Commanders News: Sam Howell, Terry McLaurin, Brian Davis and Armani Rogers

Former Commanders ace lauds Sam Howell

There is a lot riding on the performances of Sam Howell next season. The Washington Commanders have bet the house on their former fifth-round selection evolving into a starting-caliber NFL quarterback, which could legitimately go either way considering his lack of true game-day experience in the pros.

Howell's every move will be monitored closely this offseason. It's been a decent enough start to OTAs from the signal-caller, who's demonstrated exceptional velocity on his throws and seems to be developing chemistry with his teammates along the way.

While there are some touch alternations needed based on the sample size to date, Howell has done nothing to suggest he won't be under center in Week 1 against the Arizona Cardinals. And the North Carolina product has a fan in former Commanders wide receiver Santana Moss based on his comments via JP Finlay of NBC Sports.

"That ball comes off his hand with a little fire…I love just to know that [Sam] Howell has a little zip on that ball and he also has some game behind it."

- Santana Moss via JP Finlay/Twitter

Moss added that he's also been impressed with Howell's development in terms of going through progressions, which is another critical element of playing the position. It's been a quarterback-friendly environment so far, but one could have asked any more from the player currently.