Sam Howell is Named the Starter in Washington

Sam Howell is Named the Starter in Washington

18 August, 2023

Sam Howell, a product of North Carolina, has been appointed the Washington Commanders’ starting quarterback by coach Ron Rivera, making him the most recent in a line of quarterbacks for the team in recent years.

After consulting with quarterbacks coach Tavita Pritchard and new offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy, Rivera made the announcement on Friday morning prior to practice.

If he stays healthy until then, Howell would start the season for Washington for the sixth time in the past two years.

“(It’s) what we talked about, and that was seeing the growth and improvement from OTAs and minicamp,” Rivera said. “Then talked about going into training camp and continuing to grow and show us what he’s capable of.

“We’ve been very pleased with it to the point where I decided yesterday that we were going to name him the starter going into the regular season.”

After Howell impressed in his NFL debut in the final week of the 2022 season, Rivera and the Commanders decided to offer him this chance. Howell was selected in the fifth round in 2022. Howell has improved throughout training camp, going 9 of 12 for 77 yards and a touchdown in the exhibition opener last week at Cleveland.

Top receiver Terry McLaurin stated this week, “He sees the field incredibly well, and he’s going to give us chance to make plays on the periphery. Since we began training, or since he entered the game at the end of last season, he has remained the same person. Simply put, he exudes poise.

On September 10, Washington will visit Arizona in the first regular-season game under the new ownership group headed by Josh Harris, and veteran Jacoby Brissett will back up Howell. To counter Howell, the team added Brissett this offseason.

The Washington Commanders are near the bottom of the odds sheet at +10,000 to win Super Bowl 58 at BetOnline.ag