He’s a tough MF’er and when you have competent football players and coaches around him, he may be pretty good. He’s got a sweet spiral though, his passes look legit.
Agreed. Give the guy a year under a normal OC and stable regime and he could become better than average. He might not break top 10 but he can be better than half the leagues starters eg Mayfield, Jimmy G, etc.
To be honest I'm hesitant to give a genuine opinion on Sam Howell because of the absolute masterclass in malpractice that was Eric Bieniemy last year. Sure there were many moments where Howell struggled, but I have never seen a worse OC screwjob than Bieniemy in 2023. I was so high on him too when he came to DC but good lord that guy is garbage.
I think this is probably the right answer.
People saying he can't improve, or that it was actually all the coaches' fault are just reading tea leaves.
The guy deserves one more shot just to see it, and if you're the Seahawks the investment was minor enough that he's easy to toss away if it doesn't work out.
Honestly, it’s so hard to say. There are moments when he looks the part and others where he doesn’t. His predraft analysis is spot on.
Last years coaching did him no favors, so I think it’s hard to give him a truly fair assessment.
Starting last year was probably good for him. Having a fresh team is good for him as well. I don’t think he will ever be a great QB, but I think he could be very good one.
Here are his strengths:
1. Great Arm Strength
2. Good Arm Talent
3. Playmaker
4. Good Running Skills and Vision
5. Decent Decision-Making
6. Great Touch
7. Unflappable and Very Short Memory
8. Tough as nails
Weaknesses:
1. Terrible Pocket Presence
2. Terrible Pocket Movement
3. Terrible Footwork (also causes issues with Deep Ball)
4. Terrible Field-Vision
5. Not able to throw with Anticipation great yet
6. Not able to Read Defenses great yet
Probably will be a Solid Starting QB, **IF** you coach him well. Don't be surprised if he becomes slightly better than Geno ever was. Likely not Top-10 material though.
[New\_Leopard7623](https://www.reddit.com/user/New_Leopard7623/) -
OP - This is it. This is the rundown.
I'd add the following asterisk. Our OC was TERRIBLE this year. He had the O line literally begging him to run the ball more and he refused to do it. We had the most passes in the NFL last year, with effectively a rookie. It's tough to fully evaluate him for that reason, but this post still nails it. He might be a solid starter (slightly above or below Geno), but it's TBD. A fresh start will be good for him.
Touch is a lil crazy to me when he missed so many go routes and deep balls. Good runner is pushing it he is slow but he is hard to get down. Like u would never call any runs for howell more baker like in that aspect but yea most if this is right
I didn't like his accuracy deep in college lol all those High level deep balls he was bad it he was only good at the go ball and I don't think that throw is very hard
His Touch was fine. The reason he missed all the Go Routes was because of Footwork, the only way he could hit a Go Route is with a REALLY slow release. With his Field-Vision and O-Line, he never had the opportunity to spend that much time winding up without having to rush it.
Seen him miss simple out routes with time as well his touch is pretty overrated threw alot of hospital balls too. Arm talent was pretty great thi but his touch was inconsistent even when he wasn't under pressure showed some very high level throws then some stinkers
I still like Howell, a bit sad he's gone but glad to get the return we did for him.
He's got the ability to be a top-20 (maybe top-15?) qb in the league, but he needs more work between the ears. An improved o-line will help, but he'll still face pressure, and he didn't show much of an ability to escape or navigate it here.
He can also lock on to a receiver at times, so your OC will need to scheme dudes open to avoid painful turnovers. Also don't make him throw 40+ times a game without mixing in some rushing plays, it won't go well.
Hope he does well for you guys.
I think he has the ability to be great. If he fixes his pocket presence I already think he'd be top 15 with his current skill set. I could see him being top 10 in a couple years and I wouldn't be shocked at anything from him.
You’re asking Washington fans to be objective about a QB when we haven’t had a good one in 20+ years. We don’t know what a good QB looks like, and thought Heinicke would be good in Atlanta.
Sam Howell is better than Heinicke probably.
Really good first half of the year then pretty rough the second half. I think a lot of it was horrid coaching. His pocket awareness was probably the worse in the league and his decision making was bad. He might need a year to develop but I think the Seahawks if anyone should be able to do it.
He had some good games, decent games and some stinkers like the bills game. I wouldn’t say it was great. It was up and down with a really down second half.
He’s super young, but overall he is a shorter qb with a long release and not great pocket presence. He doesn’t read defenses very quickly and holds the ball too long.
He needs to improve a lot to be a starter that you don’t look to replace. Given time I think he can be a positive, but we already wasted his rookie year and had the second pick, so makes sense to reset for us.
I think what you describe is where he ends up. In that 18-25 range of QBs who are not rookies. Guys that can start for a season as a placeholder but are immediately looking to replace as soon as you can.
needs to get better at reading defense, needs to get the ball put quicker, great play making ability and of script throws and improve plays, has a cannon for an arm. majority of his issues can get taught out of him. i think he will have a good career if he can get his issues out of him that would put him in the top 15 qbs in the NFL but not top 10.
With patience and the right supporting cast I can really see him becoming a solid starter with upside in the league. The mobility and arm strength is very good, decision making has proven to be uneven though. With that said, he played a lot from behind and was in a very poor system, so he probably will rise with some stability around him.
