Sam Howell’s start

September 20, 2023

by Steve Thomas

Washington quarterback Sam Howell has certainly impressed thusfar in the 2023 season.  It’s obviously too early to declare him a rousing success or Washington’s franchise quarterback of the future; nevertheless, though, it’s been a pleasure to see something actually go right, for once, at least so far.  What I’ve wondered is how Howell ranks in the pantheon of Washington quarterbacks at this point early in his career.  I’m not going to do a deep analytical dive in this column, but I think it’s worthwhile to take a quick 10,000 foot look at some comparative numbers.

First, Howell has played and started a total of three games, including the final game of the 2022 season and weeks one and two in 2023.  In those games, he’s achieved a perfect 3 – 0 record, and has a total of 57 completions in 89 attempts, for a 64.0% completion percentage, 670 yards, 4 touchdowns, 2 interceptions, and a total quarterback rating of 92.4, which includes individual game ratings of 83.0, 77.6, and 108.8.

In comparison, the following are the numbers for, in alphabetical order, Jason Campbell, Kirk Cousins, Robert Griffin, and Dwayne Haskins their respective first three starts:

Jason Campbell: 1 – 2 record, 48 for 95, 50.5% completion percentage, 531 yards, 5 TDs, 3 interceptions, QB ratings of 92.3, 74.2, 52.2.  These games were weeks 10, 11, and 12 in 2006.

Kirk Cousins: 1 – 2 record, 76 for 118, 64.4% completion percentage, 907 yards, 6 TDs, 4 interceptions, QB ratings of 104.4, 94.8, 71.2.  These games were week 14 in 2014, and weeks 14 and 15 in 2013.

Robert Griffin: 1 – 2 record, 60 for 89, 67.4% completion percentage, 747 yards, 5 TDs, 1 interception, QB ratings of 139.9, 86.3, 90.4.  These were also the first games of his career in 2012.

Dwayne Haskins: 1 – 2 record, 47 for 86, 54.7% completion percentage, 514 yards, 2 TDs, 2 interceptions, QB ratings of 86.2, 79.9, 47.5.  These games were weeks 9, 10, and 11 in 2019.

As you can see, Howell’s performance in his first three starts was significantly better than that of Jason Campbell and Dwayne Haskins, but slightly less than, but in the ballpark of, both Griffin and Cousins.  It is also worth pointing out that all four of the other quarterbacks besides Howell had 1 – 2 records.  Win – loss records are not solely, or even mostly, on the quarterbacks, but I think it’s at least worthy of note.  More importantly, so far, Howell has achieved a decent completion percentage, quarterback ratings, and stayed away from interceptions.  These are all good signs.

Obviously, we shouldn’t read too much in just three starts, but this at least shows that Howell is on the right track in comparison to Washington’s former starters.  Keep doing what you’re doing, Sam.