The idea that Geno Smith might be supplanted for the Seahawks' starting quarterback role this year by Sam Howell was always more than a little bit silly. It's the sort of extra caliente take that bored sportswriters come up with during the drudging slow days of the offseason. After a few training camp practices for Seattle, the gap between Smith and Howell has grown into a gulf the size of the Grand Canyon.
Whle Smith has been thriving and throwing the ball at an "elite level" according to nose tackle Jarran Reed and other observers, it's been the opposite case for Howell. According to Tacoma News Tribune beat reporter Gregg Bell, he's been almost alarmingly inaccurate. Howell has been so bad, he's closer to third-stringer P.J. Walker than he is to Geno Smith.
"Sam Howell is three days into an almost alarmingly inaccurate camp. So far, days before the team puts on full pads, the Washington Commanders’ starter last season is closer to competing with third QB P.J. Walker to be Smith’s backup than he is for any of Smith’s playing time this year."
Howell appears to be getting worse with time, too. Bell says Friday's practice was his worst yet. This is not great, but also not a massive cause for concern at this point in the calendar. It's not unusual for young quarterbacks to go through slumps at practice, especially when they are facing a defense as complex and challenging as Mike Macdonald's is billed as.
Then again, throwing too many picks is why Howell lost his job as Washington's starting quarterback and has been replaced by the draft's number two overall pick, Jayden Daniels out of LSU. In the end Howell wound up leading the league in interceptions and also took more sacks than any other NFL starter last season. During the offseason, the Commanders dealt him to the Seahawks for just the equivalent of a seventh-round pick.
That made him low-hanging fruit for general manager John Schneider, who loves aggressiveness in his quarterbacks above all other attributes. Howell has that much down, but unless he finds a way to improve his accuracy and play cleaner football it's unlikely he'll ever get a chance to start again at this level.
Fortunately for Howell, Walker has had an even bigger problem with turnovers in the brief action he's seen as an NFL starter. In 21 career games Walker has thrown just six touchdown passes to go with 16 interceptions. In other words, Howell probably doesn't have to worry about losing his primary backup spot anytime soon.
