Washington Commanders at Risk of Ruining Sam Howell's Career?

With 40 sacks through seven games, Sam Howell is on a record pace for sacks taken in his first season as the Washington Commanders' starting quarterback.

The last time a quarterback took the amount of punishment Washington Commanders quarterback Sam Howell has through the first seven games of the season, you would have to go back 21 years to the 2002 season. 

That was when David Carr was the starting quarterback as a rookie for a Houston Texans team in its first season as an expansion franchise. He was sacked 43 times through his first seven games and finished the season with 76, the most a quarterback has ever been sacked in an NFL season. 

Anytime you're drawing parallels to Carr's rookie season and the Texans' inability to protect him, it's never a good thing. But through seven games, Howell's first seven games have nearly been a spitting image of Carr's. 

Howell has been sacked 40 times through seven games, the most in the league. He took even more punishment in the Commanders' 14-7 loss to the New York Giants on Sunday at MetLife Stadium. A Giants (2-5) defense with five sacks heading into Sunday had five in the first half and finished the game with six. 

Howell completed 22 of 42 passes for 249 yards with an interception in the loss.

Seemingly every time Howell dropped back to pass, there was a Giants defender in his face. Even on the game-deciding play, Howell had to evade a sack and roll left to give Jahan Dotson time to get open before making an errant throw. 

Sam Howell was sacked six times by the New York Giants / Vincent Carchietta-USA TODAY Sports

Howell has been sacked at least five times in six of the Commanders' (3-4) seven games this season. If there's any hope of preserving him for the rest of the season, wholesale changes have to be made to the offense. 

Reshuffling the offensive line would be a start. Offensive tackle Cornelius Lucas was Washington's best offensive lineman when he made an emergency start for Charles Leno against the Atlanta Falcons on Oct. 15. Starting him on the offensive line is a necessity at this point. 

More emphasis on running the ball would also go a long way toward protecting Howell. Washington only averages 86.1 rushing yards per game, the 26th worst in the league, and has only run the ball 143 times this season, the 29th least in the NFL. Even if the Commanders aren't gashing teams in the running game, patience on the ground will help protect Howell and set up more play-action passes, which can lead to even bigger plays in the passing game.

If any quarterback is going to succeed, let alone one who only has eight starts in the NFL, protecting him should be the top priority. Washington has been the worst at that by a country mile, and if it continues to stay like this or gets any worse, they run further risk of ruining Howell's career when it has barely begun.