It made headlines earlier this week when Washington Commanders head coach Ron Rivera said he wasn’t ready to name Sam Howell the starting quarterback.
It was only a matter of time before Rivera went with Howell over veteran Jacoby Brissett. Not because Brissett was bad, he wasn’t, but Howell has been the plan for the Commanders since their Week 18 win over the Dallas Cowboys in January.
Rivera stressed the word “competition” when referencing the quarterback position. But was it really ever a competition? Brissett is a quality NFL starting quarterback, better than anyone Washington has had in a few years at the position. However, the Commanders saw Howell’s upside and cost, hoping to build around him.
Rivera took the podium on Friday morning and announced Howell as Washington’s starting quarterback.
“I’m gonna name Sam our starter this year going forward,” Rivera said. “He’s basically met the challenge that we talked about, and that was seeing the growth and improvement from OTAs and minicamp, and then talked about going into training camp and continue to grow and show us what he’s capable of. We’ve been very pleased with it and to the point where I decided yesterday that we were gonna name him the starter going into the regular season.”
So why was Friday the day for Rivera to make this decision? He explained the timeline.
“I think after the first practice against Baltimore,” Rivera said. “That was the high watermark for me in terms of having to see him show us that he is capable of doing the things that we need him to do. You know, it was a very good day.”
Howell had two excellent practices against the Ravens, coming off the heels of a successful preseason-opening performance against the Browns.
“I just feel confident enough going and comfortable enough to say that Sam’s our guy, and we really think that he’s done those things,” Rivera continued. “There is still more growth to go, and he’s gonna continue to get better; we believe that, and I’m very confident going forward.”
The Commanders must be happy with how Howell responded to every challenge. Now it’s about staying healthy and getting ready for the Arizona Cardinals in Week 1.