UNC Football: More on Sam Howell’s NFL preseason debut

Former UNC football standout Sam Howell accomplished something in his NFL preseason debut that no quarterback has done in quite some time. 

Other than the Washington Commanders losing their preseason opener, former UNC football standout Sam Howell’s professional debut couldn’t have gone better.

Howell took over in the second half, leading the Commanders to an impressive comeback. Trailing 20-6, the former Tar Heel quarterback orchestrated two touchdown scoring drives, both of which were capped off by rushing touchdowns courtesy of Howell’s legs.

Sure, there are some that will try to discredit his performance, saying that it occurred against third-string level players. However, it’s still the NFL, as these players are all vying for a spot on a 53-man roster this fall.

To add to Howell’s impressive outing, the Indian Trail, North Carolina native was able to accomplish something that hasn’t been done by a rookie quarterback in preseason play since 2016.

Howell became the first rookie quarterback since Dak Prescott of the Dallas Cowboys to accomplish the following tasks:

• 100+ passing yards and two rushing touchdowns in a preseason game
• 150+ total yards and two or more touchdowns (fewer than 20 pass attempts) in a preseason game

If you recall, Prescott had a pretty similar draft path as Howell. After sliding a bit down the draft board (just as Howell did), the Cowboys selected the Mississippi State quarterback with their fourth-round pick, a move that continues to benefit them years later.

Prescott went on to win the NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year Award and has two Pro-Bowl selections currently to his name. The Commanders hope that Howell eventually can have the same type of success that other notable mid-round quarterback picks have had in recent memory.

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