Sam Howell is a fifth-round pick with one NFL start under his belt, so it’s not all that surprising that people aren’t sold on him being the answer at quarterback for the Commanders.
There were calls for the Commanders to bring in other options during the offseason, but they stuck with Howell as the top player on their depth chart and he said on Wednesday that he hasn’t been paying attention to what outside voices are saying about him. Howell said “a lot of my friends kind of send me like the Madden ratings and stuff like that,” but he’s otherwise not spending time worried about the opinions of others.
“I know that some people might think it’s crazy just because of how the draft went, and I hardly played at all last year,” Howell said, via Bryan Manning of USAToday.com. “But for me, it doesn’t really change anything for me. I know the type of player that I can be in this league. I feel like I’ve worked very hard and put myself in a position to go out there and succeed, so I really could care less what other people say. It’s really about what I hear in this building and what I hear internally.”
It’s the right frame of mind to carry into a season and Howell will have plenty of chances to change the narrative about him over the rest of the year. If he does, the Commanders will likely be settled at quarterback as they move into 2024 and beyond.
