Things have changed for the Pittsburgh Steelers since Aaron Rodgers signed his one-year contract this month. The biggest change of his return is being felt by the quarterback room. Head coach Mike McCarthy will have to go back to the drawing board, and it looks like Will Howard might have a reason to worry.

93.7 The Fan’s Andrew Fillipponi shared a clip of a QB scramble drill from practice on May 29, with Rodgers pressuring his backups. At first glance, there’s nothing so shocking about the drill. But Fillipponi pointed out an interesting detail.

“Notice who was first in line,” he wrote on X. “Mason Rudolph. Will the wily ole vet make the team? That could force Will Howard to the practice squad.”

This is how the QBs lined up for this drill: Rudolph, followed by Will Howard, and then Drew Allar.

Rudolph is the most experienced backup in the Steelers’ QB room at the moment. Save for the 2024 season, when he was with the Tennessee Titans, he’s been here his whole career. His getting the first rep in the drill could be a sign that Rudolph is the next man up, even though there’s a huge gap between him and Rodgers in experience. Steelers insider Mark Kaboly saw an 80% chance of this happening.

Behind Rudolph, Pittsburgh’s remaining options at QB have yet to take their first snap in the NFL.

Will Howard is the favorite to win the QB2 role. Before talks about Rodgers’ return got steam, the Year 2 signal-caller was also regarded by many to win the QB1 role this season. The Steelers will eventually roll out a young starter in 2027, and Howard, with his impressive resume from college, seemed like a great choice. The only red flag was that he missed the entirety of last season after injuring his hand.

Technically, he’s still a rookie. But Howard thinks he has what it takes to be QB1.

“Hey, I’m here, man,” he said on Not Just Football with Cam Heyward in April. “… I’d be more than happy to spend another year learning. But if [Aaron Rodgers] doesn’t [return], I’m ready.”

Howard still had an upside because he had become familiar with the Pittsburgh system. Even if the Steelers did not want to hand him the keys this season, he could have split time with Rudolph as a starter and made his mark. But now, his window of opportunity has become narrow.

Rookie Drew Allar complicates things for Howard because he was handpicked by head coach Mike McCarthy. After he was drafted by the Steelers this year, the new QB is expected to be the next franchise quarterback for the Steelers. It’s tough to fathom this now, but that would be the most apt reasoning behind drafting a quarterback with two in the room, already.

McCarthy has always expressed that he doesn’t have a problem with coaching four quarterbacks. But according to the drill, it looks like Rudolph will handle things for the Steelers in case Rodgers has to miss time. Rudolph was QB2 last year, and Howard had to sit out even though he was activated from injury reserve last season. And with Allar locked for the future, Howard’s future in the team is now debatable.

Despite the long odds, the young QB does not appear to be affected by outside noise.

Will Howard continues to earn praise from Steelers coaches

Howard has a lot to do if he wants to trump Rudolph in the pecking order. According to Steelers’ QB coach Tom Arth, Howard has been a pleasant surprise.

“He’s doing everything and more that we can ask of him,” Howard told 93.7 The Fan. “He is exceeding expectations. We couldn’t be happier with where he is at.

“He’s performed well here in OTAs up to this point. Once we get to training camp and into preseason, that’s where the true evaluation will start to take place.”

ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler thought Howard probably had the “inside track” to be QB2, instead of Rudolph. Arth also said on May 27 that both he and Allar are “ultra-competitive,” which shows that Howard is leaving no stone unturned. It’s his fight to lose, after all.

Will Howard will get to learn from Aaron Rodgers regardless of where he is on the depth chart. But those learnings will not be any help if he doesn’t get a chance to execute them this year.