Ben Roethlisberger Shares Advice for Steelers Rookie Will Howard

The Pittsburgh Steelers picked up rookie QB Will Howard in the sixth round of the NFL Draft, and there is no shortage of speculation about his future performance with the organization.

Bryan DeArdo of CBS Sports listed him as a top five steal of the draft, and Jeff Howe of the Athletic recently described the 23-year-old's "requisite moxie", pointing to fellow talents like DK Metcalf, Pat Frieirmuth, and George Pickens as further indication that the Steelers offensive line will be a successful one with Howard on board.

In a recent episode of his Footbahlin' podcast, former Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger offered the rookie some sound advice for keeping his head on straight in the months to come.

“He needs to understand, and I would tell him this: you don't have pressure, bud. You're a sixth rounder. There's no pressure. He should go into this thing with like, [the mentality of], I can play free. I have no pressure.”

He couched the advice in a broader vision of hard work and dedication, laying out his hopes that Howard won't let the pressure get to him, but will instead be inspired to rise to the occasion.

“He should come in here with the mindset of this is my job,” Roethlisberger said. “ I want to be the quarterback of the Pittsburgh Steelers for the next 15, 18, 20 years. that should be his mentality. Now I hope and I would tell him to do it the right way.”

“It’ll naturally unfold itself if you’re out here preparing yourself and you're not trying to undermine the starter and cut his legs out. [...] All of a sudden, you're performing a little better in practice, and it's like, okay, now go ahead and get your shot with the ones.”

Roethlisbergher was a first-round pick when it was his turn in the draft, and took over as starting QB for the Pittsburgh Steelers in the third game of 2004 after Tommy Maddox left the second game with an injury. His circumstances were different from Howard's of course, but all the same, the advice is sound. Fear is the mind-killer. It's time to get to work.

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