Week 6 has come and gone, and Sam Howell was 14-for-23 for 151 yards and three touchdowns on a day where offense was at a premium for the Commanders but they came away with a win in Atlanta.
So, where did the Sam Howell evaluation roller coaster stop on Monday’s Junkies?
Starting with John Paul Flaim, we’re back at the top, with a JP admission:
“I'll lead off and I'm willing to make a season long proclamation at this point – six games in, and I thought there was a good chance Jacoby Brissett would be playing some quarterback this year, and now, I don't think he's gonna play barring an injury,” JP said, “but I’ll give Sam an A-minus for yesterday's game. He made some good throws – you had a Jahan Dotson drop, and Dyami Brown had one that was a tough ball to catch but a really nice throw – but overall, I’ll give him an A-minus.”
You could drop it down, in JP’s mind, because of sacks and a lackluster second half, but as he noted, outside of the lopsided Bills loss, Sam doesn’t throw a lot of picks – seven career in seven games, but four were against one team – and so he at least takes care of the ball.
Bish, though, did indeed drop the grade.
“I’ll give him a B, just because in the second half, the offense was not good,” Bish said. “Overall numbers were good and he didn’t turn the ball over, but the offense in general was just really stale in the second half. It’s not all on Sam, but I agree with you: he’s done enough in my eyes that he probably should not lose this job based on performance. Still, not going to give him an A based on the offense in the second half. A win is a win, a team win, and my Howell eval is a B.”
“I’ll give him a B, too,” EB chimed in. “I was very happy with the overall performance, but he still does take it to a few too many sacks – although I will say again, and I don't know if he did this purposefully, but there were at least two sacks that it was actually better that he just ate it and let the clock run, so they weren't terrible. But some of the others, I’m stunned. You’d like to see him sustain a drive there in the second half, but I give him a solid B.”
That led into a discussion of not just Howell’s sack total, but the ways they happen, and you can take a listen to it all above!
