NFC Notes: Sam Howell, Darren Waller, Jared Goff, Commanders, Giants, Lions

Commanders

In some ways, the Commanders’ decision to gamble on 2022 fifth-round QB Sam Howell makes sense. Washington has tried a lot of avenues to find success at quarterback and has had a lot of high-profile, expensive misses. At least if Howell misses, he’ll be cheap, and his rookie contract allows the team to build up the roster as much as possible around him. But the flip side is that teams rarely gamble on Day 3 quarterbacks as unproven as Howell for a reason. Usually it doesn’t work out. Every now and again, some team like the 49ers catches lightning in a bottle though, and that’s the optimistic best-case-scenario HC Ron Rivera has latched onto. 

“I don’t think this is as much a wild shot as people think it is,” Rivera said via the Athletic’s Ben Standig. “You watch a young man like Brock Purdy have the season that he had last year, and you would like to think that we have a guy with the same type of ability and skill set.”

Giants

Giants QB Daniel Jones is happy to have a versatile weapon like TE Darren Waller joining the team and both players believe that this could be the start of something special.

“He’s a clear mismatch, someone the defense has to worry about how they are going to account for him, how they are going to cover him, who they are going to put on him and how they are going to play it,” Jones said of Waller, via Charlotte Carroll of The Athletic. “I think that just adds an element to our attack and gives the defense something else to worry about when you have a guy that big and that strong who can move like he can and open up the field.”

“I believe wholeheartedly in myself, and I believe that through action and through consistent performance, Giants fans will believe as well,” Waller said. “I’m willing to come out here and to be the best I can be to be a weapon for this team, a tool that this team can use to get to that next level that they want to go to. That’s exactly what I’m going to do.”

Lions

Lions GM Brad Holmes recalled the events of the trade with the Rams that netted them QB Jared Goff.

“Well I remember when we were hammering out the details of the trade, obviously, you know, (QB Matthew) Stafford was getting traded to the Rams,” Holmes said, via Brad Galli. “But I never forget (Rams GM) Les (Snead) asked me, he was like, do you want Jared in this trade? And I was like, ‘hell yeah, like absolutely, like, it wasn’t like just give me any other quarterback it was like, I want Jared in this trade.”

Holmes wasn’t surprised with Goff overperforming public expectations last year.

“He has the year he had last year and now it’s like, ‘Oh! Jared Goff‘s good.’ And I’m like, ‘He’s actually always been good.”

Holmes is expecting an even bigger step forward offensively next year.

“I think we’ll be even better offensively this year coming up,” he added.