On Wednesday, Washington Commanders head coach Ron Rivera announced that Sam Howell would be the teams starting quarterback heading into the offseason.
During his rookie year, Howell took the field just once. In Week 18, Taylor Heinicke was in line to start. But with free agency approaching, and him already having a full season's worth of games, Henicke elected to pass the starting job to Howell.
In his lone appearance, Howell played well. He finished the game throwing for 169 passing yards, one touchdown, and one interception. On the ground, he added 35 rushing yards and one touchdown.
On Thursday, Heinicke appeared on The Pat McAfee Show. During his appearance, he spoke on why he gave Howell the starting nod, and what he has seen from the quarterback so far.
“I won't get into the specifics, but they initially named me starter that week. Kind of sitting back and looking at it, how everything unfolded the previous two weeks, the game really didn't mean anything for us. We’ve seen Sam do what he can during practice, and during training camp. The dude's a dog, the dude can ball.” stated Heinicke.
“So I was like, “lets see what he's got.” Obviously, y’all drafted him for a reason. So he went out there and balled out. I’m very excited for him and he's got a bright future ahead of him if he keeps working hard so hopefully, he can keep doing it.
During his day at North Carolina, Sam Howell showed legitimate upside. Following a return to school for the 2021 campaign, Howell wasn't selected until the fifth round of the 2022 NFL draft.
Heading into next season, it is clear that Howell has already gained the support of the locker room. With a full offseason ahead of him, expectations will be sky-high in year two.
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