Commanders’ Sam Howell on pace to break David Carr’s single-season sacked record by significant margin

Some NFL records feel like they will stand the test of time. Hall of Famer Brett Favre’s consecutive games started streak, Hall of Famer Emmitt Smith’s rushing yards and rushing touchdowns records and Hall of Famer Jerry Rice’s receiving records all come to mind. So too did 2002 first overall pick David Carr’s single-season sacked record. Carr was the first ever draft pick of the Houston Texans, an expansion franchise in 2002, and he and his offensive line looked like they were playing for a first-year franchise that season. He was sacked an NFL-record 76 times in 16 games. 

Fast forward to 2023 and second-year quarterback Sam Howell, a fifth-round pick in the 2022 NFL Draft, is on pace to leave that figure in the dust. Howell has absorbed an NFL-high 40 sacks in seven games this season. New York Giants quarterback Daniel Jones is the second-most sacked quarterback in the league this season with fewer than 30 sacks taken, 28 to be exact. 

Howell is on pace to be sacked 97 times this season, which would beat Carr’s record by 21 sacks. Sacks are a statistic that a quarterback can control even with a shoddy offensive line. The Commanders 38.7% quarterback pressure rate allowed ranks 24th in the NFL, not great, but it’s not too far from average. The Indianapolis Colts rank 16th in quarterback pressure percentage allowed at 35.1%. Howell’s average time to throw of 3.05 seconds is the ninth-longest in the NFL, perhaps calling into question his anticipation, instincts and pocket awareness. Those questions only intensified after Howell took six sacks in a 14-7 loss at the New York Giants in Week 7, a team that had recorded just five sacks in 2023 through the season’s first six weeks.