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COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Two years ago, C.J. Stroud put on a clinic at his pro day, confirming that he was one of the best players in his class, and it's pretty easy to argue now that he should've been the No. 1 overall pick.

On Wednesday, Will Howard had something to prove to the 32 NFL teams present. And while he won't be a first-round pick, Howard is a testament to how quickly fortunes can change in college football. Twelve months ago, Kyle McCord had already made his way to Syracuse after an uneven 2023 season for the Buckeyes. And Howard was next man up, the Kansas State transfer whose 2023 numbers -- from completion percentage to passing yards to TD-to-INT ratio -- all paled in comparison to what McCord had managed in his one year as the starter in Columbus.

For Howard, the issues were never physical -- he weighed in at 6-foot-4 and 236 pounds at the NFL Scouting Combine. If not for the name on the back of their pro day shirts, you'd be hard-pressed to tell the difference between Howard and 6-foot-4, 260-pound edge rusher Jack Sawyer. The issue for Howard has been putting it all together. And there were some early bumps in the road last fall, so much so that some Buckeyes fans were lamenting the loss of McCord, who shattered the ACC passing record for the Orange.

But Howard showed up when it counted most –- down the stretch. In five of the Buckeyes' final six games – including all four playoff matchups against Tennessee, Oregon, Texas and Notre Dame – Howard completed 77% of his throws for 1,351 yards, 10 touchdowns and just three interceptions. We all got glimpses of what he does well: using his size, athleticism, arm strength and toughness to make plays, often at critical points in the game. 

And yes, you could point out that he was playing on arguably the country's best offense from top to bottom, and my response is always the same: did he make things better or worse? Because we've seen QBs falter, even when surrounded by wildly talented players. You might also point out that Howard didn't exactly set the world on fire with his combine passing performance. 

Fair enough, but it's hard to ding a quarterback who struggles throwing to guys he just met a few days prior. That's not to say we can't overvalue pro days for the opposite reasons, as everything is scripted. But pro days give evaluators a chance to see how a player looks in person, and for quarterbacks, how the ball comes off his hand, how easy he can rip a deep out, how accurately he can throw a corner route, and his overall athleticism inside and outside the pocket.

Howard passed with flying colors. He has what I call easy arm strength in addition to a ready-made NFL frame. A year ago he was a priority free agent, for the first two months of last season he was a likely Day 3 pick, and now he's all but certain to be a top-100 selection. Some teams view him as a better prospect than Quinn Ewers, who doesn't lack talent but struggled to stay healthy. 

With less than a month to go before the draft, Howard is my QB5 behind Cam Ward, Shedeur Sanders, Jaxson Dart and Jalen Milroe -- and ahead of Ewers, Tyler Shough, Seth Henigan and Dillon Gabriel.

Other pro day standouts

Two years ago, before Stroud did his thing, one of the biggest questions was how fast Jaxon Smith-Njigba would run the 40-yard dash. He clocked in at 4.5 seconds -- plenty fast enough -- and eventually found his way into the first round. This time around, these questions were reserved for Emeka Egbuka, who didn't run at the combine. Like JSN, nothing to worry about; several scouts had Egbuka at 4.47 seconds, which is the speed he plays -- with the added benefit of being bigger and more physical than Smith-Njigba when he was coming out of Ohio State. It would shock exactly no one if he was a top-32 selection. 

Jack Sawyer is one of my favorite players in this draft class, and he'd qualify as a "With the First Pick" Just Good Football Player -- dudes you want on your team because of how they play the game. I thought Sawyer flashed first-round potential at times last season, but then he had sub-32-inch arms at the combine. His arms were 32 ⅛ at his pro day, which probably says more about how hung up we get on numbers, to the point that it can obscure what is right in front of us. In the case of Sawyer, that's an edge rusher with a non-stop motor whose doubters remind me of those same folks who thought TJ Watt wasn't a top talent because he was too stiff. Whatever Sawyer's arm length, he looked sharp during his pro-day position drills. 

As did defensive end JT Tuimoloau, who depending on the team you talk to, is rated just above or just behind Sawyer. Tuimoloau is the more explosive of the two, and it's easy to envision him as a game-wrecker at the next level.

Linebacker Cody Simon, who played some of his best football in the playoffs, might be one of the smartest players in this draft class, He also had a 36.5-inch vertical jump and a 4.59-second 40 time at his pro day. Ohio State lined him up everywhere last fall and he excelled at coming downhill, often on blitzes. He played with great instincts from off-ball linebacker against the run, consistently taking good angles and rarely being out of position. Some teams view him as a late Day 3 target, but I'd happily take him early in Round 4.

Safety Lathan Ransom registered a 36.5-inch vertical jump and ran a 4.50-second 40-yard dash. He played all over the secondary for the Buckeyes and, like Simon, played with great instincts. He's all in against the run, is a tackling machine and gets the most out of his abilities. If he were a top-end athlete he'd be an easy first-round pick, but he's also one of those guys you love having on your roster because of how he plays the game.

Donovan Jackson's workout reinforced what we all saw in the fall: he's one of the best athletes on this team. He should be a first-round pick for his ability to play left guard. Couple that with how well he manned the left tackle position, and it's a no-brainer.

Finally, there's Josh Simmons, the left tackle Jackson had to replace because of a knee injury back in mid-October. He went through a midfield warm up during the pro day to show NFL teams where he is in his rehabilitation from surgery. He did some high knees, some butt kickers, high-knee karaokes and then some pass-set drills that included change of direction – and he did all of it without a knee brace. If you had just walked in off the street and watched Simmons go through his paces, you'd have no idea that he was recovering from anything. He looked smooth, twitched up for someone his size and confident. To continue the theme of this 2025 NFL Draft, that should be yet another Ohio State destined for the first round.

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Bryan DeArdo
2025 NFL Draft rumors: Here are the three Ohio State players the Steelers met with before their pro day