No, saying what he did with Martinez over Howard and then pushing Howard away In favor of Johnson was stupid. Should have given Johnson his 4 games last year and then the package they used last year for Johnson this year. I think they would have won big 12 and had a shot at winning a couple playoff games. Seemed like Howard’s path was similar to Weeden but got pushed out once Johnson arrived. Yes, needs developed and a few extra pounds of muscle. Wasted a year to develop by playing more than 4 games as a freshman. Was interesting after they lost a couple games many fans wanted to run Johnson out of town in his puke colored corvette! The thing about Johnson is he is a gamer and athletic enough I think he will be very good next year.
You're operating under the assumption that playing QB at Ohio State is the same as playing QB at Kansas State. They're not the same. Howard has vastly greater resources to help him play the position well than he had at KSU.
Thinking that had they kept Howard and played him over Johnson, they'd be playing in, and with shots at, winning "a couple of playoff games" is a pipe dream. Howard and Johnson were effectively the same QB year-over-year:
Howard (2023): 219/357 (61.3%) 2,643 yards (7.4 ypa) 24 TD 10 INT 16 sacks - 81 carries 351 yards (4.3 ypc) 9 TD
Johnson (2024): 217/372 (58.3%) 2,712 yards (7.3 ypa) 25 TD 10 INT 13 sacks - 113 carries 605 yards (5.4 ypc) 7 TD
Statistically, that was Howard's best season until this past year. This season was also his last season (assuming no weird rule/ruling grants him another year). Essentially, KSU got the exact same level of production, but with a QB that had 3, now 2 seasons left. Yes, how they used Johnson last year was stupid, but there's a reason that they wanted him on the field- he's a better QB in their system than Howard.
The last part of that last sentence is also key. Johnson was/is the most important piece to Klieman's offense. He wants to utilize the QB run in a run-heavy offense, but have a QB that can take the top off a defense as well. Think Carson Wentz (201 carries over 24 games) and Easton Stick (427 carries in 3.5 years). Howard can run, but he's not that type of mobile QB.
KSU also expected this to be a transition year, losing their Offensive Coordinator, their top two receiving threats (TE Sinnott and WR Phillip Brooks), and 3 of their top OLinemen. There's a reason KSU fans were excited for Johnson to take the reigns. We're also operating under the assumption that KSU
chose Johnson over Howard. It's just as likely that Howard chose to transfer to a team that had a chance to compete for a championship and possibly increase his draft stock with his last year of eligibility. By the way, with the numbers he was able to put up with actually talented WRs on his team and the fact that he's now playing in the National Championship game, if those were the reasons he left KSU, it was obviously the right call.
