We've had 14 games (almost) to evaluate Sam Howell this year, and what we've seen is a roller-coaster. There's a good chance that a new regime is going to come in this offseason and perhaps select Jayden Daniels or another quarterback with the Commanders' high pick, so any more development is moot.
But, in case that's not the case, is there anything Sam Howell can do in the final three games to change your mind about him?
"We talked earlier in the week which camp you're in on drafting a QB or not," a solo Danny Rouhier said Friday, "and pretty much everyone has made up their minds. But let's say earlier this week, you were on Team Howell, can he play bad enough the next three weeks to change your mind? And if you're in the other camps, can he ball out and change your mind, maybe carve up a good Jets defense?"
The games are "meaningless" in terms of the postseason, so it's playing for the future – and as we know, many think that means tank for the pick – but producer Ryan Clary is on Team "Draft a QB" and that's not changing no matter what.
"No, and it's really just because I've seen it with him. I want something special, and I don't really think Sam Howell has anything special to his game that kind of separates himself from the pack," Ryan said. "If he can turn out to be a Kirk Cousins type of quarterback, that'd be great, but at this moment in time, you're restarting, and I want to see if they can get someone special in the building. We haven't had anything special since RG3 in his rookie season, and I want to relive that experience, hopefully for a longer period of time."
Danny's been thinking about it too, and he's in that camp as well right now, but conflicted.
"Through that first Giants game, they're 3-4, he's on pace to shatter the sack record, but I thought there was something here if some stuff was improved and cleaned up and adjustments were made," Danny said. "Then you get, in a row, Philly, New England, Seattle, where the bad was cleaned up and the offense was humming, and you were looking at the growth. But then there's the last four games, where he played his worst football of the year."
So what to do?
"If he plays well against the Jets, Niners, and Cowboys, and some of the things that have been plaguing him over these last four weeks don't anymore, and what they were talking about works and comes to fruition, he could change my mind," Danny said. "The three best defenses they're going to play this year are coming up, so get tested right in the deep end. Are you swimming, sinking, or treading water? I think a lot of the bad surroundings will change, and a lot of the guys we talk about as first-round busts would have done worse in this offense than Howell – he's shown toughness and resiliency, which matters to me. So I'm in the 'we probably need to go quarterback if we're in the Top 3 of 4' area right now, but he could rewrite the script in my opinion."
