetable.
From the naked eye, though, it looks like Howard has done everything to put himself in a position to win the job. He executed his offseason plan of losing weight and tightening up a few twitchy things with his mechanics, and now he’s off to a strong start in camp.
“It’s funny because one of the things I said to him after we worked out is that if he continues to do what he expects himself to do, learning the offense and continuing the system, he’s going to be rolling,” Abrams said. “He is a processor, so once he is able to process and allow the physical part to happen naturally, then you get to see all his physical attributes.”
(Photo: Jason Mowry / Getty Images)
