Dyami Brown arrived at North Carolina in 2018. As a true freshman, Brown played in 10 games, catching 17 passes for 172 yards and a touchdown.
Not a bad debut for a true freshman.
One year later, another true freshman would arrive in Chapel Hill and help Brown set records for the Tar Heels. True freshman quarterback Sam Howell arrived in 2019 and immediately became UNC’s starting quarterback.
In 2019, Brown caught 51 passes for 1,034 yards, averaging 20.3 yards per reception, with 12 touchdown receptions. How did he follow that up in 2020? Brown caught 55 passes for 1,099, averaging 20 yards per catch, with eight touchdowns.
Howell would enter the 2021 NFL draft, while Howell returned for one more season in Chapel Hill.
Things didn’t go great for either player in 2021. Howell lost all of his weapons, including his top two receivers and top two running backs, to the draft, while Brown struggled as a rookie with the Washington Commanders.
Howell would rebound and finish his final college season on a strong note, but he would fall to the first pick in the fifth round of the 2022 NFL draft — to the Commanders.
That meant Howell and Brown, who set records together in college, would reunite in Washington.
Last week, Commanders head coach Ron Rivera named Howell the starting quarterback. Howell has worked with the starting offense all offseason and training camp, building a rapport with his offensive weapons. He’s also picked up where he left off with Brown, whose strong offseason has continued into training camp.
The pair have worked out together away from the facility throughout the offseason, and Brown recently discussed Howell after a training camp practice.
“We just want to go out there and show what we can do,” Brown said, per Zach Selby of commanders.com. “We still have a lot of guys that can go out there and do some things and can prove themselves, even myself. But I think we just want to take this game, and we always wanna come out with a win, but at the end of the day, we just wanna show what we can do.”
Brown believes the sky is the limit for his friend and former college quarterback and current NFL quarterback.
“I don’t underestimate the man at all,” Brown said. “I’ve seen him do a lot, and I think he can do more than whatever he’s been doing. I just have all faith in him.”