My last article presented a set of performance benchmarks for the Commander’s rookie class, based on the historical performance of players at the same position with comparable draft pedigrees. I used two comparison cohorts for each of Washington’s draft picks: players selected within a similar range of draft picks, and players selected at the same rank order in their position group.
By sheer coincidence, each of Sam Howell’s comparison cohorts included a rare commodity, a high-end starting quarterback selected after the second round. The cohort of QBs selected in a similar draft range to Howell (pick #144), included Dak Prescott, selected at pick #135 in the fourth round of the 2016 draft; and the cohort of QBs selected 6th in their draft class included Russell Wilson, selected 75th overall in the third round of the 2012 draft.