Since joining the Commanders in 2020, head coach Ron Rivera and the team have had a hard time finding a franchise quarterback. Whether it was Alex Smith, Dwayne Haskins, Taylor Heinicke, or Carson Wentz, none of those players gave Washington stability at the quarterback position.
In 2023, Washington hopes quarterback Sam Howell can lead the way for the franchise. The fifth-round pick in the 2022 draft beat out Jacoby Brissett for the job, and Rivera believes the team finally has their guy going forward.
“You know, my first three years, every year it was a conversation,” Rivera said on Wednesday about the quarterback position. “Every year, it was a point of discussion. Every year, it was, ‘Well, what are we gonna do? How are we gonna do it?’ And then trying to figure out what resources could you use. You know, do we try to trade for this guy? I mean, the amount of work that was done two years ago, I mean, you spent a lot of time because you wanna get it right, you try to get it right, and you know how important it is, especially in this league today. And I know, there was a really good stretch, especially under [Former Washington Head] Coach [Joe] Gibbs, that they were able to find that guy and have that guy available. I mean, you win three Super Bowls with three different quarterbacks. Obviously, you’ve got something rolling, and we’re trying to find that, and we feel pretty comfortable, pretty good about the guy this year. We feel very strongly. I know I do going into this season that we’ve got a guy…
“I think there’s not that question mark still, you know what I’m saying? For three seasons, I’ve always felt that I had a question mark, and now it feels like, ‘Okay, this is pretty good.’ I mean, I’m pretty comfortable, pretty confident, and I look forward to seeing it. I really do. I mean, the other night seeing it was, ‘Wow, he did some really nice things, and let’s keep rolling, let’s keep growing, and hopefully it continues.’”
Howell played well against the Ravens on Monday night and showed some flashes. However, there are still questions about the second-year quarterback, which will only be answered during the regular season.
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