North Carolina football: Can Sam Howell be better than Clemson’s Trevor Lawrence?

Don’t sleep on Sam Howell outplaying Trevor Lawrence.

It sounds crazy, but there’s another superstar quarterback in the ACC not named Trevor Lawrence.

A year younger than the face of Clemson football, Sam Howell is poised to bring North Carolina football back to national relevancy under head coach Mack Brown. As a freshman, Howell turned heads, as the Tar Heels proved way more competitive than we originally thought. North Carolina was hot garbage in 2018 and now are on the precipice of winning an ACC Coastal crown in 2020.

Lawrence deserves all the attention he gets this offseason. Poised to be Clemson’s first Heisman Trophy winner in school history, no wonder people are picking Clemson to go undefeated and win its third national title in five years. While Lawrence projects as the No. 1 player taken in the 2021 NFL Draft, this stat from Pro Football Focus shows how prolific Howell was as a freshman.

This Sam Howell passing stat blows Trevor Lawrence out of the water.

As a freshman in 2019, Howell completed more touchdown passes downfield of at least 20 yards through the air than anyone. His 21 magnificent aerial strikes barely edge out Heisman Trophy finalist Justin Fields of the Ohio State Buckeyes at 20. Lawrence is in great company with 13, alongside Sam Ehlinger of the Texas Longhorns and Jamie Newman now of the Georgia Bulldogs.

Howell is a big reason the Tar Heels will duke it out for ACC Coastal supremacy with Manny Diaz’s Miami Hurricanes. The winner of that game will almost certainly represent the division in the ACC title game vs. none other than Clemson. To say Howell is better than Lawrence at this juncture would be foolish, but he has two more years to develop before he’s eligible to turn pro.

There are several reasons Lawrence will go No. 1 overall next spring. You can’t coach his size, arm strength and mobility. We’re looking at a quarterback who could be the next Andrew Luck, Peyton Manning or John Elway. However, he does have his faults. His accuracy could be better, as could his awareness. And he’s coming off a sophomore season where he wasn’t great the first half of the year.

But it’s way too early to say Howell will be a better prospect than Lawerence, but he’s certainly the No. 1 player on the 2022 NFL Draft board. USC’s Kedon Slovis is probably the No. 2 quarterback of that draft class. After that, players like Georgia’s J.T. Daniels, Arizona State’s Jayden Daniels, Iowa State’s Brock Purdy and Oklahoma’s Spencer Rattler will be in the mix.

If the Tar Heels are a top-15 team like many think they can be, the praise for Howell will grow with every passing fall Saturday. Clemson can win 15 games and a national title with Lawrence, but with Howell, North Carolina can win 10 games and get to an Orange Bowl. To say that about the Tar Heels after what they showed in 2018 is nothing short of earth-shattering.

Lawrence is clearly a better pro prospect than Howell right now, but don’t be surprised if the UNC quarterback has better stats than the Clemson signal-caller. Don’t be surprised if they are the next two No. 1 picks in the NFL Drafts as well.

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