Cardinals Coach Nick Rallis Praises 'Very Impressive' Commanders QB Sam Howell

Arizona Cardinals defensive coordinator Nick Rallis was impressed by Washington Commanders quarterback Sam Howell's preseason performances.

Arizona Cardinals defensive coordinator Nick Rallis will have his work cut out in Week 1. 

Not only will he be calling defensive plays for the first time, but he'll be doing so against a quarterback in Sam Howell who has hardly played at the NFL level. Additionally, Howell is now playing in a new system, with Eric Bieniemy in as the offensive coordinator for the Washington Commanders. 

As far as preparing for Howell, Rallis had this to say of the second-year quarterback. 

"For one, he's very calm in the pocket," Rallis said. "He's not rushed, he keeps his eyes down the field. He has ability to move, but he can also throw it on time. His ability to recognize where he needs to go with the ball, get it out of his hands. 'Oh, it's not there. Let me move around. Keep my eyes down the field. I'm not going to put the ball in harm's way', it was very impressive in the preseason."

Sam Howell is the starting quarterback for the Washington Commanders. (Brad Mills/USA Today)

After being selected in the fifth round of the 2022 NFL Draft, Howell essentially had a redshirt rookie season, spending the bulk of the year sitting behind veterans Carson Wentz and Taylor Heinicke. However, he did have some nice moments in a Week 18 win over the Dallas Cowboys, throwing for a touchdown and adding another score with his legs in a 26-6 rout over Washington's NFC East rivals. 

Beyond that one game, though, there's not much for opposing defensive coordinators to go off of when trying to prepare for Howell. They can look back at film of his three seasons at North Carolina, although it's unclear how much relevance his collegiate career still has. And any preseason film from this year likely came in a very vanilla offense from Bieniemy. 

Not to mention, the Cardinals are pretty much universally believed to have the worst roster in the NFL. Rallis will have new coach Jonathan Gannon -- who brought him along from the Philadelphia Eagles -- to lean on, but the Cardinals will likely be undermanned on both sides of the ball in every game this season. That should mean that with more difficult matchups looming against the Denver Broncos and Buffalo Bills, Howell and the Commanders are able to get off to a 1-0 start in 2023.