Commanders QB Sam Howell Showed Clear Tendencies in First NFL Start vs. Cowboys

While it’s hard to take much from one career start, Washington Commanders quarterback Sam Howell’s numbers from his paint a clear picture what he likes to do.

Quarterbacks all over the league will tell you they prepare like they’re starting every week, even when you’re the Washington Commanders’ third-string quarterback like Sam Howell was to start last season.

Eventually, the Commanders rookie became the second quarterback on the depth chart, and got his first NFL start in Week 18 of the regular season against the Dallas Cowboys.

Then the season was over, and an offseason of hyping or doubting Howell as the next starting quarterback in Washington ensued with nothing but the one game to take as evidence for either side. 

While not much should be read into that one start there were some interesting preferences shown by Howell’s play that we can take note of as training camp gets rolling this week. 

The first one to note is the tendency he showed against Dallas to target outside receivers. 

According to Pro Football Focus’ QB Annual, Howell targeted wide aligned receivers on 47 percent of his passes followed by 41 percent to the slot and 12 percent to players in or coming out of the backfield.

None of his targeted throws were intended for inline tight ends, and that’s the interesting part as young quarterbacks commonly look for tight ends and check downs to backs as safety nets. 

In Howell’s case, however, he chose to target his receiver group almost exclusively which isn’t hard to imagine given the talented group of Terry McLaurin, Jahan Dotson, and Curtis Samuel on his side.

When you look at Howell’s ‘Target Heat Map’ which shows where he threw the ball the most in relation to the line of scrimmage, the right side of the field was far and away the hottest region. 

Of course, the routes run by Commanders receivers were also mostly to the right side, so it makes sense. 

Looking at Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes’ route map from last season we see an offense led by now Washington assistant head coach/offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy that ran routes mostly in the middle and left sides of the offensive formation.

Most of Mahomes’ targets were to the middle of the field as well with the coldest target map areas being deep left and short right.

Again, it’s hard to draw too many concrete conclusions from the data provided, but it’s interesting to note and observe to see if Howell’s affinity for the right side persists with a coach that came from nearly the polar opposite in terms of offensive scheme last season.

Just one more thing to watch when we get our first on-field observation at Commanders training camp this Wednesday.

Find David Harrison on the Locked On Commanders podcast or text him directly at (202) 760-2188.

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