Craig Hoffman begins the first segment of the 2024 calendar year as he does following every Commanders football game with his Top 10 biggest observations. And he starts with a declarative statement that he had resisted making all season long: "I think that we have enough data to say that Sam Howell is not an Option A for this team in 2024.”
Hoffman adds: "You can not go into this offseason [saying], 'Sam Howell is our starter, we're set at quarterback.'" [Listen to that full take on the audio player above.]
"So we have 17 starts from Sam Howell," he said. "And what I would tell you, in my opinion, he is a very high-end backup. And that's not bad for a guy who went in the fifth round... but ultimately he fits the definition with that.
"His play fluctuates dramatically with the opponent. When he has faced bad defenses he has lit them up, he can throw for 330, he can throw for three or four touchdowns, he can make big-time throws, he can do a lot of excellent stuff. Sam Howell is very talented and he has shown a lot this year."
However, the consistency was not there and the mistakes from earlier in the season were not cleaned up. But, after making his declarative statement, Hoffman does explain why Washington – in addition to looking to find a franchise quarterback – can still consider Howell an option on the roster as he still has two years left on his rookie deal and "he is not cooked."
After finishing with Howell – which covers his top three observations – Hoffman gets to his other seven big takeaways from the Commanders' Week 17 loss including running backs Brian Robinson's and Antonio Gibson's performances, the defense's horrible PFF grades and guard Sam Cosmi's continued dominance.
Listen for that take on the audio player below:
