Harris: Steelers 2025 Quarterback Should Be Will Howard

Ryan, how are you, man? J.R., always great to join you, my friend. Appreciate it.

Always a pleasure. Let's work backwards just a little bit. Before we get to Aaron Rodgers and the Jaguars and Travis Hunter and whatnot, what are your thoughts on what we saw this past Sunday, that big ol' whoopin' at the Super Bowl? We saw a team beat the most talented player, and team will always defeat talent. You can look at Super Bowl 48 with the Broncos and the Seahawks. You can look at pretty much any Super Bowl in history. Trent Dilfer says hello.

Brad Johnson says hello, right? And at the end of the day, the Chiefs lied to themselves that they could build any roster in any way they wanted because they had the quarterback. And you needed more talent. And you needed more talent specifically that understood they had to improve. I think one of the biggest things that's gotten missed is in the postgame, which I credit Patrick Mahomes for being accountable and showing up in an interview and not blowing up this media because he lost the game.

He said, look, we got a lot of guys here. All they know is going to Super Bowls. And think about that, J.R., you have three seasons of rookies that expect to go to the Super Bowl. And for the last two years, Patrick Mahomes is going to do something that's going to win us the game. And you went against a team in the Eagles who not only had Saquon Barkley, but had a team that had a chip on their shoulder, including Slay and others, who said, I'm going to improve every week to play my best so I can help my team win.

And that was the difference in the game. Well, Ryan, we know what we talked about earlier in the show, that Travis Kelce, he has about a month to decide whether or not he wants to return cash that check. What do you think his future is? Will he return? And what does the future look like for the Chiefs? I believe he'll return. I think any player of his talent would not want that game to be the last game that he plays. And, you know, I think Travis did a good job on his podcast talking about how, you know, there are plays that he wishes he had back.

And I've been there as a player. It is devastating to think that, you know, you may have been either laid off the ball one snap or you missed on one block, and that was the difference. And unfortunately for many players on the Chiefs, the difference was in about five to six plays where they just were not competitive across the board. So I think he comes back.

I think he catches that check. I think he can, he absolutely can win another Super Bowl with Patrick Mahomes. I think this team's different with Rashid Rice on it. But this team needs to learn, the current Chiefs team needs to learn, you can't depend on Patrick Mahomes for us, for everybody to win games. They kind of made it through the season that way. It's ridiculous to say out loud that they had a center at left tackle, right? I mean, even in Tony's stance, he was opening up his shoulders, something you can't do as a tackle. So from coaches to players, everyone has to increase their willingness to work and their attention to detail. Otherwise, they may get bounced earlier next year than where they were at the Super Bowl in New Orleans. Former tackle and Super Bowl champ, Brian Harris is here with us on the JR Sport Reef Show. When you talk about the team that did walk away with the Vince Lombardi, the Philadelphia Eagles, how much is, how open is their window? We know Saquon San to a three-year contract.

Are they open for as long as he's there? Do you have faith in Sirianni past this? What are your thoughts on these Eagles? I have faith in Jalen Hurts.

I mean, let's be clear. This is Saquon Barkley, although he had, I think he totaled about 90 yards. He didn't really affect the game in the Super Bowl the same way that he did the regular season. Now, it absolutely helped that he could do those things because less pressure was on Jalen Hurts.

But let's be clear, this is about the payback king. This is about the winningest quarterback in terms of his football career that we've seen. He has an SEC, I think he has two SEC championships, lost the national championship to Deshaun Watson as a freshman, got Benson the second one, came back the next year without transferring, helped him win another SEC championship, and then he goes out to the NFL where people not only, did they ask him if he wanted to be a receiver at the combine, but they didn't even like him initially in Philadelphia. So, to think about what Jalen Hurts has persevered through whilst being superior as an athlete and a passer, the window for the Eagles is as open and long as the contract for Jalen Hurts to play there exists.

And we know he's making 51 million dollars a year. We know with success, the teams start pilfering. And not just necessarily on the football field, but earlier today we heard from Kellen Moore, former offensive coordinator, now the new head coach of the New Orleans Saints.

How do you think things are going to turn out there in New Orleans? We got Derek Carr, his contract situation, it just seems like they're going to line up for a Mulligan year. Well, let's be clear, the Saints as an organization haven't been competitive since that big pass interference penalty, what was that, five years ago with Sean Payton? The contract situation has been a mess for 15 years. Ever getting back to when Drew Brees was there, they have aging talent, and it seems like they're unwilling to do the things necessary to be competitive. Now, happy for Kellen Moore, and let's be clear, that's the second offensive coordinator that Jalen Hurts has gotten a job. Is it the coach or the player?

You know what I'm saying? So I think that the NFC South is the most winnable division in the NFC. You're going to have to figure out the quarterback situation. Alvin Kamara is not the most happy running back in the NFL.

I think that's an issue. So to me, if I'm Kellen Moore, I'm going to deconstruct and rebuild this year to build the team with the roster that I need, with the salary cap space to when we get talent in the building, we can make a run in two to three years. And Ryan, if we take a flip from the NFC South and take a look at the AFC South, there was a rumor running around, it's been debunked by a few people earlier today, about Trevor Lawrence potentially, you know, their interest in the Steelers and trying to bring him in. What are your thoughts on that? It just seems, I know the Jags have made a lot of bad decisions.

That doesn't sound like something they'd entertain. Am I wrong? Well, absolutely. You take every phone call, right? I got unlimited nights and weekends. You know what I'm saying?

They are, if you're a DM, but you have to consider that two things come into play. One, it's whether or not, what's the return there? And two, if I'm Trevor Lawrence, I want to stay in Jacksonville. They just got Shane Waldron, one of the best offensive minds in the NFL, who, oh, by the way, got Geno Smith to two consecutive Pro Bowls. That's the guy you want to play for. He won a World Championship with the Rams. He was a part of the Patriots when they won championships. And he knows how to coach offense and relate to players. So I think if you're Trevor Lawrence, you squash this immediately because the best chance for success is with your current coaching staff and your current roster. And if you're Pittsburgh, you got to get a quarterback. I might even draft two of them this year.

Wow. And what great shade, too, by Nick Sirianni, by putting Kenny Pickett in at the end of the game in the Super Bowl. Just a little shade throwing at the Steelers there. So Ryan, what do you think the Steelers should do? I don't want to call them mediocre.

They're good enough to get to the postseason every year, but they don't have a quarterback or a roster full enough, dynamic enough, to actually compete for a championship. Are you going with Fields or Wilson? Would you entertain Aaron Rodgers? I would never entertain Aaron Rodgers. He's a distraction. He's a cancer. He's proven it now in multiple locations.

And you got to believe somebody when they tell you who they are. If I'm the Steelers, I'm going to look at how I get Wilson and how I get Will Howard out of Ohio State in this draft. I think Will Howard, after what I saw this season, watching college football, he's the most put together and was able to manage three different snap counts in a national championship, had handled defeat, improved as a player. I think you go young if you're the Steelers because you have the talent. Now let's be clear, it's not just quarterback. I mean, Pickens has a problem.

It's a maturity problem. And it's funny to me how the Steelers always find these great talents that sometimes have maturity issues. And that's something where if I'm the Steelers, I'm figuring that out first. If Pickens wants to play, we got to figure out a way to get him to manage his emotions and compete every play. If he's unwilling to do that, I played for Coach Tauman. I love his saying. He wants volunteers, not hostages.

So they'll get rid of them. But if I'm the Steelers, I'm going with the young quarterback that has the tools, that has experience. And to me, that's Will Howard in this upcoming draft. You can catch Ryan Harris on CBS Sports.

You can catch him on Westwood One. You talk about young quarterbacks as we wait a few months for the NFL draft. We hear it's a two-team, or not a two-team, but a two-person draft between Cam Ward and also Shadore Sanders.

