Kevin Sheehan joins the Hoffman Show for a cross-talk segment to share his thoughts on Sam Howell's regression toward the end of the season and what Ron Rivera's decision to bench the second-year quarterback in the fourth quarter of Washington's loss to the Los Angeles Rams on Sunday means about the coaching staff's frustration in the former fifth-round pick.
"The bottom line though is, whatever the reason [for his benching]," Sheehan said, "they've gotten to the point with him where it's stalled if not gone backwards a bit [with his development.]"
Sheehan said that at various times there had been forward momentum with Howell – but then there would be a step back. Overall, he would say it was "more good than bad" and 1.5 steps forward and one back is still a net positive for a young quarterback.
"There was promise, there was intrigue, not in maybe they had found the next elite quarterback, but maybe they had found a starting NFL quarterback. And maybe they told you to put the brakes on that now," Sheehan said.
Also, Rivera hinted that if the Commanders were still in playoff contention, he may have gone to Jacoby Brissett to start this week at the New York Jets. Hoffman and Sheehan discuss that and debate whether the Commanders would have been better off with Brissett at quarterback this season.
"Because the defense was so bad all year long and so disappointing, two wins better," Sheehan said of the Commanders with Brissett starting all year instead of Howell. "Maybe they're 6-8, maybe they're 7-7, with an outside shot [at the playoffs] but with the 49ers and Cowboys looming maybe they don't make the playoffs, they probably go 8-9, 7-10 probably something like that."
Listen to the full conversation on the audio player above!
