Sam Howell is the Commanders' QB1, and when John Keim joined BMitch & Finlay Monday, the guys asked him if Howell being anointed the guy was based on his skill set of his contract status.
"I think probably a combination," Keim said. "With all the times Ron Rivera has talked about building around a young QB because of the contract, that's part of it – if you don't have to spend big on a QB, you can build around them. I do think, however, they liked him before the Draft last year, and what they saw in terms of his improvement meshed with what they liked about him. The steady improvement in practices, specifically with his footwork, and then what they saw in the Dallas game, that made them feel comfortable going forward."
Footwork was a huge thing for Howell, Keim says, because that was perhaps the biggest knock for some about his ability to be an effective NFL quarterback.
"I talked to coaches and scouts, and I had one guy tell me Howell was his favorite quarterback in the class, but he needed a lot of work on his footwork," Keim said. "It was about timing up and getting the feet to match the routes. At North Carolina, it was very similar on each play, but at the NFL, it was about the concept of the route. It just took some time for that to develop."
The Commanders saw enough of an improvement in Howell from the preseason to the regular season finale to turn him loose, and although it was one game, it was a huge step.
"You see the results, and we only have one full game to go on, but he was good in that game – he did a good job with what they asked him to do," Keim said. "People have to realize there's a steady progression people have to go through, and what we saw in January is not what they saw in September. The key for him was that you saw him get better; there were things he had to work on, and he did, and you take a leap of faith that what we saw is going to continue going into this year."
Keim also noted that if the Commanders hadn't added Carson Wentz, they might have taken Howell a lot earlier than they did early in the fifth, so he's not necessarily your typical late-round flier – but what will be hard is that after all that improvement, he will have to learn a second offense in two years now that Eric Bieniemy is on board as the offensive coordinator.
"He's considered a smart guy, but that's still an adjustment," Keim said. "There's a lot we don't know about him, but we can see there's intrigue there. What you hear a lot is the verbiage, and I think a big thing for any QB is a pre-snap read, and a coach can help you a lot with that, which will help any young quarterback. Howell has some skills and a good arm, and he can move a little bit, so he has a chance."
That may be good for the Commanders in the future…but what's not good is that apparently, before landing on Wentz, the Commanders may have inquired about bringing Andrew Luck out of retirement.
An ESPN report Saturday said that the Commanders had contacted Luck, who is technically still under contract to the Colts, although Keim doesn't seem to think there's any true tampering there, as a Tweet from Colts owner Jim Irsay Sunday night may have suggested.
"I think it was just checking a box, doing due diligence and inquiring and moving on," Keim said. "They called on many quarterbacks, and any team that had one that might be available, they were calling because you don't know. I think it was just along those lines, but the funny thing is that I wrote a story last year on the pursuit of Wentz, and that Luck check-in was in there."
Keim was "surprised" by Irsay's Tweet, and the hosts also wondered if it became a big deal now just because draft pick compensation has become a precedent as a resolution for NFL tampering?
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