Pro Football Focus will release a ton of mock drafts throughout the offseason, and many of them are sure to include the Pittsburgh Steelers selecting a quarterback in the first round at 20th overall. On Monday, Trevor Sikkema of PFF released a new mock draft for 2022, and he indeed has the Steelers selecting North Carolina quarterback Sam Howell at 20th overall in the first round.
Below is Sikkema’s reasoning for mocking Howell to the Steelers:
“Like other quarterback-needy teams in this mock, Pittsburgh is still not a lock to take a signal-caller. But if things stand pat with where the Steelers are currently, they’ll need a first-round-caliber quarterback from this class. Howell feels like a good bet for the team. He posted an elite PFF grade as a passer in 2020, and then an elite grade as a runner in 2021.”
Trust me when I tell you that we will likely be recapping quite a few major media mock drafts this offseason that include Howell being the Steelers’ first round selection.
At North Carolina, Howell completed 713 of his 1,117 total pass attempts for 10,283 yards with 92 touchdowns and 23 interceptions. Howell was quite the mobile quarterback in college as well, as evidenced by his rushing 369 times for 1,009 yards and 17 touchdowns.
You will likely see Cleveland Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield often used as a comp for Howell throughout the draft season, and that’s mainly due to the size, build, and release both players have. Howell, according to Draft Scout, measures in at 6006, 220 pounds. That’s quite short for an NFL quarterback, but not totally unthinkable and especially with the young quarterback seemingly having NFL arm talent.
In case you missed it, Howell was the subject of our first 2022 Draft Profile, and you can read the report written by Jonathan Heitritter by following the link below.
Howell is also scheduled to be a 2022 Senior Bowl participant a few weeks from now, and we will have four people from the site in Mobile, AL to cover him and others.
Howell, by the way, is the third quarterback off the board in Sikkema’s recent mock draft. He has Kenny Pickett and Matt Corral both being selected before Howell.
