Sam Howell

Former quarterback at North Carolina. 2021: 3,056 passing yards, 24 TD, 9 INT.

QB · North Carolina · Jr. · #7

6′1″ · 220 lb · Monroe, NC

CFB Index 71 · #20 of 126 QBsHigh confidenceWatch-list name (model)Washington — drafted 2022, Rd 5, Pick 1, #144 overall

Recruiting

4★

DUAL recruit

No. 93 nationally · Signed with North Carolina

Statement game550 yds · 6 TDvs Wake Forest (FBS) · W 59-53

Top 0.1% passing yards game since 2021.

We just have some really unfortunate timing with our roster turnover: * Next year, we still have Howell but lose our RBs and at least one WR to the draft * The following year we lor/CFB game thread · ▲ 10His career numbers, season by season

The story

Former quarterback at North Carolina. 2021: 3,056 passing yards, 24 TD, 9 INT.

Signed as a 4-star recruit to North Carolina in 2019.
Drafted round 5 by the Washington in 2022.

His career, year by year

How it ended

Three seasons at North Carolina, 10,283 passing yards — drafted at #144 overall by Washington.

His career

He arrived as a blue-chip recruit and played like one.

201913 games

Signed with North Carolina4-star out of Sun Valley

202011 games

All-ACCsecond

202111 games

All-ACC

2022

Drafted by Washingtonround 5, pick 144

Career arc

Recruit

★★★★

#93 national

CFB

College

North Carolina

2019–2021

NFL

NFL Draft

R5 · #144

Washington · 2022

Trophy case · Confirmed honors

What the selectors said

5 honors · 1 category

🎖

ALL-ACC · 2ND TEAM

All-ACC 2nd team (2020)

Coaching lineage · 2019–2021

1 coach

2019–2021

Mack Brown

North Carolina

Played his entire career under Mack Brown.

Where He Ended Up · NFL

WashingtonEntering 5th NFL season

#144Rd 5 · Pick 1

WashingtonEntering 5th NFL season

View college career stats ↓

2021 snapshot

Season context · Team result + system

3 seasons under Mack Brown — 21-17 over that span.

2019North Carolina7-6HC: Mack Brown · Run-leaning

2020North Carolina8-4HC: Mack Brown · Run-leaning, fast tempo

2021North Carolina6-7HC: Mack Brown · Run-leaning

Where this profile ranks vs the QB cohort

Box-score + play-by-play EPA percentiles

71Quality starter #20 of 126?

High confidence13 metrics · season cumulative

Elite: rush yards (99th percentile). Strength: rush tds (96th percentile). Concern: sack rate (3rd percentile).

Real play-by-play efficiency

Explosive rate#36 / 167 · 79th pct

12.2%

Interception rate#75 / 167 · 55th pct

2.0%

Success rate#79 / 167 · 53rd pct

47.2%

EPA / dropback#92 / 167 · 45th pct

0.25

Sack rate#163 / 167 · 3rd pct

12.0%

Box-score rates (8)

Rush yards#3 / 169 · 99th pct

828

Rush TDs#6 / 169 · 96th pct

Yards / att#21 / 169 · 88th pct

8.8

Pass TDs#30 / 169 · 82nd pct

Pass yards#33 / 169 · 81st pct

3056

Completion %#71 / 169 · 58th pct

62.5%

Interceptions#124 / 169 · 23rd pct

Fumbles lost#150 / 159 · 4th pct

Season trend

EPA / dropback— 2020 cohort too thin to compare (n=17)

Success rate— 2020 cohort too thin to compare (n=17)

Explosive rate— 2020 cohort too thin to compare (n=17)

Sack rate— 2020 cohort too thin to compare (n=17)

Interception rate— 2020 cohort too thin to compare (n=17)

Percentiles versus same-position peers with enough snaps this season. Most bars are box-score rates; EPA / success-rate bars are computed from real play-by-play (offense only — no defensive EPA model exists yet).

Passing profile

Pass Profile · Completions by yards gained (PBP)

Adjusted ANY/A, sack rate, and where the yards came from

211/339 (62.2%) · 24 TD · 9 INT

339 of 347 attempts matched to play-by-play

Adjusted ANY/A

7.2771 of 204 QBs

Sack rate

11.9%197 of 204 QBs

Sacked on 11.9% of dropbacks (197 of 204) — and still 71 of 204 in Adjusted ANY/A.

Adjusted ANY/A uses full-season box-score totals (attempts, yards, TDs, INTs); sack rate is play-by-play-derived.

Short

0–9 yds

47%of completions

100 comp4.9 yds avg7 TD

Middle

10–19 yds

33%of completions

70 comp13.0 yds avg

Deep

20+ yds

19%of completions

41 comp36.1 yds avg12 TD

Overall 62.2% completion on 339 attempts · 41 deep completions averaging 36.1 yds.

Splits & context

Splits · Per-game

2021 season · 11 games

Home/Road · Season halves

Home vs Road

	YDS/g	TD/g	YPA	INT/g
Home6g	259	2.7	9.5	0.5
Road5g	260	1.4	8.0	1.2

First half vs Second half

	YDS/g	TD/g	YPA	INT/g
Weeks 1-77g	264	2.6	9.0	0.9
Weeks 8+4g	250	1.2	8.5	0.8

Supporting cast · Scheme

Staff and system around the player

2026 season

Head Coach

Bill Belichick

Scheme reads (pass share, tempo, sack rate) need at least 3 team games — 2 games in so far.