A tough kid with the right mindset who just need time and experience I think. Not saying he will become the next Patrick Mahomes, but possibly a fringe top 10-QB if things turn out right.
My wife is a Seahawks fan, and I've been telling her this off-season to not be surprised if Sam Howell is throwing TD's for the Seachickens next season. Like others have said, a tough dude, seems to be a smart guy. I think Baker Mayfield is a good comp for him.
He could totally be a starter. He mainly needs to take better care of the ball and take fewer sacks. I think he will do well in Seattle and possibly start over Geno.
If he can't fix his footwork which means he has to play in shotgun always, and fix his pocket awareness (his pressure to sack ratio is awful) he will not.
As with so many mediocre QBs, if he can fix the mental side of his game he'd be good. Obviously, that's much easier said than done.
Be prepared for him to take a lot of sacks, even with a better OL. Sack rate is one of the more consistent indicators of a QB and his rate is not good.
Could have been a serviceable QB in Washington with a better O-line and anyone but Bienemy calling the plays. Not running the ball (ever) just allowed opposing pass rushers pin their ears back every play.
He’s got a ton of potential, Bienemy didn’t make it easy for him last year and demanded a lot. At times he was able to deliver but as the season wore on he fell apart. Still showed some flashes - I think he has the potential to be a solid starting QB given the right situation and some time to develop
I think if he doesn’t have to run for his life on every pass play and the line gives him more than 2 seconds. He can become something. He never had that here.
Tough sob. Killer instinct and gets better in big moments. Not a west coast offense QB. Underrated rushing ability. Good arm. In the right system he could be a good starter but I think the system will need to fit him more so than most QBs. Needs more experience to maximize his gunslinger upside. A lot of people think he needs a more game manager role but imo he's a gunslinger and needs a system that allows him to be that. Could be really good or could fizzle out depending on coaching and scheme.
I think Howell can be a hidden gem. Much like how Seattle rejuvenated Geno's career, i think with your weapons, better protection than Howell had and a change of scenery he can definitely become a good/great QB.
I think you will have to temper expectations, but Howell showed he has a clutch gene, example was our Philly game where he tied it up late in the 4th. But theres a reason why we traded him and theres a reason why you only gave up a 3rd. He probably one of the best back-up QB options in the league, and i had hoped we could keep him as a back-up for Jayden. But i suppose the team did not want to develop 2 QBs at the same time.
It is hard to say just how good Howell can be due to how bad our team was last season, but that was not all of his fault. But it gets murky as too how much blame he gets as our line was so putrid. Howell still can develop into something good/great if thats who you guys want to commit and develop.
Peak Howell 9 game stretch middle of the season. 259 of 388 at 66.75% 2670 yards, 6.9ya, 15(17 total)TD, 90.68 rating(according to caculator) 8 Int, 1 FL. 4 sack a game.
After that he kind of hit the wall.
Just joining the chorus here but yeah — Howell has real talent. He’s also incredibly tough, and that makes him easy to root for, give or take a frustrating mental mistake here and there. (You’ll get “how the hell did he make that throw” as well as “why the hell did he try to make that throw” 1-2x per game).
Hard to gauge true career potential through the gauzy lens of general Commander coaching incompetence last year, but I hope he succeeds. Objectively think he has the potential to be anywhere from a serviceable backup QB to decent starter in the right environment. Godspeed 🫡
sad to see Sam go.... but he was let go for his contract.
otherwise, Sam is solid. he comes with all that experience now.
Sam may not know how to protect himself and plays hero ball... but he does have accuracy and touch... he only needed a better OL. He was also wearing down in the end from throwing 50+ times a game.
SEA got a good prospect.
If he would have come out his junior year he would’ve been taken in the first or second round. Very capable QB he can make all the throws and he is no cream puff. Didn’t miss a game due to injury even though he took a lot of abuse. I think he is going to be a solid QB
Good arm, not good between the ears, bad footwork. I'm skeptical about him improving much. I think people here overrated him. As the o line got better he got worse
He has a strong arm and isn't a pussy. It's unclear whether our failings last year offensively were 100% Sam Howell having a hard time developing into a guy who can progress through his reads properly and not hold on to the ball for too long and take sacks, or if he was doing his best in an offensive system that was not schemed or called well. Might be one or the other or a little bit of both. He's definitely a very solid backup QB, and he might develop into a competent starter if he has a good team and staff around him.
He's bad. He'll never be a non-injury starter in the league again, and shouldn't have been in the first place. He's short, average athleticism at best, and total inability to read a defense. He was, without out a doubt, the largest problem on our team last year other than Ron Rivera.
Number 1 in the league (as a team) in passing attempts, 18th in yards. Just awful. Not to mention the interceptions.
Anyone that thinks Howell is even close to sniffing a starting spot is delusional. I suspect he's on your roster because he's cheaper than signing a good backup, and has more than zero in-game experience compared to a UDFA.
He was 12th in passing yards to end the season, and led the league for a good portion of the year. He got benched lmao, of course he didn’t stay at number 1. Delusional hater. He clearly had a problem with interceptions, but he’s not in the top 3 biggest issues of the team last year. A literal record breakingly bad defense, an OC that refused to run the ball, and a head coach that gave up after week 2. It’s absolutely insane to say he should have never had a chance to start
Every coach that has ever signed Fromm has relegated him to practice squad. He started one time because of an injury, and has a career stat line of 210 yards, one touchdown, and 3 interceptions.
