UNC Football: Sam Howell earns high praise from Athlon Sports

UNC Football quarterback Sam Howell earned some big praise on Monday from Athlon Sports as they released their Top 50 players for 2020

The 2020 college football season is still over five months away from kickoff but Spring Practice is right around the corner.

For the North Carolina Tar Heels, the excitement is at an all-time high for this team after they finished 2019 at 7-6 overall and a bowl win over Temple. While a 7-6 record may not seem like a big accomplishment, keep in mind where UNC was in the previous two years before Mack Brown returned as head coach.

The Tar Heels were able to turn things around in large part to an improved offense led by freshman Sam Howell. The former Florida State commit was one of the best freshman in college football last season and won the Atlantic Coast Conference Rookie of the Year Award.

Now Howell and the majority of UNC’s offense returns for 2020 and the quarterback is already earning some preseason recognition.

On Monday, Athlon Sports released their Early Top 50 players in College Football list and right there inside the Top 10 is Howell. The quarterback was ranked No. 10 in all of College Football, earning a lot of praise ahead of the season. Here is what Athlon said about Howell:

"Just 13 games were all it took for Howell to earn a place among the top quarterbacks in college football. The North Carolina native was the centerpiece of coach Mack Brown’s first recruiting haul back in Chapel Hill and never looked back after winning the starting job. Howell started all 13 games and proceeded to throw for 3,641 yards, set a new FBS true freshman record with 38 touchdown passes and tossed just seven interceptions. He tied for fifth nationally in completions of 40 or more yards (17) and threw for at least two scores in all 13 games."

There are only two quarterbacks listed higher than Howell on the list with Ohio State’s Justin Fields at No. 2 and Clemson’s Trevor Lawrence at No. 1. Howell will have some big expectations to live up to in 2020.

It didn’t take long for Howell to become the leader of UNC’s offense in 2019 and that role is all his as we enter Spring in 2020. With playmakers like Dazz Newsome, Dyami Brown, Michael Carter and Javonte Williams back, UNC’s offense should take things up another notch and if they do, they should be considered favorites in the ACC.

For more on Howell and other UNC Football players, please check back with Keeping It Heel.