Awards

Player standing · 2021

Watch-list name (model)

Our Heisman model has him inside the top 25; he is not on a published award watch list yet.

Recognition

Roster2-deepStarterRecognizedEliteApex

Production · CFB Index Score

71 · #20 of 126 QBs

Former four-star. Now #20 at the position.

Career stats

Season	Team
2021	North Carolina	217	347	62.5%	3,056	8.8	24	9	154.2	44	--	--
2020	North Carolina	237	348	68.1%	3,586	10.3	30	7	179.1	80	--	--
2019	North Carolina	259	422	61.4%	3,641	8.6	38	7	160.2	--	--	--
Career		713	1,117	63.8%	10,283	9.2	92	23	164.2	62	--	--

Season	Team
2021	North Carolina	183	828	4.5	11	--
2020	North Carolina	92	146	1.6	5	--
2019	North Carolina	94	35	0.4	1	--
Career		369	1,009	2.7	17	--

Signature game

SIGNATURE GAME · Week 7 · 2021

W 45–42

vs Miami

154 yds · 2 TD · 1 INT · QBR 84.0 · 98 rush yds (17 car) · 2 TD

Edged out Miami at home in a shootout.

With B. Kiernan — 48 AVG · 1 IN 20 · 56 LONG · T. Chandler — 104 rush yds (18 car) · 2 TD

Signature plays

Signature plays · top plays by |EPA|

The plays that mattered most

fact

Week 11 · Pittsburgh · 2&19 · Q2 · EPA +7.18Antoine Green 76 Yd pass from Sam Howell (Grayson Atkins Kick)
Week 5 · Duke · 3&7 · Q1 · EPA +7.01Sam Howell pass complete to Ty Chandler for 75 yds for a TD, (Grayson Atkins KICK)
Week 5 · Duke · 3&9 · Q4 · EPA +6.72Sam Howell pass complete to Josh Downs for 63 yds for a TD, (Grayson Atkins KICK)
Week 3 · Virginia · 1&10 · Q1 · EPA +6.08Sam Howell pass complete to Khafre Brown for 75 yds for a TD (Grayson Atkins KICK)
Week 3 · Virginia · 2&10 · Q1 · EPA +5.80Sam Howell pass complete to Josh Downs for 59 yds for a TD (Grayson Atkins KICK)
Week 4 · Georgia Tech · 3&18 · Q4 · EPA +5.17Sam Howell pass complete to Emery Simmons for 63 yds to the GTech 6 for a 1ST down
Week 2 · Georgia State · 2&2 · Q3 · EPA +4.69Sam Howell run for 62 yds for a TD, (Grayson Atkins KICK)
Week 2 · Georgia State · 1&10 · Q1 · EPA +4.47Sam Howell pass complete to Antoine Green for 57 yds for a TD, (Grayson Atkins KICK)
Week 7 · Miami · 3&2 · Q1 · EPA +4.41Sam Howell pass complete to Josh Downs for 45 yds for a TD, (Grayson Atkins KICK)
Week 6 · Florida State · 1&10 · Q2 · EPA -4.19Sam Howell pass intercepted, touchback. Jarrian Jones return for no gain

Game log

Game log · Week-by-week

2021 season · 11 games

Box score · CFBD

Wk	Opp	CMP/ATT	YDS	TD	INT	YPA	QBR	Note
Wk 1	L 10-17@ Virginia Tech	17/32	208	1	3	6.5	31.2	3 INTs — rough day
Wk 2	W 59-17vs Georgia State	21/29	352	3	0	12.1	96.2	Season-high 352 yds
Wk 3	W 59-39vs Virginia	14/21	307	5	1	14.6	93.7	5 TD passes
Wk 4	L 22-45@ Georgia Tech	25/39	306	2	0	7.8	30.6	Clean 2-TD game
Wk 5	W 38-7vs Duke	18/32	321	3	0	10.0	55.9	3 TD passes
Wk 6	L 25-35vs Florida State	17/32	203	2	1	6.3	74.2
Wk 7	W 45-42vs Miami	17/26	154	2	1	5.9	84.0
Wk 9	L 34-44@ Notre Dame	24/31	341	1	1	11.0	93.6
Wk 10	W 58-55vs Wake Forest	16/26	216	1	0	8.3	89.2
Wk 11	L 23-30@ Pittsburgh	22/33	296	2	1	9.0	68.4
Wk 13	L 30-34@ NC State	14/26	147	1	1	5.7	76.7
Total		205/327	2851	23	9	8.8	72.2

How he plays

Play style

Dangerous with both arm and legs — defenses can't just pin the ears back.

CFB Index positional classification

Checkdown vs gunslinger · 3rd-and-long

Where the completions actually land

fact

62.9%Completion %

19.1%Conversion/dropback

59.1%Land short of sticks

0INTs

62.9% completion on 3rd-and-8+, but only 19.1% conversion-per-dropback — 59.1% of completions land short of the sticks.

Where completions land is fact — whether incompletions were aimed deep is intent, not recorded here, so this card counts completions only. ~ our read: checkdown by design