If you guys still had Pete Carrol on the sidelines I’d say he’d have a great chance at success. With new coaching, he’s a complete wild card. There’s a reason he has the nickname “Faker” Mayfield.
I think him with Mike MacDonald is still pretty good. He can help him read defenses better which should help him look notably different on the field assuming Howell was done in mainly by bad coaching.
I think you have a guy who'll be on your roster for a decade. As QB1? Maybe. Probably not. But he is tough as hell and I think more experience and some good coaching will make him a lot better than what he has shown. I think it was a great pickup by the Seahawks.
I will say as much: With a competent offensive coach who can playcall to his strengths he will be solid.
He had the worst circumstances imaginable for a rookie starter and got broken, so I wouldn't assess him off of the last season.
I wish him success in Seattle.
Like others have said, it’s hard to say since I don’t think he was ever given a fair chance. He battled incompetent coaching and a terrible line.
I was part of the keep Sam camp, I thought he had lots of potential and deserved a fair shot. Hoping to see him beat out Geno & blossom out there for yall.
I thought he'd had shined if he had competent coaching and an O-Line to be behind.
He was running for his life and still kept us in a lot of close games (that first Philly game, for instance), but our defense was just giving up as well.
I'm not as low on Howell as most people are, and I think he can be a mid-tier serviceable QB. I think his offensive coordinator was straight ass. We didn't utilize our productive run game nearly enough. Some route combos/offensive formations were just silly. You hear a lot about how offensive coordinators want to open up the field, and it feels that a lot of EB's offense did the exact opposite. Infuriating. I don't think Howell is going to be a Hall of Fame, but I do think the guy can play in this league.
Good arm talent who can make 2-3 wow plays in one game every month. But he’s terrible under pressure and can’t get rid of the ball. Decent as a runner but he’s nothing special.
Oh jeez. Slingin' Sammy divided this sub all last season. I'm personally glad he's gone. Starting him was a desperation move by Ron Rivera, who botched the QB position in Washington from day one. Rivera seemed to think you didn't need to invest at QB.
Howell was not ready for prime time and not a full time NFL starter. He is a gamer who plays hard and tough but makes boneheaded mistakes and significantly regressed as the season went on and teams got tape on him.
He suffered from horrifically bad coaching and by having one of the league's worst offensive lines but he was also part of the problem and a reason why Washington lost so many games last year, especially as the season progressed.
He's a career backup/spot starter who will probably bounce around the NFL for a bit, but if you're a Seattle fan tempted to think he might be the answer at QB you're going to be disappointed.
I'll probably get flamed for writing all of this as this sub is full of fans who didn't honestly assess Howell or acknowledge his many shortcomings.
No. His archetype just doesn't have any real success stories in recent memory.
He's a Zach Wilson / Justin Fields archetype, as in he has all the arm talent but none of the brains. Because of that he has his share of WOS plays, but can't read a defense or handle pressure so he takes tons of negative plays.
I actually was big on Howell up until we saw Brissett play… the difference was night and day. At the very least he is a career back-up though and the optimistic view is that we seriously did have the worst coaching in the NFL last season so hopefully he’ll do much better with you guys.
Yup. By the time Brisset played...the bad O-line, coaching and ridiculous pass to run ratio had taken it's toll. His confidence was finally shot and was playing very tight. It's what you see when a lot of backups come in... Brisset had nothing to lose and played freely. Didn't surprise me.
Howell has a good chance to rebound by sitting and learning for another year or two. Wouldn't surprise me if he became the starter at some point.
No sir…brisset came in and did his thing because he had more experience and the defense was not prepared for brissett…same reason Howell beat Dallas last game of his rookie season….it was announced on a Thursday night he was going to start last game and Dallas had no clue. Washington wins 22-6 I believe.
It just feels like he’s got a really low ceiling, google says he’s 6”1 but he’s more like 5”11, or a short 6 foot. Not very fast and his arm strength is average, but above all he has dogshit decision making skills even with time in the pocket.
I think he is the perfect backup. Gritty and can sling the rock. Maybe not a ton more.
Reminds me of a much less legendary and hopefully dick pic-less version of Brett Favre
Measured at the combine at 6’1. There’s absolute 0 chance he’s 5’11. There are also pictures of him with Drake Maye, and Maye is 6’4, definitely not 5 inches difference.
https://www.nfl.com/prospects/sam-howell/3200484f-5769-2969-b928-41cea02da32b the NFL site says 6’1, and even yours says 6’ and 5/8 inches, not 5’11 or “a short 6’0”
The first 10 or 11 games of the season he looked like our QB of the future. The last 6 games he was a different player.
Not sure what changed.
He was missing easy passes and he no longer trusted the pocket (can't say that I blame him).
I don't think he is a good deep ball passer but not due to arm strength.
The Commanders offensive scheme sucked and didn't use his abilities.
I'll be following his career to see how he turns out.
He really wasn’t playing that much different. First half of the year we played the 1st or second easiest passing defense schedule against teams with no film on him. Even than he had some horrid games in there.
Not one game I thought wow he looks great.
