The Washington Commanders are leaning with Sam Howell as their quarterback as part of a major change in direction for the franchise, Albert Breer has claimed.
The Washington Commanders have for a number of years been on the search for someone who can be their franchise quarterback. It looked like they had found it in Robert Griffin III when he burst onto the scene back in 2012 when he won the league’s Offensive Rookie of the Year award, only for injuries to end up derailing his career.
They then moved on to Kirk Cousins who managed to put up a record of 24-23-1 during his time as the team’s official starter between 2015-2017, however despite putting up some impressive numbers, including a touchdown to interception record of 81-36, and throwing for 13,176 yards, they decided to move on from him.
In the past few years though, it’s been a never-ending cycle as they try to find their next man, with the belief being that 2022 5th-round pick Sam Howell will be the guy for this year at least.
Washington Commanders looking for some young blood to guide them through
Writing in a mailbag column for SI.com, Albert Breer pointed out what the thinking was behind the Commanders going with Howell for this upcoming season, pointing out that it in large part came down to the lack of success they’ve had with the veterans over the past few years:
Through Ron Rivera’s first three years in Washington, the team had relatively pricey mid-level vets at the position in Alex Smith, Ryan Fitzpatrick and Carson Wentz. In each case, Washington wound up starting other, cheaper players at the position for long stretches of time—the three aforementioned QBs combined for just 14 starts over that three-year period.
So absent a massive trade-up in April, the question for the Commanders became whether to take another such swing on a Derek Carr or Jimmy Garoppolo, or go more economical to begin with. Right or wrong, their view was to take the latter route, believing that Howell is good enough to give them at least a player who is as good or better than they’ve had at quarterback recently (and that the money saved could be well spent elsewhere).
What the Commanders are saying in going in with Howell is, (a) that Ron Rivera & Co. are comfortable going with him in a critical year and, (b) having him and the extra cap space (spent to rework the offensive line and secondary, and re-sign Daron Payne) was worth more than just landing a Carr or Garoppolo alone.
Washington Commanders could be going even younger?
It is also possible that the Commanders are looking to use Howell as a bridge quarterback as they wait for the class of 2024 to come through, one that will include Caleb Williams and Drake Maye, players that are being highly touted as some of the better prospects to come out of the college game in recent years.
So it will be interesting to see how the Commanders handle the quarterback situation this year, if Howell is as good as they think he can be, do they turn the franchise over to him in the long run? And if he stinks, does he get a second year to prove himself, or will they take another shot at a young player coming through?