Sam Howell could be the Rookie Quarterback steal of the 2022 NFL Draft

The RotoHeat rookie profile and NFL outlook for upcoming rookie quarterback Sam Howell who is set to be drafted in the 2022 NFL Draft.

Where will Sam Howell be selected in the 2022 NFL Draft?

Sam Howell could be the Rookie Quarterback steal of the 2022 NFL Draft

Bio

Sam Howell began his football career at Sun Valley High School in North Carolina, where he threw for 13,415 yards and 145 touchdowns, adding 3,621 rushing yards and 60 rushing touchdowns. After originally committing to Florida State University, Howell ended up flipping his choice and attending the University of North Carolina.

College

At the collegiate level, Sam Howell has achieved a lot. He became the first true freshman in Tar Heel history to start a season-opening game. Sam Howell has thrown for 10,283 passing yards, 92 passing touchdowns, and completed 63.8% of his passes in college. In terms of rushing, he has amassed 1,009 yards and 17 rushing touchdowns.

Beyond that stats, Sam Howell also holds the records for most passing yards in a career, most total touchdowns, most touchdown passes, and most passing touchdowns in a single season for the North Carolina Tar Heels.

NFL Outlook

Sam Howell could be the Rookie Quarterback steal of the 2022 NFL Draft

When it comes to Sam Howell and his outlook, the RotoHeat team believes he will be selected in either the first or the second round of the 20220 NFL Draft, with the ceiling of being the first quarterback of the board, although that is by no means a given.

Sam Howell is a natural-born and excellent leader. On top of that, Howell is as tough as they come at the quarterback position. Sam Howell is the type of quarterback who is not afraid to stand in the pocket and deliver a throw despite knowing he is going to take a massive hit. He is a fierce competitor, who will never give up on his team. When you look at Sam Howell, you can’t help but see a lot of Baker Mayfield in him. Not just in terms of stature/build, but also in terms of leadership.

Through his three years at the University of North Carolina, Howell was sacked 117 times. This likely helped build his toughness to a degree, although it also has created a tendency in Sam Howell, to sometimes bail and leave the pocket too early.

When it comes to quarterback skills, Howell has the pocket presence, arm strength, and accuracy to be an NFL QB. Some fantasy analysts will even say that Sam Howell is the most pro-ready of the quarterbacks coming out in the 2022 NFL Draft.

Howell also has sneaky rushing ability. You don’t rush for over a thousand yards as a quarterback unless you have some rushing ability. Howell showed the ability to take off and run when the pocket collapsed around him (something that happened quite often, especially in 2021), and he can use his legs to extend plays or pick up first downs. He is athletic and fast enough that he saw a fine amount of designed QB rushes in the Tar Heel offense in 2021.

The RotoHeat scouting team does have some issues with Sam Howell, however. His throwing motion and mechanics could be improved upon. The same can be said about his winning numbers. Those are not great considering that there was a lot of NFL talent on the UNC roster in 2020.

All in all, opinions on Sam Howell are quite divided. He definitely has some of the intangibles to be good early on in his NFL career, but at the same time, we might not see a lot of progression from him throughout his career, much like the case has been for Baker Mayfield.

However, it is often those divisive players that can end up being the biggest bargain in terms of fantasy, which means that Sam Howell could be the rookie quarterback steal of the 2022 NFL Draft.

Thank you for reading this breakdown of Sam Howell. Where do you have him ranked among rookie quarterbacks in the 2022 NFL draft?

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