As the college football season approaches, another quarterback generating a ton of buzz in scouting circles is rising junior Sam Howell from UNC. Howell was a highly-regarded prospect coming out of Sun Valley High School in Indian Trial, North Carolina, and committed to the Tar Heels over Florida State.
Howell became the first true freshman to start a season-opening game for North Carolina in 2019, and finished the season having completed 61.4% of his passes for 3,641 yards and 38 touchdowns, against just seven interceptions.
Last season Howell managed to improve on some of those numbers, completing 68.1% of his passes for 3,586 yards, 30 touchdowns and again seven interceptions.
Yet Howell, despite the production and the accolades, is going to stress a few different scouting adages over the next year or so. First, Howell is going to test the concept of what a “pro ready” quarterback truly is. In that regard, I would recommend reading this brilliant piece from Carter Donnick of The Draft Network on how we need to rethink that idea.
The second idea that Howell will test is this scouting rule: Scout the traits, not the scheme. Howell thrives in Phil Longo’s Air Raid offense, but when you dive into his traits, you will find things that matter for NFL quarterbacks.
That is what we will dive into in the following video:
Some of those traits that matter? Pocket toughness, manipulation, footwork and downfield passing. Howell checks those boxes. As for the rest? Well, we might have to wait until the fall to find out for sure.
