In mid-October, with the Commanders at 3-3, football analyst Eric Eager told Kevin Sheehan that he saw Sam Howell's career trajectory being that of "a very good backup quarterback in the NFL." Washington has gone 1-6 since then and Howell has had some up-and-down play, but mostly up as Eager, VP of Sumer Sports, returns to the Team 980 airwaves to speak with Lynnell Willingham (in for Craig Hoffman) on The Hoffman Show to give us his take on Howell's play since those comments.
"To be quite honest, he's done better I think since I made those comments," Eager said. "I think he's still probably destined to have a Jameis Winston, Jacoby Brissett type of existence in the NFL. But with quarterback play down and Washington willing to give him a full season's worth of reps, of course, you see a lot of good. The arm strength when he can step into it, his ability to move... but it's hard to win football games when you lead the league in interceptions and sacks taken.
I think that there's good and then there's bad. I think that he'll get opportunities to stat for a while, and he's probably better than Taylor Heinicke... but by how much is a good question?"
When Eager was asked about Howell's ceiling he said Kirk Cousins. And that's not an insult as Eager believes Cousins at his best is a Top 8 quarterback in the league.
But what does that mean for Howell's immediate future headed into the offseason and the 2024 season?
“I think Sam Howell gives Washington an incredible opportunity to only draft a quarterback that the regime is 100 percent sold on," Eager said, pointing to the dysfunction in Carolina with Bryce Young as a path not to take. "... I think what Sam Howell gives the Commanders is a confident quarterback to bridge the gap between the next guy and what he gives them is the license not be desperate about the quarterback that they choose to be the real franchise guy.”
Listen to the full conversation on the audio player above on the Commanders – who are "not desperate for a quarterback" – and much more frome Eager and Willingham.