What are your thoughts on what a team like the Tennessee Titans and the Browns and the Giants should do? There's only two QBs and quite a few teams who need them. Well, I really think the most of Cam Ward in that situation. I think Shadore Sanders did an excellent job of increasing his ability and his talent at the quarterback position, detail-oriented. He was also handicapped by having Pat Shermer as his offensive coordinator. So we really don't know how good Shadore Sanders can be.

And yet Cam Ward, here he comes in learning multiple playbooks, understanding the different types of coaches that he's going to see. He's got, I think, the best arm talent and quickest release to the point where I thought he'd come out last year and probably would have went in the first round. I know I'm in the minority, but hey, I'm a champion.

I'm in the minority anyways, JR. So I like Cam Ward. I like what he does with the football, with the command. The only issue for Cam Ward is that whole situation where he played a half a football in the bowl game, a lot of teams are going to question his love of the game because of that, right or wrong. But that's going to be an issue that will be asked about extensively at the combine coming up here at the end of the month. Ryan Harris here with us, Super Bowl champ with the Denver Broncos.

That's not the only big name. Earlier today, we heard and learned that Travis Hunter, he has to be designated as something at the NFL Combine. He'll be a defensive back.

How do you think he's best situated? Where would be the best spot for him to land in the NFL? Well, first, I think it's brilliant that he's going to go with a defensive back. And what he's saying to the NFL is, I'm going to go against the fastest people and athletes in the field of this rookie class, and I'm going to dominate them. Then you know he can be a receiver. I mean, that's what I love is the strategic choice to take that challenge head on and to put your numbers against some of the best and fastest that will touch a football field in the NFL. I mean, if I'm the Jets, I can't get enough of him.

If I'm the Panthers, I can't get enough of him. I mean, I think I don't see him falling past two, but to me, you have to remember, JR, these teams that are drafting high in the first round are there because they have made the wrong decisions in the front office and probably for some time. And I wouldn't be surprised if in this draft, we start to see players say, I'm not going here, kind of like the Eli Manning situation, because players are getting tired of going to bad teams or bad organizations that make bad decisions. Oh, we've seen a lot of these teams make bad decisions.

Oh my goodness. We see that if you hit the jackpot on a quarterback, whether you're the Washington commanders, whether you're the Texans, you can have a turnaround. Is there a team that you look at that if they just tweet things just a little bit, they could turn things around later this year in 2025? The Atlanta Falcons hands down. They should have won the division this year.

I think if Pennick starts all year, he wins. The interceptions that Cousins threw were just destructive to the season. But I think that team is the Atlanta Falcons and I think they'll do it.

Well, I certainly hope so. Everybody here in Atlanta have been waiting on that for a long time, Ryan. Where do you think Kirk Cousins ends up based on what has taken place over the past few weeks?

I think he ends up in a broadcast booth. I mean, at the end of the day, nothing terrifies teams and teammates more than leading the NFL in interceptions. Now you can do that if you're Brett Favre when you're doing it because you're also throwing, you know, you're leading in touchdowns, right? But Kirk Cousins regressed this year and when age hits a quarterback, you can see it.

I don't know any team. And the other thing that hurts Kirk Cousins is seeing the aging quarterbacks in the NFL that had some success that then started throwing interceptions in the playoffs recently. I'm thinking about the backup quarterback at the Colts right now, I can't remember his name. Flacco? Flacco, right.

Flacco throwing those picks at the Houston game last year in the playoffs. That started the weariness of aging quarterbacks. And you look at what Aaron Rodgers did this year. So teams have to be compelled to go after an aging quarterback. And let's be clear, Kirk Cousins is a Hall of Fame baseball player of quarterbacks. He has all the stats except for where it's most important to the point where Dak Prescott has a better playoff record than he does.

Wow. Ryan Harris is why we have you come through here and drop all of the facts. Where can people follow you? You're a busy man, you're publishing books, you're speaking, you're doing the, you're everywhere. Notre Dame, where can we keep up with you, Ryan? Hey man, RyanHarris underscore 68. That's on Twitter.

That's on Instagram. And check out my website, RyanHarris68.com. Always good to chat with you. We'll catch you on down the line soon, Ryan. Thank you so much. Thanks, JR. Peace.