Kevin Sheehan believes, more now than ever, that Sam Howell is not the quarterback of the future in DC, and that while he may be a player in the league for a long time, he’s simply not going to be the guy to build around.
“I think we can all say that Sam is not the guy the next regime is going to build around,” Kevin said. “He’s going to be in the league for a while, someone will always give him a chance, but I think it’s interesting why we’ve arrived here. This move with Howell was going to be what vindicated Ron’s time here. There were things they liked about Sam Howell, but they named him offseason QB1 because they were trying to deflect a bad ending to 2023 – and it was always a wish-casting scenario for Ron. Sam gave us reason to believe the wish would come true at times, but that was an illusion; as defenses got better, Sam got worse, and now, we’ve arrived at a point where we probably won’t see Sam Howell again this year.”
So, when Ron Rivera announced Jacoby Brissett as his starter for Sunday’s game against the 49ers and QB1 for the finale is TBD, Kevin Sheehan understood why it’s happening.
“It’s all today about, you know, Jacoby being a great mentor and Sam needing to take a breath…but the decision to start Jacoby Brissett, I think really just comes down to Sam having so many issues in recent weeks,” he said. “There was a confidence that had been shaken, no doubt, and maybe they felt like starting him against the Niners, the only opportunity was an opportunity of diminishing returns, and maybe not an opportunity to perform at a level that would make him feel a little bit better about things.”
Rivera said in his presser that he consulted ownership and they were on board with the move, and Sheehan feels like Eric Bieniemy had to be, too.
“I would bet that this is a decision that both of them are in agreement on, and for Bieniemy, with two games against two really good teams that may have to win, to see the offense look more competent and more professional than it has in recent weeks isn't going to hurt him either,” Sheehan said. “H can point to them being in project development mode all season long and we did our best with it, and there were some good moments – Sam can be a quarterback in this league at some level – but this is the offense that was designed from the very beginning, and with a professional experienced quarterback, there's a chance that this is going to benefit, in his own mind, his prospects for wherever he lands next.”
So how does Kevin feel about it overall?
“I honestly don’t think it matters who the quarterback is on Sunday, but I think the reaction to this is justifiable, regardless of what it is. For me, on one hand, I'm like, what are you doing? What is the point?” Sheehan said. “I didn't like that Jacoby came in against the Rams; Sam was struggling, but they were probably gonna lose, and that was far from Sam's worst game of the year, so I would not have opened up this can of worms - not when all season long, you were dedicated and committed to the development of a young quarterback.”
Take a listen to both segments above, where Kevin further explains why Howell is not the future, and goes deeper on why he feels how he does on benching Howell now!