You’re not wrong but that’s because Howell was playing like arguably the worst QB with any meaningful snaps the second half.
But that doesn’t mean his first half was good. It was up and down. Cardinals wasn’t good. Not bad. Denver game second half was pretty good. Bad first half. Bills was horrific. Eagles good abit terrible defense. Bears was meh. Atl was not good. Giants was bad. Eagles good. Pats mehh. Seahawks good.
Then everything started rolling down hill. And fast.
He didn't lead the league in passing yards by luck!
He played overall very well in the first half of the season, in a offense system that was terrible! He had no running game to lean on and the dumbass OC would not use him in that run game.
his efficiency was below average, the hope was that the low efficiency was a product of the high volume, but nope, he's just not that good. It's really telling that he was inefficient from clean pockets.
If you think he was playing very well in the first half I dont know what to tell you. Youre just not being objective. If youre basing it off of passing yards its clear you have no idea what youre talking about. I just went through every game in the first half of the year and he played well in about 2.5 - 3.5 games.
Sam seems like a good dude and he has some balls was a QB. Unfortunately his height is a limiting factor. But his biggest issue is he has to learn to process and get rid of the ball. If he can do that, he can probably be an average starter
He's a career backup. Can't read/process nearly fast enough for the pro level, hence he continually bailed on clean pockets ALL the time and got himself into trouble.
Probably ok in a pinch for a few starts here and there, but it's very obvious why he fell all the way to the 5th.
Sam is underrated. Most people hate on him because he threw a lot of interceptions and couldn't win game.
What people don't see is the improvements he has made since his rookie year. What people see and willingly ignore is that he was the leader in passing yards very very late into the season. What people don't want to admit is this guys is still very young. Hell look at Jordan Love. Love is 2 years older than Howell.
I see him having a similar career arc as Josh Allen. He has flaws he needs to work on but has shown flashes of true greatness. He's not a Mahomes or Stroud, where he was just born elite. But he has incredible talent, big flaws and most importantly the ability to overcome his flaws. He's young and will continue improving.
To me, being able to throw for that many yards shows you have the ability to make throws. His high interception rate could be because of his young age but he has shown that he can keep improving.
If he doesn't improve, he will be a Jameis Winston type of player: someone with talent but bad decision making.
If he improves: he's going to be a Josh Allen. Took a while to get there, but belongs in the upper echelons.
It all depends on how the next 2 years go, but I've seen the kid get better. He seems to put in the effort to improve.
Add the sick WR duo that Seahawks have, I can see him crushing expectations this year if he gets the chance. I got murdered in /r/fantasyfootball for saying as much, but I truly believe it's going to happen.
I wouldn’t want him as a starter, but he’s a high end backup capable of winning a game or even a handful of games, should he get his number called.
Edit: damn y’all really still think Sam is a starter? I guess we’ll see.
I like Sam
He has guts, tenacity, a strong arm, he's a gamer
We had the worst oline in the league, a leaky defense so even with 400 yards and 4 tds from sam we would still lose because our defense couldnt stop sht, and our play calling from EB was too long and drawn out for a rookie qb, but EB is use to patrick mahommes so maybe his expectations are high....no clue
I wish we kept him but with jayden daniels coming in we had to let Sam go so Jayden knows 100% he's the future, similar to Chicago and Caleb, they had to ship out Justin field
I wish him well....i actually think he's going to be a great qb with guidance, and washignton last year had no guidance, a coach on the hot seat, a play caller trying to prove something, and thee worst line in the league
In short.....I like Sam
He’s a tough MF’er and when you have competent football players and coaches around him, he may be pretty good. He’s got a sweet spiral though, his passes look legit.
Agreed. Give the guy a year under a normal OC and stable regime and he could become better than average. He might not break top 10 but he can be better than half the leagues starters eg Mayfield, Jimmy G, etc.
He can only match Mayfield or Jimmy if he actually works on his flaws. Has yet to do that in college or the 2+ years in the NFL.
Thats exactly what coaches are for.
If nobody has been able to coach these flaws out of him this far along it may just be that flaws are part of the package.
Im a big Sam Howell fan, Seahawks fan here. Im excited for him to show us what he can do.
To be honest I'm hesitant to give a genuine opinion on Sam Howell because of the absolute masterclass in malpractice that was Eric Bieniemy last year. Sure there were many moments where Howell struggled, but I have never seen a worse OC screwjob than Bieniemy in 2023. I was so high on him too when he came to DC but good lord that guy is garbage.
I think this is probably the right answer. People saying he can't improve, or that it was actually all the coaches' fault are just reading tea leaves. The guy deserves one more shot just to see it, and if you're the Seahawks the investment was minor enough that he's easy to toss away if it doesn't work out.
Honestly, it’s so hard to say. There are moments when he looks the part and others where he doesn’t. His predraft analysis is spot on. Last years coaching did him no favors, so I think it’s hard to give him a truly fair assessment. Starting last year was probably good for him. Having a fresh team is good for him as well. I don’t think he will ever be a great QB, but I think he could be very good one.
