Sam Howell

Sam Howell (born September 16, 2000) is an American football quarterback for the Washington Commanders of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at North Carolina, setting school records for most touchdown passes in a single season (38) as well as career passing yards (10,283) and touchdown passes (92). Howell was selected by the Commanders in the fifth round of the 2022 NFL Draft.

Sam Howell
refer to caption
Howell with the Washington Commanders in 2022
No. 14 – Washington Commanders
Position:Quarterback
Personal information
Born: (2000-09-16) September 16, 2000
Waynesville, North Carolina, U.S.
Height:6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)
Weight:225 lb (102 kg)
Career information
High school:
College:North Carolina (2019–2021)
NFL Draft:2022 / Round: 5 / Pick: 144
Career history
Roster status:Active
Career highlights and awards
Career NFL statistics as of Week 18, 2022
TD–INT:1–1
Passing yards:169
Completion percentage:57.9%
Passer rating:83.0
Rushing yards:35
Rushing touchdowns:1
Player stats at NFL.com · PFR

Early years

Howell was born in Waynesville, North Carolina, on September 16, 2000, and grew up in Union County.[1] He attended and played football for Sun Valley High School, where he threw for 13,415 yards and 145 touchdowns while rushing for 3,621 yards and 60 touchdowns during his time there.[2]

The second-ranked recruit in North Carolina, Howell originally committed to play college football at Florida State University (FSU) but flipped to the University of North Carolina (UNC) after FSU offensive coordinator Walt Bell left the program to pursue other coaching opportunities and Mack Brown was hired as UNC's head coach.[3]

College career
See also: North Carolina Tar Heels football statistical leaders

Freshman
Howell with North Carolina in 2019

Howell enrolled at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in January 2019. He won an open competition to become the Tar Heels' starting quarterback. He became the first true freshman at the school to win the starting quarterback job in his first year.[4][5] In his debut, he passed for 245 yards and two touchdowns in a season-opening 24-20 victory over South Carolina.[6] Against NC State, Howell threw for 401 yards and three touchdowns in a 41–10 victory.[7]

Howell finished the regular season completing 234 of 388 passes for 3,347 yards with 35 touchdowns and seven interceptions. He threw for 294 yards and three more touchdowns in the 55–13 win over Temple in the 2019 Military Bowl. He earned Military Bowl MVP honors for his performance, which also included a touchdown reception on a trick play. Howell's 38 touchdown passes was a single-season FBS record for a true freshman quarterback, and he was named ACC Rookie of the Year for his stellar performance that season.[8][9] His yardage and touchdown totals were also the highest in the conference on the year, earning third-team All-ACC honors in addition.[10]

Sophomore

Howell was included on watchlists for the Maxwell, Manning, and O'Brien awards prior to his sophomore season.[11] He earned ACC Player of the Week honors after throwing for 443 yards against Virginia.[12] Against Wake Forest two weeks later, Howell threw for 550 yards and 6 touchdowns, both school records, while rushing for another touchdown.[13] Howell would record his second career touchdown catch in a 62–26 victory over the Miami Hurricanes. He would finish the season throwing three touchdowns in the Orange Bowl and would earn second-team All-ACC honors in the process.[14] 2020 would be Howell's most successful season as Tar Heel starting quarterback, leading the team to an 8-4 record and a final ranking of 18 in the AP Poll.[15]

Junior

Much like his sophomore year, Howell received significant hype going into his junior campaign, being named to multiple award watchlists, and was also considered one of the top quarterbacks in the nation.[16] Against Georgia State in week two, Howell threw for 352 yards and three touchdowns and rushed for 104 yards and two more scores, becoming the second quarterback in Tar Heel history to throw for over 300 passing yards and 100 rushing yards in the same game.[17] The following week against Virginia, Howell threw for 307 yards and five touchdowns while also rushing for 112 yards, joining Lamar Jackson as the second Power 5 quarterback to post back-to-back games of over 300 passing and 100 rushing yards since 2004.[18]

On the last play of overtime against Pittsburgh, he suffered an injury to his non-throwing shoulder which caused him to miss the following game against Wofford.[19] He made his return the following week in a 34-30 loss to NC State, throwing for 147 yards, one touchdown, and an interception alongside two rushing touchdowns. He finished the season throwing for 3,056 with 24 touchdowns while rushing for 828 yards with 11 touchdowns. He graduated in December 2021 and announced that he would forgo his remaining college eligibility to enter the 2022 NFL Draft.[20][21] Howell would finish his Tar Heel career throwing for 92 touchdown passes and 10,283 yards, both school records. He threw at least one touchdown pass in every game he played in college.

College statistics
College statistics
Season Games Passing Rushing Receiving
GPGSCmpAttPctYdsY/ATDIntRtgAttYdsAvgTDRecYdsAvgTD
2019 131325942261.43,6418.6387160.294350.413237.71
2020 121223734868.13,58610.3307179.1921461.65111.01
2021 121221734762.53,0568.8249154.21838284.511000.00
Career37377131,11763.810,2839.29223164.23691,0092.8174246.02

Professional career

Despite predictions of being an early pick in the 2022 NFL Draft, Howell would not be selected until the fifth round when he was drafted 144th overall by the Washington Commanders.[22][23] He signed his four-year rookie contract on May 6, 2022.[24] Howell started the final game of the 2022 season after the team had been eliminated from playoff contention, completing 11 of 19 passes for 169 yards with a passing and rushing touchdown in a 26–6 upset win against the Dallas Cowboys.[25]

NFL statistics
Year Team Games Passing Rushing Sacks Fumbles
GPGSRecordCmpAttPctYdsY/ATDIntRtgAttYdsY/ATDSckYdsFumLost
2022WAS 111−0111957.91698.91183.05357.0131100
Career111−0111957.91698.91183.05357.0131100

