Shedeur Sanders: I Don't Understand 'Hating' on Will Howard Over 2025 NFL Combine

Will Howard led Ohio State to a College Football Playoff national championship, and Shedeur Sanders believes that should hold more weight than the Buckeyes signal-caller's performance at the NFL Scouting Combine.

Sanders took to social media Sunday and defended his fellow quarterback:

Howard was one of the only notable quarterbacks who decided to throw at the combine, as Sanders, Cam Ward and others chose not to ahead of their respective pro days. That put more of a spotlight on the Ohio State signal-caller, and he turned in an inconsistent performance that included some solid throws and some misses.

As Sanders pointed out, that also meant throwing to receivers Howard was unfamiliar with as opposed to pro days when quarterbacks often throw to their college teammates who they have already established chemistry with from their seasons.

For his part, Howard called his performance "decent" on NFL Network and said, "I'm my own biggest critic, so I feel like there were some things I could clean up. But overall, I think I showed that I can spin the ball with the best. And I felt good about it. And I think my footwork was pretty solid. And I'm excited for my Pro Day to show that I can spin it a little more."

Despite the inconsistent performance at the Combine, Howard was largely excellent in his one season for the Buckeyes and completed 73 percent of his passes for 4,010 yards, 35 touchdowns and 10 interceptions to go with 226 yards and seven scores as a runner.

He was at his best in the CFP while leading his team to double-digit wins over Tennessee, Oregon, Texas and Notre Dame. 

The Buckeyes trailed for a grand total of six combined minutes across the four games in large part because of Howard's individual excellence and ability to spread the ball to playmakers such as Jeremiah Smith, Emeka Egbuka, Carnell Tate, TreVeyon Henderson and Quinshon Judkins.

The question now is whether an NFL team believes he is capable of playing point guard like that at the next level. B/R's NFL Scouting Department ranked Howard as the third-best quarterback behind Ward and Sanders in its latest big board, although that was before the Combine.

To hear Sanders tell it, though, the Combine shouldn't ding Howard's status.