UNC Football: Sam Howell to play in Reese’s Senior Bowl

UNC football quarterback Sam Howell is heading to the NFL after he made the announcement on Saturday to officially declare. And over the next few months, Howell will have the chance to impress NFL scouts and up his stock.

On Tuesday, Howell officially accepted his invite to the Reese’s Senior Bowl in Mobile, Alabama and will participate in the annual game next month.

The game made the announcement via Twitter releasing the news that Howell will be at the event which allows seniors to showcase their talent during a week of practices leading into the actual game on Saturday, Feburary 5th:

Howell’s teammate, Jeremiah Gemmel, earned an invitation to the game but was not named on the roster.

Howell will join an interesting crop of quarterbacks at the game. Joining Howell will be Kenny Pickett (Pittsburgh), Desmond Ridder (Cincinnati), Carson Strong (Nevada), Malik Willis (Liberty) and Bailey Zappe (Western Kentucky).

Going into this season, Howell was in consideration for the No. 1 overall pick and at worst a Top 10 pick. But as the year went on, his stock fell a bit despite his strong season. Right now, Howell is being mocked anywhere from QB2-QB5 with the likes of Pickett, Ridder, Willis and Ole Miss’ Matt Corral.

With scouts and NFL personnel in attendance down in Mobile, this is a great chance for Howell to prove why he should be a first-round pick come April’s draft. A strong showing plus good meetings with teams will be big for his chances moving forward.

Howell spent four seasons at North Carolina, flipping from Florida State to the Tar Heels in 2018 and found success. He threw for 10,283 yards, 92 touchdowns and just 23 interceptions while posting a rating of 164.2 in his three-year career with the Tar Heels in Chapel Hill.

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