Outside of Pitt’s Kenny Pickett, who went to the Steelers with the 20th overall pick, the 2022 NFL draft turned into one of those exceedingly rare exercises in which quarterbacks were not overcooked as draft prospects due to the overall value of the position.
Desmond Ridder went to the Falcons in the third round, with the 74th overall pick. Malik Willis went to the Titans in the third round, with the 86th overall pick. Ole Miss’ Matt Corral went to the Panthers in the third round, with the 94th overall pick.
And North Carolina’s Sam Howell was taken by the Washington Commanders in the fifth round, with the 144th overall pick.
That last quarterback? Perhaps the biggest surprise. Had Howell been available for the draft in 2021, after he completed 68.1% of his passes and averaged 10.3 yards per attempt, throwing 30 touchdowns to seven interceptions, things could have been very different — especially after a 2019 season in which Howell completed 61.4% of his passes for 8.6 yards per attempt, 38 touchdowns, and seven interceptions. At that point, Howell looked for all the world like the next great NFL prospect.
Then, before the 2021 season, Howell lost his two best running backs (Javonte Williams, Michael Carter) and his two best receivers (Dyami Brown, Dazz Newsome) to the NFL, and he was left in the eye of the hurricane. Howell responded by completing 62.5% of his passes for 8.8 yards per attempt, 24 touchdowns, and nine interceptions.
It looks like a fall from Howell’s previous efficiency and production until you look at what Howell had to work with, and how he responded with more stuff in his skill set. Howell ran for a total of 181 yards and six touchdowns in his first two collegiate seasons; he upped that to 828 rushing yards and 11 rushing touchdowns on 183 carries.
“Yeah, it was a little different,” Howell said about the switch from the personnel he knew, to the personnel he didn’t — not at the same level, at least.. “Obviously, same system, but we just kind of did some different things this past year. A lot more quarterback-run stuff this past year, and not as much of the vertical passing game. We kind of got more involved in the intermediate passing game, so, it’s all still from the same system, but definitely, we did some different things.”
When asked about all those losses before the 2021 season, Howell was stoic about the whole thing.
“Yeah, definitely a little bit of a challenge, but to be honest with you, I think we had some really good players this past year, and I wouldn’t have traded those guys for anybody in the world. They’re all really talented players and work very, very hard. Obviously, we didn’t achieve everything we wanted to achieve this past year, but we learned so much throughout it, so for that, I wouldn’t trade this past year for anything.”
As it turns out, Howell may be in better shape in 2022 than he was in 2021 from a global perspective. The Commanders have Carson Wentz and Taylor Heinicke as their two quarterbacks with any real NFL experience, and both of those quarterbacks have had more than enough up-and-down moments to leave things open to a greater or lesser degree in a competitive sense.
The Commanders weren’t looking for a quarterback in the draft, especially after trading for Wentz, but Howell proved too attractive to avoid — especially that far down the boards.
“Once we got Carson as our starter, we got off the quarterback train for the most part,” head coach Ron Rivera said after the pick was made. “To have Sam fall to us was something we had to jump on. We had a very good grade on him — he was, at that point, the highest guy left on our board… We feel this was a home run for us.”
It could be, and it could be a home run in the early innings. Based on Howell’s tape over the last two seasons, he shows the attributes you want in a young, developmental starter.