Former North Carolina quarterback Sam Howell will get his chance to be the starter in Washington, at least for the beginning of the offseason. After the Commanders moved on from Carson Wentz and Taylor Heinicke, the plan for now is to go with Howell pending any surprise trade or drafting a quarterback.
Howell will battle veteran Jacoby Brissett for that starting job, a player the Commanders signed as a free agent for competition. If Howell can beat him out, the job is his and he can prove he belongs in the league as a starter. But where does he rank among the NFC quarterbacks?
Cody Benjamin of CBS Sports ranked every starter in each conference following the Aaron Rodgers trade. For Howell, he checked in at No. 14 out of 16 quarterbacks in the NFC:
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Jalen Hurts (Eagles)
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Dak Prescott (Cowboys)
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Kirk Cousins (Vikings)
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Justin Fields (Bears)
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Jared Goff (Lions)
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Geno Smith (Seahawks)
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Derek Carr (Saints)
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Daniel Jones (Giants)
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Jordan Love (Packers)
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Trey Lance / Brock Purdy (49ers)
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Matthew Stafford (Rams)
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Kyler Murray (Cardinals)
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Andy Dalton (Panthers)
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Sam Howell (Commanders)
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Baker Mayfield (Buccaneers)
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Desmond Ridder (Falcons)
That seems to be a fair ranking for Howell who has just one career start under his belt. He beat the Dallas Cowboys at home in that start and flashed some potential.
But if he wants to climb the rankings in his first year as a starter, he’s going to need to prove the doubters wrong.
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Story originally appeared on Tarheels Wire