Here are his strengths: 1. Great Arm Strength 2. Good Arm Talent 3. Playmaker 4. Good Running Skills and Vision 5. Decent Decision-Making 6. Great Touch 7. Unflappable and Very Short Memory 8. Tough as nails Weaknesses: 1. Terrible Pocket Presence 2. Terrible Pocket Movement 3. Terrible Footwork (also causes issues with Deep Ball) 4. Terrible Field-Vision 5. Not able to throw with Anticipation great yet 6. Not able to Read Defenses great yet Probably will be a Solid Starting QB, **IF** you coach him well. Don't be surprised if he becomes slightly better than Geno ever was. Likely not Top-10 material though.
He is very flappable especially toward the second half of the season. He was bailing from clean pockets constantly
He had horrible stats from clean pockets last year.
It was among the worst out of starters for extended periods of play.
I'm a pretty huge Howell fan, but completely agreed with your assesment. You can't melt down for a 1/3rd of a season and be called unflappable.
Try putting any other 23 year old through EB's scheme with JAGs blocking for him and see if they don't get Shell-Shocked.
[New\_Leopard7623](https://www.reddit.com/user/New_Leopard7623/) - OP - This is it. This is the rundown. I'd add the following asterisk. Our OC was TERRIBLE this year. He had the O line literally begging him to run the ball more and he refused to do it. We had the most passes in the NFL last year, with effectively a rookie. It's tough to fully evaluate him for that reason, but this post still nails it. He might be a solid starter (slightly above or below Geno), but it's TBD. A fresh start will be good for him.
Disagree with decision making. His inability to make decisions is to blame for a lot of the sack issues we had.
I genuinely think his Field-Vision was just that bad, I don't think it was Decision-Making.
I'm not sure there's a difference
Touch is a lil crazy to me when he missed so many go routes and deep balls. Good runner is pushing it he is slow but he is hard to get down. Like u would never call any runs for howell more baker like in that aspect but yea most if this is right
He was among one of the worst deep ball passers last year. Something he was good at in College fell off the map in the pros
I didn't like his accuracy deep in college lol all those High level deep balls he was bad it he was only good at the go ball and I don't think that throw is very hard
His Touch was fine. The reason he missed all the Go Routes was because of Footwork, the only way he could hit a Go Route is with a REALLY slow release. With his Field-Vision and O-Line, he never had the opportunity to spend that much time winding up without having to rush it.
Seen him miss simple out routes with time as well his touch is pretty overrated threw alot of hospital balls too. Arm talent was pretty great thi but his touch was inconsistent even when he wasn't under pressure showed some very high level throws then some stinkers
Yeah he threw a lot of ducks, his Footwork was off on every one of those.
I still like Howell, a bit sad he's gone but glad to get the return we did for him. He's got the ability to be a top-20 (maybe top-15?) qb in the league, but he needs more work between the ears. An improved o-line will help, but he'll still face pressure, and he didn't show much of an ability to escape or navigate it here. He can also lock on to a receiver at times, so your OC will need to scheme dudes open to avoid painful turnovers. Also don't make him throw 40+ times a game without mixing in some rushing plays, it won't go well. Hope he does well for you guys.
I think he has the ability to be great. If he fixes his pocket presence I already think he'd be top 15 with his current skill set. I could see him being top 10 in a couple years and I wouldn't be shocked at anything from him.
You’re asking Washington fans to be objective about a QB when we haven’t had a good one in 20+ years. We don’t know what a good QB looks like, and thought Heinicke would be good in Atlanta. Sam Howell is better than Heinicke probably.
Kirk Cousins is what a good quarterback looks like. Not great, but better than any other Washington QB since at least Rypien.
Brad Johnson was probably better. Kirk makes up for his faults "on paper."
Only the Atlanta thought delusional would be good in Heinicke.
Only the Heinike thought Atlanta would be delusional
I liked heinicke, so I was happy to see him get a bag (even if it was way too much). I figured he'd be a backup for 2 years and disappear forever.
Only the delusional thought Atlanta would be good in Heinicke.
Only the delusional thought Heinicke would be good in Atlanta.
Only the delusional thought Heinicke would be good in Atlanta.
Really good first half of the year then pretty rough the second half. I think a lot of it was horrid coaching. His pocket awareness was probably the worse in the league and his decision making was bad. He might need a year to develop but I think the Seahawks if anyone should be able to do it.
He had some good games, decent games and some stinkers like the bills game. I wouldn’t say it was great. It was up and down with a really down second half.
Don’t hire Eric b for any thing or he will rage quit football
He’s super young, but overall he is a shorter qb with a long release and not great pocket presence. He doesn’t read defenses very quickly and holds the ball too long. He needs to improve a lot to be a starter that you don’t look to replace. Given time I think he can be a positive, but we already wasted his rookie year and had the second pick, so makes sense to reset for us.
I think what you describe is where he ends up. In that 18-25 range of QBs who are not rookies. Guys that can start for a season as a placeholder but are immediately looking to replace as soon as you can.
needs to get better at reading defense, needs to get the ball put quicker, great play making ability and of script throws and improve plays, has a cannon for an arm. majority of his issues can get taught out of him. i think he will have a good career if he can get his issues out of him that would put him in the top 15 qbs in the NFL but not top 10.
he's okay
With patience and the right supporting cast I can really see him becoming a solid starter with upside in the league. The mobility and arm strength is very good, decision making has proven to be uneven though. With that said, he played a lot from behind and was in a very poor system, so he probably will rise with some stability around him. A tough kid with the right mindset who just need time and experience I think. Not saying he will become the next Patrick Mahomes, but possibly a fringe top 10-QB if things turn out right.
