Neil Greenberg is BMitch & Finlay’s analytics guru, but he didn’t need more than one number to agree with JP’s idea that Sam Howell’s time in DC is over: 2.
That’s 2 as in the Commanders having the No. 2 pick, surely to be used on a QB, and 2 as in signing 2015 No. 2 overall pick Marcus Mariota to a one-year deal Tuesday.
“I think it's definitely the end of, of Sam Howell in Washington, for sure. Mariota’s here to be a backup and I think he could be a capable backup, and I don't see him as like the third string guy,” Greenberg said. “Mariota's not a guy that is going to threaten to be the No. 1 guy, but if he has to be, you know, you can certainly do worse than Marcus Mariota – and I think that this almost guarantees they're picking a quarterback No. 2, maybe someone with a similar skill set just to keep the offense the same. The Sam Howell era had a good run, it would have been a great story, but it’s come to an end, and I think Mariota is a really solid backup quarterback that can probably help a youngster a lot.”
So what becomes of Sam?
“I personally think Washington will give him a chance to get with another team. I don't see his future here as the third string quarterback,” Greenberg said. “Maybe someone sees something in him they think that they can correct, and it won't be the first time that ego has taken over and they think that they can fix something that's broken. I certainly think that it does right by him to at least give him a chance to latch on to another NFL team. With signing Mariota and also having the No. 2 pick and the owner sitting in on all the draft meetings with the quarterbacks, I don't see how anybody can walk away saying Sam Howell has a future in Washington.”
And on that skill-set point – something JP also wondered Tuesday, thinking it meant a lean towards Jaylen Daniels at No. 2 – BMitch knows, and Greenberg agrees, that given the backup not getting a lot of reps, having similar skills as QB1 can help the offense stay consistent.
“Especially for a rookie, you want the offense to be…simple is not the right word, but you want it to be certainly consistent, and if Mariota has to come in and play games that maybe you're not expecting, you don't wanna have to overhaul the offense,” Greenberg said. “With the new coaching staff, like everybody is new to everybody else, right? There's some familiarity with players and coaches, but everything for the most part is gonna be new, so having one template no matter who's under center is certainly an advantage, and having a backup that shoild be able to run the offense the way that we want to run the offense is a good, low-impact, low-risk signing.”
So what does Greenberg think of the whole of the class so far?
“I think they're great. I think it's exactly what you would want to see as a fan: a lot of money to spend, but spending it judiciously to fill all the holes on the roster,” Greenbrg said. “It really comes down to like two categories: getting some solid starters, but also getting players that Dan Quinn or someone else on the coaching staff is familiar with. I think they've done a great job. They haven't spent a lot of money or extended a lot of term, but they've gotten some really solid additions, and I think that you can already see the improvement and kind of where the roster is gonna be going from here.”