#6 Sam Howell

[pittpnthrs]

I'm not sure we should take "what would Washington do?" as some sort of evidence of good football thinking.

Yes, they got rid of what a lot of Seattles fanbase considers the QBotF for a hill of beans and to make room for an unproven rookie. They know what they had.

 

[CPHawk]

I am known as a Geno fan, but I don't think Howell is without merit. He reminds me of a really interesting mix of Baker Mayfield and Russell Wilson.

Sure, last year wasn't pretty. He took almost 70 sacks, and he did it with a line that was as good or even slightly better than ours when it came to how many pressures they were allowing. That's the difference right now between the caliber of Geno and Sam - Sam can't operate through that yet, whereas Geno can take that and still turn out a top-10 lowest sacked rate because he learned timing and pocket navigation.

With that being said, Geno didn't ALWAYS have that, and it wasn't coached into Sam. The goal would be to do so here.

Howell is scrappy. He'll never be that deliberative, surgical general that leads the team on his arm like a Peyton Manning. He'll never be that spread-god pocket passer archetype like Geno. What he will be is an improvisational shotcaller with the ability to scramble and chuck it deep. Sam loves pushing the ball vertically, attacking seams, attacking the boundary, and he's bad at essentially everything Russell Wilson was bad at.

As we learned with Russ - you give him a great rushing attack and you can mitigate those factors. Same is true with Sam, but Sam's a projection. We don't know what he's capable of picking up. What we do know is that the potential IS there regardless of how many people want to wring their hands about his interceptions/sacks last year. Sam is a project, but he's a project that could really turn into something.

But yeah. Don't rush him into game action. He NEEDS this rehabilitative stint on the bench. It is critical.

To compare to our previous backup, Drew Lock - I like Lock better head-to-head if I had to choose one QB to play tomorrow, but I think Howell is the more talented player. Lock's got the physical stuff, but Howell's got more of a natural feel. I think Howell is the better bet to really, really take to coaching. I think Lock, you kinda get what you saw.

What solves sacks for a young qb? Try running the ball. They put him in a tough spot. Just throwing the ball all game doesn’t work in the NfL

 

[JustTheTip]

Yeah, he's a pretty good judge of QB talent and he wouldn't give up a 3rd. Says a lot.

Maybe he would have given up a third but tried to low ball first and wasn't willing to beat Seattle's offer when Washington came back saying "Seattle is offering this, will you give us a second?"

 

[oldhawkfan]

I still have to ask,,,,,if Howells so good why did Washington let him go and why isn't he starting ahead of Geno Smith? Payton wouldn't give a 3rd for him? Wonder why?

This admiration for Howell has to stop. He's a cheap backup and nothing more.

Why did Washington let him go? New regime, 2nd overall pick in a perceived deep QB class,…

On May 3rd, we don’t know for sure that Geno is starting over him. Yes, Geno is the likely starter but can we at least get through OTAs, training camp and maybe a preseason game before we get all worked up over any perceived flaws Howell might have?

Why didn’t Payton give a 3rd for him? Who knows. Who cares. Very few people are privy to trade conversations in the NFL.

 

[Boycie]

I absolutely loved this trade! He will be our starter eventually.

 

[pittpnthrs]

Why did Washington let him go? New regime, 2nd overall pick in a perceived deep QB class,…

So basically they didn't even think enough about him to keep as a backup yet some people here thinks he could be Seattles savior. Seems pretty black and white to me.

 

[JustTheTip]

So basically they didn't even think enough about him to keep as a backup yet some people here thinks he could be Seattles savior. Seems pretty black and white to me.

More likely they put more value in the draft capital than their perceived drop at back up QB. Also, being a Pete disciple, Quinn probably thought he could pull Russel Wilson out of his ass in the 5th round to replace Howell.

 

[Seahawkwalt1967]

Howell wore #14 for the Commanders and in high school (DK#14), he wore #7 at UNC (Geno #7).

The first ten games of 2023 Howell completed 66.5% of his attempts for 2,783 yards, 17 TD's and 9 INT's through 10 games. After week 10 Howell was the NFL's leading passer 15 yards ahead of Houstons CJ Stroud.
Also at the 10 week mark, Howell:
Touchdowns tied 3rd (17)
Completions 1st (264)
Passing yards 1st (2783)

Only 4 QB's in NFL history have more passing yards through 11 games than Howell.
Patrick Mahomes
Justin Herbert
Joe Burrow
Cam Newton
Sam Howell

Howell is Also one of only 8 QB's with four 300 yard passing games in their first 11 games.

2023 Howell vs Geno
Pass attempts
Howell 612
Geno 499
Passing
Howell 3946 yards
Geno 3624 yards

Head to head Nov. 12, 2023
Seahawks win 29-26 on a walk off 43 yard FG by Jason Myers.

