Today I am offering you an analysis of North Carolina’s 6’1″ 225 lb. quarterback Sam Howell ahead of the 2021 season. Howell was named Second-Team All-ACC in 2020 and is highly regarded as a potential 2022 NFL Draft prospect.
Strengths: Howell possesses great arm strength, capable of making every throw and effortlessly launching the ball 50+ yards downfield. This also translates to being able to put great zip on the ball, which is especially evident on intermediate passes over the middle of the field which he delivers in the blink of an eye, including in tight windows. Combined with an efficient release, this makes Howell a very quick and effective distributor of the football. Howell is very accurate to all levels of the field, throwing very catchable balls with great ball placement that lead receivers to yards after the catch. Even on contested catches, Howell places the ball where only his receiver can come down with it. He also throws with great touch and shows the ability to layer the ball over second level defenders. Howell has serious improvisational ability, starting with his escapability which stems from his twitchiness to maneuver within the pocket and evade incoming defenders. When escaping from the pocket, he throws on the run with great accuracy, both when he resets his throwing platform and when he doesn’t. Within the pocket, Howell can alter his arm angle and his throwing platform when needed. His improvisational ability shows his field vision and general feel for the game. Against pressure, Howell keeps his eyes downfield and is not afraid of standing tall and delivering the ball through a hit. Howell additionally throws with a lot of anticipation. He also shows an ability to go through his progressions, and often resorts to his checkdown option when needed. All of these traits make Howell an elite passer already. Howell is also an underrated runner, as he is rarely called upon to run the ball but possesses plenty of ability to do so. Not only is he a twitchy athlete to elude defenders in the backfield, but he also has good quickness and burst to pick up chunks of yardage with his legs. Howell is an athletic, tough, effective runner.
Weaknesses: Howell has one glaring weakness that must be corrected. His pass rush awareness is currently subpar, which leads him to hold the ball way too long on some plays. This results in completely unnecessary sacks being taken, as well as some fumbles when he makes a throw unaware of a defender about to hit him or fights to avoid a sack when he should have already released the ball. Sometimes Howell tries to play hero ball in this way when the smart decision would be to simply throw it away, and he also at times passes up easy short completions only to get in trouble with pass rush afterwards. He did get better at getting the ball out quicker and at sensing pressure towards the end of the year, but he still needs to improve on this in 2021. Additionally, Howell could stand to read the deep portions of the field better, as he fails to locate a lurking safety underneath at times. While Howell shows an ability to go through progressions, he does not do this consistently yet and does still lock onto his first read sometimes.
Bottom Line: I came away very impressed by Howell, surprised by how remarkably and consistently accurate he is on all types of throws, displaying fantastic touch and anticipation as well in addition to a live, explosive arm. Howell truly has all the desirable traits as a passer and has underrated escapability and running ability as well. His primary area of focus for 2021 should be to sense pressure better and to release the ball before it gets to him. Howell has a bright NFL future ahead of him, and if he improves in this area and withstands the losses of four skill position players to the NFL (Williams, Brown, Carter, Newsome), I could see him being the first overall pick in 2022.
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