2022 NFL Mock Draft: Malik Willis in the top 5, Cowboys get elite EDGE
By Randy Gurzi
2. player. 50. Pick Analysis. . North Carolina. Sam Howell. Scouting Report
2. Detroit Lions: Sam Howell, QB, North Carolina
When the Detroit Lions decided to pull the plug on the Matt Patricia era, they decided to find the only guy who might have a more old-school approach to the game in Dan Campbell. Patricia wanted to preach discipline in the way Bill Belichick did (but without the resume Belichick has) whereas Campbell is simply out there spitting out one crazy cliché after another.
When he’s not doing that, he’s saying weird things about biting kneecaps which is more disturbing every time it’s brought back up.
As for his prospects of being successful as a rookie head coach, he better hope the cliché speeches are enough to motivate his team to play beyond their talent level — because their talent is bad. Detroit has a decent running back stable but that seems to be about it. Their wide receivers aren’t threatening anyone and Jared Goff isn’t a major downgrade from Matt Stafford (I know, unpopular opinion) but they weren’t winning with Stafford and better receivers. On top of that, their defense has some issues as well.
This is why they come in with the second pick in this 2022 NFL Mock Draft which they use to land Sam Howell from North Carolina. In two seasons, Howell has thrown 68 touchdowns and 14 picks. He’s probably NFL ready but there are some who claim he is not, and that he needs time to develop.
That’s another old-school way of thinking that should be outdated. The truth is, playing a quarterback is the best way to develop them, but some old-school coaches (looking at you Matt Nagy) still fail to see this and hold their young guys back. With that being said, Campbell will probably follow suit with someone like Nagy and keep Goff in the lineup until it’s so painfully obvious that they have to go with Howell or risk losing the fan base forever.