Houston Texans land quarterback Sam Howell in 2022 NFL mock draft

The Houston Texans are in complete disarray, but here’s why quarterback Sam Howell could help turn the franchise around in 2022. 

Since becoming a franchise back in 2002, the Houston Texans have gone through a lot of growing pains. In their 20-year history, they’ve been able to earn double-digit wins just 4 times. In 2018 and 2019, however, Houston had combined for a record of 21-11 with two playoff appearances.

Just when it finally seemed like they were starting to turn the franchise around, former general manager, Bill O’Brien, turned it back on its head – trading away DeAndre Hopkins and releasing J.J. Watt. Worst of all, reports surfaced this offseason that Deshaun Watson has been accused of sexually assaulting 22 different women, and it may be a long time before he sees the football field again (if at all) – depending on how his case plays out.

Now, it seems that the Houston Texans are back to square one again. In less than a full year’s time, the organization lost its three most valuable players and their roster is in complete disarray.

Outside of Watson, the Texans have just Tyrod Taylor, Ryan Finley, and rookie Davis Mills on their roster at the quarterback position. Though Mills has some upside as a third-round pick in 2021, the rookie would be entering a terrible situation on a bad football team if he was forced to play this year.

Recently, CBS writer Josh Edwards simulated an early 2022 NFL mock draft. To no surprise, he had the Houston Texans selecting number one overall, and taking North Carolina quarterback, Sam Howell.

Why Sam Howell for the Houston Texans?

I don’t want to jump to any conclusions when it comes to Deshaun Watson, but the future is not looking bright for him, and the Texans need to be prepared to move on. There’s no doubt that Houston is going to own one of the top draft choices in 2022. Judging by the severe lack of talent and quarterback options on their roster, and it only makes sense to grab the best quarterback in the 2022 NFL Draft.

Unfortunately, we don’t really know who that will be at the moment, but Edwards seems to believe that Howell will emerge as the number one guy. During his first two seasons as the quarterback for the North Carolina Tar Heels, Howell managed a whopping 7,227 passing yards to go with 68 touchdowns and 14 interceptions – all the while averaging 9.4 yards per attempt. In addition, the impressive young quarterback chipped in another 6 scores on the ground.

At just 20 years old, it stands to reason that Howell will only continue to improve. Despite being on the smaller side (6’1”, 225 pounds), Howell has a cannon for an arm and an impressive overall skill set for the position. However, he does need to clean up some accuracy issues and decision-making skills.

Other potential top quarterback candidates include Oklahoma’s Spencer Rattler, USC’s Kedon Slovis, and Cincinnati’s Desmond Ridder. Of course, there’s always the chance that an outside prospect has a Zach Wilson-like jump next season and emerges as a potential candidate.

As of now, it’s probably a pretty safe bet that the Houston Texans could be owning the number one pick in the 2022 NFL Draft, and it almost seems like a given that they could go with a quarterback. Sam Howell could be at the top of this list.