Player: Sam Howell

School: University of North Carolina

Height and Weight: 6’1”, 218

Combine Results:

• Howell did not test due to a quad injury he sustained at the Senior Bowl. However, he did still throw. His throwing looked pretty good for the most part. A good spiral, good arm strength, and did nothing to suggest he was not the best pure thrower in this draft. He is still QB1 in our eyes, and the willingness to throw despite injury, and the throws he made kept him there in our eyes. He also showed that he needs to work on taking passes from under center, but this should not be an issue.

Strengths: Good arm strength, throws a good spiral, not turnover prone, very good athleticism, reads running lanes from the pocket (both in designed runs and scrambling) extremely well, almost never loses yards on scrambling, decent speed, powerful runner, gym rat reports say, smooth throwing motion that does not change when throwing short or long or with touch or speed, good zip on short and intermediate throws, good touch on most deep throws, resets feet when scrambling whenever possible, first tackler rarely gets him down, good pocket elusiveness

Weaknesses: Deep throws occasionally thrown with too much arc and come up slightly short (but not always), scrambles with head down too much (but also rarely loses yards because of lane reading ability), limited experience taking throws from under center, holds the ball too much at times, a lot of his interceptions came when he tried to play hero ball and make the amazing play when it wasn’t needed,

Projected Draft Day: Day 1

Player Comparison: Russel Wilson

Player Summary: Howell is our quarterback 1 this year, which is not what we expected heading into the film study. He did look like the best quarterback at the Senior Bowl, but that does not always mean they will be anything special in the NFL (Daniel Jones anyone?). However, after watching film on him, he looked even better. What was seen was a good thrower, with tight spirals, a smooth motion that did not vary, with massive rushing ability. As a passer he has a good arm with great accuracy, throws a very good deep ball, balances touch and velocity nicely, and is very good at throwing on the move. He also rarely turns the ball over, with only one game on the season where he threw more than one interception, which was the first game of the season. As a runner, he has exceptional vision in the pocket. He knows when to step up to throw and when to take advantage of the running lanes. He has a lot of power when rushing, as reports are that he is always in the gym, which shows. Very rarely does the first person either in the pocket or in the open field tackle him. When he moves out of the pocket he throws on the run, but also works hard to try and reset his feet as much as possible. He does need to work on loft on deep throws as they occasionally have too much air and float, but he is still the best deep thrower in this draft and the stats support this. It is hard not to think you are watching Baker Mayfield in the pocket. He has a similar stature, throwing motion, and facial hair when he has the helmet on. However, his skill set more closely resembles Russ. Even his play style in the NFL may look similar. A player that loves throwing the deep ball instead of taking the check downs and underneath routes, but one that throws it so well that it should not lead to massive turnover numbers. Whether he actually reaches the heights of Wilson is unknown, but he certainly has the potential.