Sam Howell NFL Draft Prospect Profile

Yahoo Sports’ lead draft analyst Eric Edholm shares his evaluation of the North Carolina quarterback.

Video transcript

[MUSIC PLAYING] ERIC EDHOLM: All right, let's have a look at one of our top five quarterbacks in the 2022 NFL draft-- that would be North Carolina's Sam Howell. On the upside, Howell is tough and competitive, and he throws with a [? touchdown-to-check-down ?] mentality. He also really expanded his game as a runner this season, pin balling off tackles and changing the way teams defended him. He's also very young and mold-able at 21 years old. On the downside, Howell doesn't have a big frame, so we wonder how much of his running ability translates to the next level. His arm talent is merely decent, not great. Howell is also not going to be instant coffee in the NFL-- might need a year or two to adapt to more of an NFL-style passing game, after what he ran at North Carolina. For a comp, the similarities to Baker Mayfield are very accurate, physically speaking, even if personality-wise these two are quite different.