The Commanders came out of Friday's pre-season opener with a 17-15 win over Cleveland, and the biggest question going in was how Sam Howell would perform, especially behind a sketchy offensive line.
The verdict, at least according to ESPN's John Keim when he joined the Junkies on Monday, was a passing grade for Day 1.
"I think he did a pretty solid job," Keim said. "There's a lot to like about him – he' snot a vocal leader, but he's learning how to take control, and what you saw in the game was his quick decision making, and the ability to extend plays. The arm is there, and for a first game, I liked what I saw."
Of course, there was also some negative or some things to fix that Keim saw as well.
"There are also some things you see and say he has to get better at," Keim said. "There were a couple of times where his footwork was off on a hand-off on an RPO, or times he could've made a quicker decision to avoid a sack. That's little details you can clean up, and I don't know how good he is going to be, but he isn't going to be bad."
Some questions answered on Howell, maybe, but there's still one big question we can't answer for another few weeks.
"He has the tools to be good, but what you don't know is how it will play out," Keim said. "He was solid against Dallas, but the more film you get on someone, the more you can try to take away what they do. I like his traits and think he can be good, the question is when does it fully mature for him. How good can he be right away? Can he be good enough for this team to get off to a fast start? There are aspects of his game to build on, the question is when it will hit for him."
Take a listen to Keim's entire call-in above, about the Commanders' preseason opener, Howell's performance and future, and more on and how things look!
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