Steelers Make Potentially Telling QB Move for Rookie Will Howard
The Pittsburgh Steelers announced releasing quarterback Logan Woodside from the practice squad, which could indicate the team plans to activate rookie Will Howard.
Rookie quarterback Will Howard has become a forgotten storyline for the Pittsburgh Steelers early during the 2025 regular season. But that could possibly change soon.
The Steelers announced making a change to their quarterback room Tuesday. The team announced on social media the organization parted ways with quarterback Logan Woodside.
The 30-year-old was on the Steelers practice squad.
That leaves the Steelers with only two healthy quarterbacks — Aaron Rodgers and Mason Rudolph.
But the team has two more signal-callers on injured reserve. Howard and his former college teammate, Skylar Thompson, have been on IR since early September.
With the release of Woodside, the Steelers could be indicating either Howard or Thompson are ready to return.
Howard has been sidelined since fracturing his pinkie finger in his throwing hand on August 5. The rookie quarterback didn’t play at all in the preseason and began the regular season on IR.
Steelers Planning to Activate Will Howard?
The Steelers didn’t announce a corresponding move with Woodside’s release. When that happens, there might be a clearer indication of what the Steelers plan to do without Woodside as the team’s default QB3.
Based on what The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Gerry Dulac said this week, though, it’s not at all a slam dunk Woodside’s release paves a path for Howard to return.
“I think they are going to keep their fingers crossed with two QBs until there is an injury for now,” said Dulac, via PennLive.com’s Nick Farabaugh.
That throws cold water on Howard returning in Woodside’s place. Having said that, Dulac made that prediction with the assumption the organization would continue to have Woodside as insurance on the practice squad.
The Woodside safety net is gone after his release. The Steelers will really have “their fingers crossed” with only two healthy quarterbacks on the active roster or practice squad.
The Steelers can’t active Howard and then place him on the practice squad. So, the team would have to make another move to the active roster to clear space for the rookie quarterback.
According to Dulac, the Steelers are reluctant to do that. They prefer having the extra roster spot instead of three active quarterbacks.
But one thing the Steelers could do is release a player from the 53-man roster, activate one of their quarterbacks from IR and then try to re-sign that released player to the practice squad.
In that situation, the Steelers would be risking the released player not clearing waivers. But that might be a better risk than hoping Rodgers and Rudolph don’t suffer injuries.
Could Steelers Be Close to Activating QB Skylar Thompson?
If Dulac is correct and the Steelers don’t plan to activate Howard anytime soon, then perhaps Woodside’s release indicates Thompson is on the verge of returning.
Thompson has been dealing with a hamstring injury since the start of the regular season. The quarterback was questionable on the team’s Week 1 injury report. Then ahead of Week 2, the Steelers placed Thompson on IR.
Thompson and Howard have been on IR together since then.
After a stellar preseason, Thompson earned the No. 3 quarterback role in Pittsburgh with Howard sidelined. Thompson has made three NFL starts and appeared in 10 games during his career.
If the Steelers value experience, Thompson is the preferred QB3 option over Howard for the rest of the 2025 season.
Steelers have terminated the contract of QB Logan Woodside from the practice squad, an indication that Skylar Thompson could be activated from IR this week.
— Joe Rutter (@tribjoerutter) October 21, 2025
It’s Time for Dak Prescott to Receive His Flowers

The NFL MVP isn’t an honor that is won in the first seven weeks of a season. Things change so quickly week by week, and narratives can shift within the hour.
However, it’s hard to find a narrative that can undermine what Dak Prescott is doing in Big D. By all possible metrics, Prescott is performing at the highest level in the NFL. Fan and media voices alike have tried to say otherwise, but the facts don’t care about their feelings.
It’s time for Dak Prescott to receive his flowers (it’s been time, really).
Box Score Brilliance Without Big Names
Through the first seven games, Prescott has lit up the stat sheet. His 16 passing touchdowns are good for second in the league, only behind Matthew Stafford. He ranks second in passing yards, with his 1,881 only trailing Justin Herbert. He’s also added 56 yards of timely rushes and one rushing touchdown on top of all of it.
