As the 2022 NFL Draft approaches, the Pittsburgh Steelers are visiting Pro Days at various schools and hosting different draftees. One of these players is Sam Howell, who like recently signed Mitch Trubisky, is a quarterback from the University of North Carolina. Also, like Trubisky, Howell could be seen as an early draft pick.
Coming out of high school, Howell was a four-star prospect, ranked the number two player in the state of North Carolina, and the number 87 player in the 247Sports Composite. He became a three-year starter for the Tar Heels, becoming the 2019 Atlantic Coast Conference Offensive and Overall Rookie of the Year, as well as 2019 ACC All-American. Howell then became a member of the 2020 All-ACC Second Team during his sophomore season. For his career, Howell finished with 10,283 passing yards with 92 passing touchdowns in 37 games. This is the most passing touchdowns for a player in three seasons or fewer. Those 92 touchdowns also ranked him for the third most in ACC history, against 23 interceptions. While he’s had success in college, it’s important to evaluate how his skills and talent will translate to the professional level.
Why Howell to the Steelers could work
Currently on NFL.com, Howell has a prospect grade of 6.22 out of an 8.0 system. This grade projects him as a “eventual average starter” in the league. Howell may not “explode off the page” like some of the other quarterbacks in this year’s draft, but he does have some skills the Steelers would be interested in, most notably his ability to be a dual threat under center. Head coach Mike Tomlin and general manager Kevin Colbert have made it known that they are looking for a more mobile quarterback after the retirement of Ben Roethlisberger, and Howell likes to use his wheels. In 2021, he took yards with his legs rather than forcing throws, which is also a credit to his decision making. Not only that, but Howell was viewed as a “valuable runner” when in the red zone.
UNC's Sam Howell | G Fiume / Getty Images
A lot of these skills will be easy to display once Howell reaches the NFL. However, if he wants to be seen as more than an average player, he will need to continue to work on developing those talents, while simultaneously building on other areas of his game. One area to build on would be his accuracy. Howell’s arm strength tends for him to muscle a lot of his throws, thus hindering their accuracy. The lowered accuracy of the passes also reflects in the ball placement for the receivers, forcing them to work harder to secure the catch. With all of this in mind, the Steelers may still select Howell in the draft, but in which round?
Howell is projected to go somewhere in the second round. If Pittsburgh doesn’t go quarterback in the first round, they may decide to go for it in the later rounds, especially if Howell manages to drop that low. It wouldn’t be completely out of the realm of possibility of the Steelers taking Howell with the number 20 pick, even though Howell isn’t currently viewed as a first-round selection. However, the team’s perception of him could change drastically after his visitation on April 8, 2022.
What do you think? Would you be happy to see Sam Howell don the Black and Gold? Sound off in the comment section down below!
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