With the college football regular season being effectively over, we’re starting to see both player and coaching movements. Monday was no different, as The Athletic’s Max Olson reported that Kansas State quarterback Will Howard had entered the transfer portal as a graduate transfer.
Howard was a four-year starter for the Wildcats and led the team to a Big 12 championship in 2022 when they upset the TCU Horned Frogs, 31-28.
Kansas State QB Will Howard has entered the portal as a grad transfer, @TheAthletic has learned.
Four-year starter for the Wildcats who led them to a Big 12 title in 2022. Big name on the transfer QB market.
— Max Olson (@max_olson) November 27, 2023
The Wildcats went 8-4 this season and will be playing in a bowl game for the fourth time in the five seasons head coach Chris Kileman has been at the helm. Howard will obviously not be partaking.
In his four seasons at Kansas State, Howard went 458-for-779 for 5,786 yards, fifth most in school history. Additionally, Howard’s 48 career touchdown passes is the most of any Kansas State quarterback in their career at the school, as he passed Josh Freeman’s 44 earlier this season.
Freshman quarterback Avery Johnson will likely be under center for the Wildcats in their bowl game. In limited appearances as Howard’s backup this year, Johnson has gone 23-for-35 for 301 yards and three touchdown passes.
As we saw last year with players such as Sam Hartman, becoming a graduate transfer and hitting the market to play for a more elevated program is a path worth pursuing. It’ll be interesting to see how it works out for Howard.