Jon Gruden is back doing his quarterback camp show — similar to the one he hosted on ESPN for years. But he’s with Barstool Sports now, which means the former coach can really let his hair down.
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Gruden kicked things off with Ohio State quarterback Will Howard as his first guest of the year, getting the young gun to open up on a multitude of topics in an expletive-filled sit-down. It felt like watching a game tape with Gruden on his couch.
The former Super Bowl-winning head coach is known for his love of good, young quarterbacks. And with Howard, he especially loved his throwing mechanics and sound footwork. They’re two qualities that could push him into the first-round territory.
Naturally, Gruden wanted to dig into the mechanics behind Howard’s fast trigger. So, he asked the ex-Buckeye to demonstrate and walk him through his throwing motion on the spot — and Howard didn’t hesitate.
“You’re not really thinking about what you’re doing with your upper body,” Howard said, ball in hand and set in his throwing stance. “It’s more you’re kind of trusting your stroke. With that lower body, you want that front foot to get down quick.”
“You want to stay connected to the ground with that back foot. Want to just twist over it and dissociate your shoulders a bit. When you’re coming through, there shouldn’t be much coming down with it. It’s a lot of just bringing it up and coming through. The two things I think about are getting my foot down quick and snapping that thing out,” the 23-year-old QB elaborated.
It was a lengthy description from Howard. But it showed just how difficult it is to throw a football with proper mechanics. Most people think they’ve got the motion down just by picking up the ball and slinging it. But that’s not really the case.
Howard understands the right way to get the ball out — and more often than not, quickly and on time. And if he’s ever a little late spotting an open receiver, he’s got a trick up his sleeve that Gruden absolutely loves.
Howard’s no-step throw
Gruden thought Howard’s ability to make no-step throws was the most impressive thing he showed at Ohio State. The former HC even shared how he’d evaluate Howard if he were scouting him and saw that kind of tape.
“Let me tell you something right here. You see this quarterback right here?” Gruden pointed to Howard on the screen. “That son of a b*tch. That’s a first-round pick right there. That’s big time. Big time! That’s one of the great throws I’ve seen.”
It was high praise coming from Gruden. We hadn’t seen him so excited over a quarterback prospect since he got to sit down with Andrew Luck. Could Howard be the next hidden quarterback gem in the draft?
Right now, he’s projected to go in the fourth or fifth round of the NFL Draft. He put up average numbers at the Combine, and analysts have compared him to Blake Bortles. So, there’s a world where Howard lands in the perfect situation.
It’ll be interesting to see if Gruden is onto something — or if he’s just getting a little too excited for no good reason.