But Prescott isn’t just driving the Cowboys’ high-scoring offense. He is constantly keeping it on the field, only turning the ball over three times this season — all of which are interceptions.
His completion percentage is 71.4% — fourth in the NFL — and his 185 completions are the most in the league. So, despite throwing as much as anyone, leaving himself vulnerable to more trouble and less efficiency naturally, Prescott is right at the top of the league in terms of efficiency.
Those stats are astounding, but they become even more so when you see what Prescott has been working with lately. On top of star WR CeeDee Lamb being out for, essentially, five weeks, his offensive line has also been banged up.
Right before the massive Micah Parsons homecoming, Prescott was set to be without his WR1 and his rising left tackle against a seriously good Green Bay defense. His 319-yard, three-TD masterclass, however, would’ve suggested he was never shorthanded against a premier defense on primetime.
Against the Jets, he went to battle without 80% of his offensive line and no CeeDee, yet again. It didn’t matter — 237 yards and four touchdowns later, most people couldn’t deny what their eyes were seeing.
Even in the loss last Sunday afternoon, Prescott still had no Lamb, no Booker, and added no KaVontae Turpin. He went 25-for-34 for 261 yards, threw three touchdowns, and didn’t turn the ball over.
Without his big names, Dak Prescott has put up big numbers.
Just imagine what he’ll do when he gets those names back.
Dak Prescott Has Advanced Into The Elite
If the basic stuff paints a masterpiece, the advanced analytics paint a Prescott-faced Mona Lisa.
The NFL tracks several statistics called “Next Gen Stats”, and one of those stats is aggression%. Simply put, this tracks the % of throws a QB makes into tight coverage —Prescott’s mark of 19.2% puts him second on the list, only trailing the recently-benched Jake Browning.
That puts him ahead of notable aggressive QBs like Baker Mayfield and Stafford. Couple that with his completion percentage, and it tells a story — Prescott is making whatever throws he wants, and he’s completing them.
EPA stands for Expected Points Added, and it’s a fancy way to show who’s driving their offense the best. Many sites track it, and there are many different ways to categorize it, which makes it even more useful for evaluation.
In terms of overall EPA, Prescott is fourth, just behind the pleasant redemption story of Daniel Jones. If we focus on passing only, Dak Prescott’s 60.83 Pass EPA is the single best mark in the league. People for years have crucified Prescott for only being good in garbage time, but in 2025, no one has been better outside of it. His non-garbage time EPA sits at 77.12.
When looking at the base of Prescott’s work, one will find a gunslinging, precise, and deadly athlete under center. Taking a deeper dive only confirms those findings.
But, Their Record!
The only thing Dak Prescott naysayers have to cling to at this point is the fact that the Cowboys are 3-3-1. They’ve latched onto this and claimed that Prescott isn’t, and therefore cannot, play winning football. However, it might actually be quite the opposite.
The Cowboys, as a unit, have the second-best scoring offense in football. Their passing attack is second in the league.
Yet, Dallas is the only team in the top-eight of either category that doesn’t have a winning record.
That’s because the Dallas Cowboys’ defense is terrible. Historically terrible. It’s not particularly good at anything, and it’s horrible at a lot of things.
Dallas allows the most YPG in the league at 401.6. They’re third in PPG allowed at 32.3, third in rushing YPG allowed at 141.3, and first in passing YPG allowed at 260.3.
If someone ran 1,000 simulations with this current Cowboys defense, Dallas would be 0-7 in half of them, 2-5 in 400 of them, and 3-4 in 99 of them. Cowboys fans can call themselves lucky that they live in the one world where they’re 3-3-1.
Or, they can thank their all-world QB who’s lit the league ablaze.
Don’t let this historically bad defense distract from the fact that Dak Prescott is going scorched earth on the NFL, and he has put his hat in the ring for best QB on planet Earth.