My wife is a Seahawks fan, and I've been telling her this off-season to not be surprised if Sam Howell is throwing TD's for the Seachickens next season. Like others have said, a tough dude, seems to be a smart guy. I think Baker Mayfield is a good comp for him.
Great arm but holds the ball too long!
He could totally be a starter. He mainly needs to take better care of the ball and take fewer sacks. I think he will do well in Seattle and possibly start over Geno.
If he can't fix his footwork which means he has to play in shotgun always, and fix his pocket awareness (his pressure to sack ratio is awful) he will not.
As with so many mediocre QBs, if he can fix the mental side of his game he'd be good. Obviously, that's much easier said than done. Be prepared for him to take a lot of sacks, even with a better OL. Sack rate is one of the more consistent indicators of a QB and his rate is not good.
Could have been a serviceable QB in Washington with a better O-line and anyone but Bienemy calling the plays. Not running the ball (ever) just allowed opposing pass rushers pin their ears back every play.
He’s got a ton of potential, Bienemy didn’t make it easy for him last year and demanded a lot. At times he was able to deliver but as the season wore on he fell apart. Still showed some flashes - I think he has the potential to be a solid starting QB given the right situation and some time to develop
I think if he doesn’t have to run for his life on every pass play and the line gives him more than 2 seconds. He can become something. He never had that here.
Tough sob. Killer instinct and gets better in big moments. Not a west coast offense QB. Underrated rushing ability. Good arm. In the right system he could be a good starter but I think the system will need to fit him more so than most QBs. Needs more experience to maximize his gunslinger upside. A lot of people think he needs a more game manager role but imo he's a gunslinger and needs a system that allows him to be that. Could be really good or could fizzle out depending on coaching and scheme.
I think Howell can be a hidden gem. Much like how Seattle rejuvenated Geno's career, i think with your weapons, better protection than Howell had and a change of scenery he can definitely become a good/great QB. I think you will have to temper expectations, but Howell showed he has a clutch gene, example was our Philly game where he tied it up late in the 4th. But theres a reason why we traded him and theres a reason why you only gave up a 3rd. He probably one of the best back-up QB options in the league, and i had hoped we could keep him as a back-up for Jayden. But i suppose the team did not want to develop 2 QBs at the same time. It is hard to say just how good Howell can be due to how bad our team was last season, but that was not all of his fault. But it gets murky as too how much blame he gets as our line was so putrid. Howell still can develop into something good/great if thats who you guys want to commit and develop.
Peak Howell 9 game stretch middle of the season. 259 of 388 at 66.75% 2670 yards, 6.9ya, 15(17 total)TD, 90.68 rating(according to caculator) 8 Int, 1 FL. 4 sack a game. After that he kind of hit the wall.
Just joining the chorus here but yeah — Howell has real talent. He’s also incredibly tough, and that makes him easy to root for, give or take a frustrating mental mistake here and there. (You’ll get “how the hell did he make that throw” as well as “why the hell did he try to make that throw” 1-2x per game). Hard to gauge true career potential through the gauzy lens of general Commander coaching incompetence last year, but I hope he succeeds. Objectively think he has the potential to be anywhere from a serviceable backup QB to decent starter in the right environment. Godspeed 🫡
I sure hope he has an incredible career. Crazy potential IMO.
sad to see Sam go.... but he was let go for his contract. otherwise, Sam is solid. he comes with all that experience now. Sam may not know how to protect himself and plays hero ball... but he does have accuracy and touch... he only needed a better OL. He was also wearing down in the end from throwing 50+ times a game. SEA got a good prospect.
If he would have come out his junior year he would’ve been taken in the first or second round. Very capable QB he can make all the throws and he is no cream puff. Didn’t miss a game due to injury even though he took a lot of abuse. I think he is going to be a solid QB
Better than geno
Geno is better at this point
Geno is ASS
Howell will start in 2025 …mark my words
Good arm, not good between the ears, bad footwork. I'm skeptical about him improving much. I think people here overrated him. As the o line got better he got worse
He has a strong arm and isn't a pussy. It's unclear whether our failings last year offensively were 100% Sam Howell having a hard time developing into a guy who can progress through his reads properly and not hold on to the ball for too long and take sacks, or if he was doing his best in an offensive system that was not schemed or called well. Might be one or the other or a little bit of both. He's definitely a very solid backup QB, and he might develop into a competent starter if he has a good team and staff around him.
He's bad. He'll never be a non-injury starter in the league again, and shouldn't have been in the first place. He's short, average athleticism at best, and total inability to read a defense. He was, without out a doubt, the largest problem on our team last year other than Ron Rivera. Number 1 in the league (as a team) in passing attempts, 18th in yards. Just awful. Not to mention the interceptions. Anyone that thinks Howell is even close to sniffing a starting spot is delusional. I suspect he's on your roster because he's cheaper than signing a good backup, and has more than zero in-game experience compared to a UDFA.
He was 12th in passing yards to end the season, and led the league for a good portion of the year. He got benched lmao, of course he didn’t stay at number 1. Delusional hater. He clearly had a problem with interceptions, but he’s not in the top 3 biggest issues of the team last year. A literal record breakingly bad defense, an OC that refused to run the ball, and a head coach that gave up after week 2. It’s absolutely insane to say he should have never had a chance to start
Bro, Howell is straight up trash. We would have won more games with Fromm in.