Personal life

Howell is part Korean; his American grandfather met his Korean grandmother while stationed there in 1960 after the Korean War.[26][27] He has never eaten any beef or seafood, with chicken being the only meat in his diet.[28] Howell is a Christian and was baptized in 2021.[29][30]

References
  1. Brugler, Dane. "The Beast: 2022 NFL Draft Guide" (PDF). The Athletic. p. 7. Retrieved August 9, 2022.
  2. Moyer, Dakota (January 24, 2019). "Sam Howell Finishes as Highest Ranked UNC QB Recruit Since Bryn Renner". Chapelboro.com. Retrieved February 26, 2023.
  3. Wertz Jr., Langston (December 19, 2018). "Sun Valley QB Sam Howell 'flips' from one ACC school, chooses another". The Charlotte Observer. Retrieved May 2, 2022.
  4. Adelson, Andrea (August 26, 2019). "UNC to start freshman Howell at quarterback". ESPN.com. Retrieved February 26, 2023.
  5. Alexander, Jonathan M. (August 26, 2019). "True freshman Howell to start for UNC against South Carolina". Winston-Salem Journal. Retrieved February 26, 2023.
  6. Fowler, Scott (August 31, 2019). "Sam Howell had the best QB debut at Bank of America Stadium since Jake Delhomme". Charlotte Observer. Retrieved February 26, 2023.
  7. "UNC defeats NC State 41-10 to become bowl-eligible". ESPN.com. Associated Press. November 30, 2019.
  8. Wilkerson-New, Brant (December 10, 2019). "How Does Sam Howell's Freshman Season Stack Up vs. Heisman Winners, Other Top QBs?". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved February 26, 2023.
  9. Myerberg, Paul (December 13, 2019). "Sam Howell, Derek Stingley lead USA TODAY Sports freshman All-America team". USA Today. Retrieved February 26, 2023.
  10. "Clemson Leads 2019 All-ACC Football Team". TheACC.com. December 3, 2019. Retrieved February 26, 2023.
  11. Trendel, Avery (July 31, 2020). "Sam Howell named to Manning Award watch list". chapelboro.com. Retrieved February 26, 2023.
  12. Trendel, Avery (November 3, 2020). "Sam Howell, Dyami Brown Earn ACC Player of the Week Honors". chapelboro.com. Retrieved February 26, 2023.
  13. Bumbaca, Chris (November 14, 2020). "Sam Howell goes off for seven total TDs, throws for 550 yards as North Carolina outlasts Wake Forest 59-53". USAToday.com. Retrieved February 26, 2023.
  14. "Orange Bowl - Texas A&M vs North Carolina Box Score, January 2, 2021". College Football at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved February 27, 2023.
  15. "2020 North Carolina Tar Heels Schedule and Results". College Football at Sports-Reference.com. Retrieved February 27, 2023.
  16. Smith, Adam (May 4, 2021). "Early projections put UNC QB Sam Howell among top prospects for 2022 NFL Draft". The Times News. Archived from the original on April 2, 2022. Retrieved February 26, 2023.
  17. Pearson, Zack (September 11, 2021). "Same Howell makes history against Georgia State". Keeping it Heel. Retrieved February 26, 2023.
  18. Bryan Ives [@awaytoworthy] (September 19, 2021). "Power 5 quarterbacks with back-to-back 300+ yard passing and 100+ yard rushing games since at least 2004...Lamar Jackson Sam Howell" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  19. "North Carolina Tar Heels QB Sam Howell out with upper-body injury vs. Wofford". ESPN.com. Associated Press. November 20, 2021. Retrieved February 26, 2023.
  20. Martin, Ross (December 28, 2021). "LOOK: UNC QB Sam Howell Graduates". 247sports.com. Retrieved May 2, 2022.
  21. Martin, Ross (January 1, 2022). "UNC QB Sam Howell to Enter 2022 NFL Draft". 247sports.com. Retrieved January 1, 2022.
  22. Jhabvala, Nicki (April 30, 2022). "QB Sam Howell – a 'home run' pick – highlights Commanders' Day 3 of NFL draft". The Washington Post. Retrieved May 1, 2022.
  23. Keim, John (April 30, 2022). "QB Sam Howell calls Washington a 'perfect spot for me' after falling to Commanders in fifth round". ESPN.com. Retrieved April 30, 2022.
  24. Williams, Charean (May 6, 2022). "Commanders sign four draft choices, including Sam Howell". Pro Football Talk. Retrieved May 6, 2022.
  25. Allen, Scott (January 8, 2023). "Four takeaways from the Commanders 26-6 win over the Cowboys. His first NFL pass wascompleted for a touchdown". The Washington Post. Retrieved January 9, 2023.
  26. Thamel, Pete (August 12, 2021). "On his Last Dance agenda: Carolina QB Sam Howell looks to take down Clemson and lead UNC to CFP". Yahoo! Sports. Retrieved February 26, 2023.
  27. Lichtenstein, Hannah. "Sam Howell reflects on Korean heritage in wake of his grandmother Han's death last season". Commanders.com. Retrieved May 2, 2023.
  28. Baer, Jack (May 11, 2022). "Commanders rookie QB Sam Howell will only eat chicken, has never had a burger or steak and is a devoted Catholic". Yahoo! Sports. Retrieved May 12, 2022.
  29. Mercer, Kevin (January 2, 2022). "UNC QB Sam Howell declares for draft: '[Life is] about living for Jesus'". Sports Spectrum. Retrieved March 13, 2023.
  30. Claybourn, Cole (July 3, 2021). "UNC QB Sam Howell gets baptized: 'Best decision I've ever made'". Sports Spectrum. Retrieved March 13, 2023.
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