Howell 29-44, 312 yards, 3 TD.
Geno 31-47, 369 yards, 2 TD.

Entering week 12 only one QB had thrown for 3,000 yards, Sam Howell.
Howell was sacked 65 times in 2023, that was #1 ahead of Bryce Young (62).
Geno was sacked 31 times in 23' and 46 times in 2022.

Howell is younger than Bo Nix and has a full year of NFL starting experience under his belt.
In 2022 the bleacherreport had Howell ranked as the 5th best QB and a #90 overall draft ranking. They compared him to Jalen Hurts.

Howell piled up 7,224 yards, 68 TD's, and 14 INT's at North Carolina.

A common theme echoed by Howells former teammates is that he is well grounded, humble, deflects media attention and is well liked.

This! Thank you for posting.. I don’t get all the hate.
He was thrown to the wolves on a terribly coached team and still did well (which I realize is a relative term)
We will develop him. He has the skill to be a franchise qb and team leader. Just wait until the game slows down for him. We got a steal.

 

[Ostatehawk]

Reddit for the win. These are funny!

 

[12AngryHawks]

Reddit for the win. These are funny!

He's got a square head...you can't trust anyone with a square head. That's just common knowledge.

 

[Hollandhawk]

But people say he can’t be good. Threw too many INT, and they try to say no one has thrown that many INT and became good. Of course those same people ignore Steve Young and Brett Favre.

And Payton Manning!

 

[DarkVictory23]

Why did Washington let him go? New regime, 2nd overall pick in a perceived deep QB class,…

On May 3rd, we don’t know for sure that Geno is starting over him. Yes, Geno is the likely starter but can we at least get through OTAs, training camp and maybe a preseason game before we get all worked up over any perceived flaws Howell might have?

Why didn’t Payton give a 3rd for him? Who knows. Who cares. Very few people are privy to trade conversations in the NFL.

We know as much as is reasonably possible that Geno will be starting.

The difference in quality between what Geno has done as a starter here and what Howell brought to the table last year is not small.

The difference is Geno is a veteran on the back end of his career. Commanders brought in a new first round draft pick.

You aren't going to do your new first round draft pick any favors by keeping another young dude who also wants to become a starter in this league as his backup. (It also does Howell no favors, FWIW.)

That's not the kind of backup you want in that situation, it has nothing to do with talent, so projecting that Howell has no potential just because he was obviously not a fit for Washington's current situation makes no sense.

 

[Ostatehawk]

My favorite:

"Sam Howell looks like the type of guy that wears basketball shorts everywhere and drives a shitbox Honda civic"

 

[Grahamhawker]

We can hand-wring all we want over the decision to trade for him or not; it amounts to exactly zero. It happened, now let's see how this pans out. I'm rooting for the kid and I hope he can take his potential and do something nice with it.

 

[Shane Falco]

Maybe he would have given up a third but tried to low ball first and wasn't willing to beat Seattle's offer when Washington came back saying "Seattle is offering this, will you give us a second?"

Could be. We never know all angles of these things. My comment was more in jest. I don't have strong feelings about Howell or the trade in one way or the other.

 

[warden]

Most players need to be developed. What did Sam learn last year? Can coaches get Sam to improve?

 

[warden]

Never mind the economics with Sam. We have a back up QB with starting experience for a million a year for the next two years. That there is some really good stuff

 

[WarHawks]

Considering that we haven't drafted a qb in the first or second round in 31 years, I hope to God Howell learns to make good decisions and can become our qbotf, otherwise we're screwed. He has the arm talent, but making game winning decisions is what separates the good from the great. So many unknowns. Fingers crossed. Go Hawks.

 

[Wsumatt1982]

I still have to ask,,,,,if Howells so good why did Washington let him go and why isn't he starting ahead of Geno Smith? Payton wouldn't give a 3rd for him? Wonder why?

This admiration for Howell has to stop. He's a cheap backup and nothing more.

Not saying you’re right or wrong but that’s like asking why the patriots a few years ago let Brady go to the buccaneers. The GOAT. And he wasn’t even declining he still won a SB after he left.

To answer your question it mainly falls on a new regime and wanted “their” guy I think

 

[pittpnthrs]

More likely they put more value in the draft capital than their perceived drop at back up QB. Also, being a Pete disciple, Quinn probably thought he could pull Russel Wilson out of his ass in the 5th round to replace Howell.

Just doesn't seem to make any sense. Washington gave Mariota 2 more million than Howell would have cost and they valued a 3rd round pick more than his services. Something doesn't seem right. Why was Washington looking to draft a QB if Howell is so good anyways?

I get the new regime stuff, but seriously, we have one franchise that got rid of him for peanuts and another claiming he's going to play a big role for them in the future. I'm not buying what JS is selling on this one.