NFL QB Rankings: Where's Commanders' Sam Howell?

As he enters his first full year as starting quarterback for the Washington Commanders, Sam Howell came in last on a new quarterback countdown.

Washington Commanders quarterback Sam Howell is competing with veteran Jacoby Brissett for the starting job, but it would be shocking if the former isn't under center for the team's Week 1 tilt with the Arizona Cardinals. 

Still, winning the starting quarterback job to open the season is just the first in a series of tests Howell will need to pass in 2023. The latest evidence of that is that on our SI/FanNation countdown of the 32 projected quarterbacks for this upcoming season, Howell came in dead last ...

"Howell had some impressive moments in a Week 18 win over the Dallas Cowboys, but you do have to wonder why the fifth-round pick didn't play sooner if the team believed he could be their full-time starting quarterback in 2023.

"Howell now has offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy at his side, and a pretty respectable group of skill-position players at his disposal. We just haven't seen Howell play enough in the NFL to make sweeping projections." 

As noted, it is fair to wonder why the Commanders didn't unleash Howell, say, at the beginning of December, if they were so high on the fifth-round pick. It's not as though either Carson Wentz or Taylor Heinicke were setting the world on fire, and Washington was still mathematically in the race for a Wild Card spot. 

At the same time, head coach Ron Rivera and general manager Martin Mayhew's jobs may be on the line in 2023 with Joshua Harris' ownership group set to take control of the franchise. If Howell struggles mightily, it might get Washington a top-five draft pick, but it very likely will also mean Rivera's regime gets dismissed. So there must be a real level of confidence that Howell has a shot to have a breakout season. 

On the countdown, Howell came in just below Desmond Ridder of the Atlanta Falcons, C.J. Stroud of the Houston Texans and Anthony Richardson of the Indianapolis Colts, all young quarterbacks also looking to prove themselves in the league. 

Howell was the only NFC East quarterback not to appear in the top-half of the countdown, with Jalen Hurts of the Philadelphia Eagles checking in at No. 5, Dak Prescott of the Dallas Cowboys at No. 9 and Daniel Jones of the New York Giants at No. 15. That perhaps is the best explanation as to  why Washington was the only team in the division not to reach the postseason a year ago. 

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