Rather than set up an on-air clip with an explanation, we’ll just let Grant Paulsen’s words describe how he and Danny Rouhier feel about Sam Howell’s performance last night and development.
“Watching an athlete at quarterback who can be a dual threat, and make plays with his feet and scramble as he did on a third down to move the sticks…not only invaluable, but necessary in today's NFL,” Grant said Tuesday after the Commanders’ win over the Ravens. “Not only helpful but probably vital. Like, it's not a thing that’s nice to have, it's become almost something that is imperative, a necessity or you're in trouble at the quarterback position.”
Grant has been impressed with Howell’s accuracy and vision, even if he understands there’s a lot that goes into that – ‘how much of that is the defenses that they're playing, or maybe are things vanilla in the secondary and, and there's not a lot of disguised coverages yet,’ he said – but right now, he’s feeling good about DC’s QB1.
“Going into the preseason, I felt good about this player but nervous about the O-line helping him, but I am so hopeful, and frankly encouraged...I really think Sam Howell has a chance to be a really good quarterback,” Grant said. “The one caveat for me is I have to see him make major strides as it pertains to not taking shots and getting protections right.”
Maybe, but Howell is, at least in Danny’s eyes, the right prototype for the modern NFL quarterback.
“Until their Week 14 bye, running through their schedule…of the first 13 games, 11 of their first 13 games are against mobile quarterbacks,” Danny said, running down the list. “It’s now the league. You blinked, and it's like the statuesque guy that stands back there and picks you apart and slices and dices is cool, but that’s not what the league is any more.”
“I would say Geno Smith is more of a pocket QB, but he can move around – but when a guy like Kirk Cousins scrambles, he’s athletic enough to do it, but he is a straight pocket passer, and you know where he is going to be pretty much,” Grant replied. “Derek Carr same deal, those guys are not leaving the pocket. That’s very rare in today’s NFL, and you have to be dynamite as a passer to do it.”
Grant reminded that Jay Gruden once called Kirk Cousins “the best straight thrower in the league,” but that’s not a rarity, not a commonality, so that may not be as high an accolade.
“Those guys don't exist and, and that's not what teams are looking for,” Grant said. “If you find someone who can make all the throws and is accurate, and puts up 4,000 yards and 35 touchdowns, they're gonna find a home for a long time as a starter, but you're looking for the Sam Howell kit here.”
So, perhaps, DC is on the right track?
Follow Grant & Danny on Twitter: @granthpaulsen & @funnydanny
