{"id":130285,"date":"2022-03-17T12:00:01","date_gmt":"2022-03-17T16:00:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/?p=130285"},"modified":"2022-03-18T21:26:04","modified_gmt":"2022-03-19T01:26:04","slug":"sam-howell-2021-nfl-draft-profile","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2022\/03\/17\/sam-howell-2021-nfl-draft-profile\/","title":{"rendered":"Sam Howell 2022 NFL Draft Profile"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><b>Sam Howell NFL Draft Overview<\/b><b><br \/>\n<\/b><b>Position: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Quarterback<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><b>Height<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: 6\u2019-1\u201d<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><b>Weight<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: 220 pounds<\/span><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"><br \/>\n<\/span><b>School<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/collegefootball\/tag\/north-carolina-tar-heels\/\" target=\"_self\">North Carolina<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2022-nfl-draft-profiles\/\" target=\"_self\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">More 2022 NFL Draft Profiles<\/span><\/i><\/a><\/p>\n<h2><strong>2022 NFL Draft: Sam Howell Scouting Report<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">After three years at North Carolina, quarterback Sam Howell decided to skip his Senior season and declare for the 2022 NFL Draft. It\u2019s hard to blame the young man for his decision, as his collective body of work ensures that he\u2019ll be one of the first passers off the board. During the 2021 season, Howell completed 216 of his 351 attempts for 3,051 yards, 24 touchdowns, and nine interceptions while recording a 90.9 PFF grade.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Howell began his collegiate career as North Carolina\u2019s starter as a true freshman. During his first season against this vaunted competition, Howell completed 68% of his passes for 3,636 yards, 38 touchdowns, and seven interceptions. He followed that up by completing 68% of his passes for 3,555 yards, 30 touchdowns, and seven interceptions as a sophomore.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h4><b>Strengths<\/b><\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Possesses ideal arm strength and touch for a deep passing offense;<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Mechanically sound &#8211; hardly any wasted motion when throwing;<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Not afraid to go out there and sling it;<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Strong runner that can shed tackles;<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Keeps the ball out of harm&#8217;s way &#8211; rarely makes unforced errors;<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Shows potential to buy time in the pocket with footwork;<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Only 21 years old &#8211; still has time to grow.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4><b>Weaknesses<\/b><\/h4>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Turns to his legs when his first read isn\u2019t there;<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Not a good enough athlete to win as a dual threat against NFL competition &#8211; will need to win within the pocket;<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Not much of an anticipation passer &#8211; needs to see it first;<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Room to improve when throwing against pressure;<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Took a bit of a step back in 2021 &#8211; was better in 2020<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>NFL Comparison<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: Less impressive Josh Allen<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Teams With Need At Position<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/category\/nfl-teams\/colts\/\" target=\"_self\">Indianapolis Colts<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/category\/nfl-teams\/texans\" target=\"_self\">Houston Texans<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/category\/nfl-teams\/lions\" target=\"_self\">Detroit Lions<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/category\/nfl-teams\/panthers\" target=\"_self\">Carolina Panthers<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/category\/nfl-teams\/falcons\" target=\"_self\">Atlanta Falcons<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/category\/nfl-teams\/seahawks\" target=\"_self\">Seattle Seahawks<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>Projection: <\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">First Round Pick<\/span><\/p>\n<h4><b>Bottom Line on Sam Howell<\/b><\/h4>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Sam Howell is probably not one of the 10 or 15 best players in this class, but when you factor in the importance of his position, it\u2019s easy to see him going off the board early. The second you turn on the tape, it\u2019s easy to see why a team could fall in love with this guy. Howell has a fantastic arm, and his combination of strength and accuracy gives him one of the safest floors in this entire class. Additionally, he takes care of the football, is mechanically sound, and has multiple years of impressive tape. In short, there is a clear path for this guy to turn into a franchise quarterback.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">However, there are some red flags here. Howell always looks to throw first, but if his first read isn\u2019t there, he\u2019ll usually turn to his legs to try and move the ball forwards. This worked in college, but he\u2019s not athletic enough to get away with this in the NFL &#8211; nobody is confusing him with Lamar Jackson or even Jalen Hurts. While he normally runs in the face of pressure, he\u2019s rather inconsistent on the occasions where he stands in the pocket and throws with a man in his face.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">If you want to be an optimist, you could blame some of this on Howell\u2019s terrible supporting cast. Justin Herbert received similar criticisms during his time in college, and it\u2019s safe to say he turned out ok. Ultimately, Howell\u2019s arm talent and mechanics make him a safe bet to be a good quarterback, and if he can improve his processing ability, he has the chance to be great. Don\u2019t be surprised if he\u2019s the first passer off the board come April.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/2022-nfl-draft-profiles\/\" target=\"_self\"><i><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">More 2022 NFL Draft Profiles<\/span><\/i><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Main photo:<br \/>\n<a id=\"hB1uM7AuQkRNLwfsboaPIQ\" class=\"gie-single\" style=\"color: #a7a7a7; text-decoration: none; font-weight: normal !important; border: none; display: inline-block;\" href=\"http:\/\/www.gettyimages.com\/detail\/1238934365\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Embed from Getty Images<\/a><script>window.gie=window.gie||function(c){(gie.q=gie.q||[]).push(c)};gie(function(){gie.widgets.load({id:'hB1uM7AuQkRNLwfsboaPIQ',sig:'sGRWpobD8ZrJ1Ol5tLaBYWPK-YSjg9BYk0I2AtUW0Hc=',w:'594px',h:'459px',items:'1238934365',caption: true ,tld:'com',is360: false })});<\/script><script src='\/\/embed-cdn.gettyimages.com\/widgets.js' charset='utf-8' async><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>After a successful college career at North Carolina, quarterback Sam Howell hopes to take his game to the next level in the 2022 NFL Draft.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2376,"featured_media":131797,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1647],"tags":[8755,8558],"class_list":["post-130285","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl-draft","tag-2022-nfl-draft","tag-sam-howell"],"modified_by":"Will Noltie, Managing Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130285","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2376"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=130285"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130285\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/131797"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=130285"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=130285"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=130285"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}