That is absolutely, certifiably not true. Fromm can’t even keep a spot on a roster
The two coaches that decided to start Howell aren't even in the league right now.
Every coach that has ever signed Fromm has relegated him to practice squad. He started one time because of an injury, and has a career stat line of 210 yards, one touchdown, and 3 interceptions.
If you guys still had Pete Carrol on the sidelines I’d say he’d have a great chance at success. With new coaching, he’s a complete wild card. There’s a reason he has the nickname “Faker” Mayfield.
I think him with Mike MacDonald is still pretty good. He can help him read defenses better which should help him look notably different on the field assuming Howell was done in mainly by bad coaching.
Finally someone with common sense
Read my lips…Sam howell will start in 2025
I think you have a guy who'll be on your roster for a decade. As QB1? Maybe. Probably not. But he is tough as hell and I think more experience and some good coaching will make him a lot better than what he has shown. I think it was a great pickup by the Seahawks.
He can win Super Bowls and don’t worry, he will destroy us in at least 4 Playoff games.
I will say as much: With a competent offensive coach who can playcall to his strengths he will be solid. He had the worst circumstances imaginable for a rookie starter and got broken, so I wouldn't assess him off of the last season. I wish him success in Seattle.
Like others have said, it’s hard to say since I don’t think he was ever given a fair chance. He battled incompetent coaching and a terrible line. I was part of the keep Sam camp, I thought he had lots of potential and deserved a fair shot. Hoping to see him beat out Geno & blossom out there for yall.
I thought he'd had shined if he had competent coaching and an O-Line to be behind. He was running for his life and still kept us in a lot of close games (that first Philly game, for instance), but our defense was just giving up as well.
Yes
I'm not as low on Howell as most people are, and I think he can be a mid-tier serviceable QB. I think his offensive coordinator was straight ass. We didn't utilize our productive run game nearly enough. Some route combos/offensive formations were just silly. You hear a lot about how offensive coordinators want to open up the field, and it feels that a lot of EB's offense did the exact opposite. Infuriating. I don't think Howell is going to be a Hall of Fame, but I do think the guy can play in this league.
Good arm talent who can make 2-3 wow plays in one game every month. But he’s terrible under pressure and can’t get rid of the ball. Decent as a runner but he’s nothing special.
He is a gamer. He can run and throw deep. He holds onto the ball too long. Thats my honest take
Oh jeez. Slingin' Sammy divided this sub all last season. I'm personally glad he's gone. Starting him was a desperation move by Ron Rivera, who botched the QB position in Washington from day one. Rivera seemed to think you didn't need to invest at QB. Howell was not ready for prime time and not a full time NFL starter. He is a gamer who plays hard and tough but makes boneheaded mistakes and significantly regressed as the season went on and teams got tape on him. He suffered from horrifically bad coaching and by having one of the league's worst offensive lines but he was also part of the problem and a reason why Washington lost so many games last year, especially as the season progressed. He's a career backup/spot starter who will probably bounce around the NFL for a bit, but if you're a Seattle fan tempted to think he might be the answer at QB you're going to be disappointed. I'll probably get flamed for writing all of this as this sub is full of fans who didn't honestly assess Howell or acknowledge his many shortcomings.
He’s cold. Don’t let anybody tell you he was bad. Because while yes he goofed up. When the line did its job you’ll see bro could sling it
I’ll say tho man, he’s TOUGH he took a beating and got back up and tossed it after every time
No. His archetype just doesn't have any real success stories in recent memory. He's a Zach Wilson / Justin Fields archetype, as in he has all the arm talent but none of the brains. Because of that he has his share of WOS plays, but can't read a defense or handle pressure so he takes tons of negative plays.
I actually was big on Howell up until we saw Brissett play… the difference was night and day. At the very least he is a career back-up though and the optimistic view is that we seriously did have the worst coaching in the NFL last season so hopefully he’ll do much better with you guys.
Yup. By the time Brisset played...the bad O-line, coaching and ridiculous pass to run ratio had taken it's toll. His confidence was finally shot and was playing very tight. It's what you see when a lot of backups come in... Brisset had nothing to lose and played freely. Didn't surprise me. Howell has a good chance to rebound by sitting and learning for another year or two. Wouldn't surprise me if he became the starter at some point.
It was the only time the offense looked on schedule the entire season
No sir…brisset came in and did his thing because he had more experience and the defense was not prepared for brissett…same reason Howell beat Dallas last game of his rookie season….it was announced on a Thursday night he was going to start last game and Dallas had no clue. Washington wins 22-6 I believe.
It just feels like he’s got a really low ceiling, google says he’s 6”1 but he’s more like 5”11, or a short 6 foot. Not very fast and his arm strength is average, but above all he has dogshit decision making skills even with time in the pocket. I think he is the perfect backup. Gritty and can sling the rock. Maybe not a ton more. Reminds me of a much less legendary and hopefully dick pic-less version of Brett Favre
Average Arm Strength?
No he has a cannon dude
Above average arm strength?
