Some believe the jury is out on Washington Commanders quarterback Sam Howell. His time as a starting quarterback is over, and he now must prove he can last as a career backup.
Mind you, Howell is 23 years old with 16 career starts on his resume.
What most won’t tell you is that their minds were made up when Howell was a fifth-round pick in the 2021 NFL draft. The bias would always exist because, for the most part, late-round quarterbacks don’t become successful NFL starters.
But it has happened, and players like Kirk Cousins and Dak Prescott are proof you can find good starting QBs on the third day of the draft.
Like most other young quarterbacks, Howell has battled ups and downs this season. He has had multiple impressive performances. He has the arm talent and athleticism to be successful. But unfortunately for Howell, it’s been a while since he’s had one of those standout performances.
In Sunday’s 30-28 loss to the Jets, Howell was benched in the second half for the second straight week, only to see Jacoby Brissett come in and have immediate success with the offense.
While Howell possesses many starter traits, he has some significant flaws, too. He turns the ball over and takes too many sacks. Those are fatal flaws if not cleaned up.
Brissett believes Howell’s struggles are a part of learning how to play the most difficult position in sports and will make him better in the long run.
With two games remaining in the season, head coach Ron Rivera wasn’t ready to name a starting quarterback heading into Week 17.
Regardless of how you view Howell, almost everyone could agree that Rivera set him up to fail in every aspect.
Howell spoke with the media after Sunday’s benching and is determined to learn from it and improve.
“I just have to keep controlling what I can control,” Howell said. “I have to keep taking one day at a time, and I know it is still early on in my career; I am still a young player, and I just have to keep doing what I can to keep trying to get better and not let this moment define who I am as a player or who I am as a person. I won’t let it define me.”