The 2022 quarterback class has long been viewed as a downgrade from recent years, but positional need will see teams jockey over certain prospects. Sam Howell may be one of those, and the North Carolina QB confirmed he will be part of the April prospect pool.
Howell said Saturday he will forgo his senior season and enter the 2022 draft (Twitter link). Unlike several top prospects who declared for the draft early, Howell did play in his team’s bowl game. The Tar Heels lost the Duke’s Mayo Bowl to South Carolina on Thursday.
While Howell will be one of the top passers available in April, his stock has dipped a bit after the Tar Heels’ 6-7 season. Going into his junior season, Howell checked in as a top-10 prospect and the No. 1 quarterback available in the upcoming class, per The Athletic’s Dane Brugler. In December, Brugler dropped Howell to this draft’s third-best QB. Howell sits fifth among QBs on Mel Kiper Jr.’s latest rankings — behind Kenny Pickett (Pitt), Desmond Ridder (Cincinnati), Matt Corral (Ole Miss) and Malik Willis (Liberty). ESPN’s Todd McShay has Howell going late in the first round. Pre-draft visits and workouts figure to be critical for the 6-foot-1 prospect.
Howell jumped onto draft radars after throwing 38 touchdown passes as a freshman in 2019. He averaged 10.3 yards per attempt as a sophomore but threw a career-low 24 TD passes this season and averaged 8.8 yards per attempt. The Tar Heels did lose some NFL talent this year, seeing its 1,000-1,000 backfield (Javonte Williams, Michael Carter) and receiver draftees Dyami Brown and Dazz Newsome depart.
There was a lot of hype heading into 2020 and 2021, hopefully he can find his old form
As the story said, he lost several teammates at skilled positions to the NFL. Also, the line play was a train wreck.
He’s a tough kid, smart and with a great arm.
Because UNC disappointed, he’ll fall in the draft and have a chance to land on a roster with solid talent. He could be a star.
“Star” sounds incredibly optimistic, at least to me. Did his production dip because NC lost talent, or was he a bit propped up by that talent? I haven’t really seen him play but the ACC isn’t really a powerhouse conference, and I’d be worried if I were an NFL GM that he struggled in the ACC.