Was talking to a dude at work today who is a Washington fan. He is pissed that they let Howell go and predicts he will be our starter from week 5 on. Told him I'd buy him a sixer if he's right. That would be too cool to get our future qb through that trade.
I've heard nothing different from friends and family who are Washington fans... and its more than 'a few'.
The consensus take was that the incompetence of the staff and FO was stunting / ruining Howell's potential, and that in a different situation, he'd be a star. That was in the thick of things last year whrn the team was in a slow death spiral.
Howell was one of the very few bright spots on that team and without his heroics, they would have been worse.
Ultimately however, the dude fell victim to a hapless organization, a coach who was 5 years beyond his expiration date, and an OC who'd lost his group even before the season started and deployed lopsided, pass heavy schemes, game in and game out, that were doomed to fail.