Sam Howell went into 2023 with a chance to prove himself worthy of being the Washington Commanders’ quarterback of the future. Thus far, he hasn’t exactly established himself.
Through the first seven games of the season, Howell has thrown for 1,749 yards, nine touchdowns and seven interceptions while completing 65.2 percent of his passes and posting a passer rating of 85.2.
While those aren’t bad numbers, Howell hasn’t done enough to separate himself and make the Commanders feel comfortable committing to him as their starter for the long haul.
Heck, he may not even be the starter for the entire season.
Washington head coach Ron Rivera was asked about Howell’s status following his club’s Week 7 loss to the New York Giants, and he gave a very vague response concerning his young signal-caller.
“Well, I will tell you this: I’m committed to him and we’ll see how things go, Ben. But you know, I can’t predict the future,” Rivera told Ben Standig of The Athletic when asked if he was dedicated to Howell as the starter moving forward (via Nicki Jhabvala of The Washington Post).
Basically, Rivera said a whole lot of nothing there. It was a very diplomatic response, and while he didn’t go as far to say that he is not married to the idea of Howell, he essentially meant that the team is evaluating the situation and that there is a chance that Howell doesn’t finish out the year under center.
Of course, there is also the possibility that Howell won’t even be healthy enough to play out the rest of 2023. The 23-year-old has already been sacked 40 times this season, putting him on pace to be sacked 97 times over the course of a full 17 games. That would shatter the record of 76 sacks which was set by David Carr and the Houston Texans back in 2002.
So, clearly, it’s not all Sam Howell’s fault.
The Commanders will host the Philadelphia Eagles next Sunday.
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