Let’s talk about Sam Howell.
I’ve been saying for the last year and a half that Sam Howell is a NFL caliber starting quarterback with the potential to be great (Check my Twitter page if you don’t believe me). Now, I’m not saying he is Patrick Mahomes or Joe Burrow. At least not yet. He does however, hold some of the same traits as those guys. Big arm, poise in the pocket, and he has a quiet confidence about him. These are traits that we have heard his teammates, like Terry McLaurin and Jahan Dotson, mention and they are necessary traits for any successful franchise quarterback in the NFL.
Yes, Sam Howell was a 5th round draft pick but don’t forget that he would have been a 1st round draft pick if he came out a year earlier. There is no debating that. He instead chose to stay at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill where he lost 3 offensive linemen, 2 running backs, and his #1 wide receiver. Obviously, UNC didn’t perform well in Howell’s junior campaign finishing at 6-7 but Howell did something no other QB did that year. He rushed for 828 yards and 11 touchdown. Combine that with his 3,056 yards passing, 24 passing touchdowns and 9 interceptions and it doesn’t sound like a bad year. Yet, we have scouts and NFL analysts that like to find one quarterback, in this case Malik Willis, and hype them up throughout the entire draft process. We are talking about a guy that couldn’t beat out Bo Nix at Auburn and decided to transfer to Liberty, of all places, just to get some playing time. Don’t get me wrong, Willis is talented but when it comes to quarterbacks the focus needs to be on players that not only have the talent but the intangibles too. What do I mean by that?
I’m talking about good communication, leadership, intelligence and heart. Yes, I said heart. Anyone remember the movie The Replacements with Keanu Reeves? Well if not, let me educate you on something Gene Hackman said near the end of that film when asked what they would need to get back in the game. He said “heart” and when the reporter questioned him, he took the rolled up papers he was holding, hit himself in the chest and said “miles and miles of heart”. I am assuming you are wondering what heart is? I would describe heart as having courage and determination to achieve a goal even if in the end it will not end like you hope. After watching Howell’s college tape from his last year in college, I have no doubt that Sam Howell has heart and that is something the Washington Commanders need at the quarterback position. Trust me when I say Sam Howell is the answer.
He just needs his chance. Yes, he will make some mistakes this year and we all need to realize that. What we need to focus on, is if he learning from those mistakes because if not then we have a bigger issue. For those of you that want Jacoby Brissett to start I say that the world knows what Brissett is. He is a good backup quarterback. Hell, probably the best backup quarterback in the NFL. If he were meant to be a starting quarterback in the NFL, he would have won the job in Indianapolis and kept it. That’s not to take anything away from him but to believe Ron Rivera when he said “don’t sleep on Jacoby now” is not wise. He said last year they were going to give Howell every shot at being the guy and Jacoby knew that when he signed here. Also, Ron has to make it seem like there is a QB battle because he is starting a guy he drafted with the first pick in the 5th round and that’s not a knock against Howell because I believe he might have been drafted based off of his teams performance, not his alone.
Never the less, we have now seen Howell beat a Dallas Cowboys team that was in the playoffs last year and have seen him show improvement in his footwork and progressions throughout training camp and the first preseason game. I believe with how well he carries himself, his great communication skills, not only with teammates but with the media too, and the fact he learns from his mistakes, that the Commanders have found their guy and you can hold me to that.
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