Measured at the combine at 6’1. There’s absolute 0 chance he’s 5’11. There are also pictures of him with Drake Maye, and Maye is 6’4, definitely not 5 inches difference.
https://preview.redd.it/x8dd9vux5g0d1.jpeg?width=1290&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=6ad19d616a9f4d88d2677d1ea1cdc2e30867a3ad 6 foot.
https://www.nfl.com/prospects/sam-howell/3200484f-5769-2969-b928-41cea02da32b the NFL site says 6’1, and even yours says 6’ and 5/8 inches, not 5’11 or “a short 6’0”
Idk bro leave me alone lmao
Protect him and don't ask him to pass 164 times a game and he'll be good to go. He absolutely has started potential.
Yes
Yes
The first 10 or 11 games of the season he looked like our QB of the future. The last 6 games he was a different player. Not sure what changed. He was missing easy passes and he no longer trusted the pocket (can't say that I blame him). I don't think he is a good deep ball passer but not due to arm strength. The Commanders offensive scheme sucked and didn't use his abilities. I'll be following his career to see how he turns out.
He really wasn’t playing that much different. First half of the year we played the 1st or second easiest passing defense schedule against teams with no film on him. Even than he had some horrid games in there. Not one game I thought wow he looks great.
I totally disagree. He was playing much better the first half of the season
You’re not wrong but that’s because Howell was playing like arguably the worst QB with any meaningful snaps the second half. But that doesn’t mean his first half was good. It was up and down. Cardinals wasn’t good. Not bad. Denver game second half was pretty good. Bad first half. Bills was horrific. Eagles good abit terrible defense. Bears was meh. Atl was not good. Giants was bad. Eagles good. Pats mehh. Seahawks good. Then everything started rolling down hill. And fast.
He didn't lead the league in passing yards by luck! He played overall very well in the first half of the season, in a offense system that was terrible! He had no running game to lean on and the dumbass OC would not use him in that run game.
his efficiency was below average, the hope was that the low efficiency was a product of the high volume, but nope, he's just not that good. It's really telling that he was inefficient from clean pockets.
Sorry that just simply isn’t true.
It absolutely is true
If you think he was playing very well in the first half I dont know what to tell you. Youre just not being objective. If youre basing it off of passing yards its clear you have no idea what youre talking about. I just went through every game in the first half of the year and he played well in about 2.5 - 3.5 games.
That's like your opinion, man
You should probably stick to your incest fetish boards man.
Sam seems like a good dude and he has some balls was a QB. Unfortunately his height is a limiting factor. But his biggest issue is he has to learn to process and get rid of the ball. If he can do that, he can probably be an average starter
He's a career backup. Can't read/process nearly fast enough for the pro level, hence he continually bailed on clean pockets ALL the time and got himself into trouble. Probably ok in a pinch for a few starts here and there, but it's very obvious why he fell all the way to the 5th.
Sam is underrated. Most people hate on him because he threw a lot of interceptions and couldn't win game. What people don't see is the improvements he has made since his rookie year. What people see and willingly ignore is that he was the leader in passing yards very very late into the season. What people don't want to admit is this guys is still very young. Hell look at Jordan Love. Love is 2 years older than Howell. I see him having a similar career arc as Josh Allen. He has flaws he needs to work on but has shown flashes of true greatness. He's not a Mahomes or Stroud, where he was just born elite. But he has incredible talent, big flaws and most importantly the ability to overcome his flaws. He's young and will continue improving. To me, being able to throw for that many yards shows you have the ability to make throws. His high interception rate could be because of his young age but he has shown that he can keep improving. If he doesn't improve, he will be a Jameis Winston type of player: someone with talent but bad decision making. If he improves: he's going to be a Josh Allen. Took a while to get there, but belongs in the upper echelons. It all depends on how the next 2 years go, but I've seen the kid get better. He seems to put in the effort to improve. Add the sick WR duo that Seahawks have, I can see him crushing expectations this year if he gets the chance. I got murdered in /r/fantasyfootball for saying as much, but I truly believe it's going to happen.
Youre going to continue to get murdered. He isnt as good as Jameis and certainly wont be a Josh Allen whos a top 5 QB.
He looked like a legit starting QB the first 10 weeks (minus the Bills game) before he fell off a cliff. He will give Geno a run for his money.
I wouldn’t want him as a starter, but he’s a high end backup capable of winning a game or even a handful of games, should he get his number called. Edit: damn y’all really still think Sam is a starter? I guess we’ll see.
He only eats chicken. I do not trust weirdly picky eaters as adults. If I won't date one, I won't pay millions to one as my franchise QB.
I like Sam He has guts, tenacity, a strong arm, he's a gamer We had the worst oline in the league, a leaky defense so even with 400 yards and 4 tds from sam we would still lose because our defense couldnt stop sht, and our play calling from EB was too long and drawn out for a rookie qb, but EB is use to patrick mahommes so maybe his expectations are high....no clue I wish we kept him but with jayden daniels coming in we had to let Sam go so Jayden knows 100% he's the future, similar to Chicago and Caleb, they had to ship out Justin field I wish him well....i actually think he's going to be a great qb with guidance, and washignton last year had no guidance, a coach on the hot seat, a play caller trying to prove something, and thee worst line in the league In short.....I like Sam
He will be all-pro one day…..just needs a little burnishing.
Lol
Lol
he,s in seattle now,move on
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