Four NFL Drafts now have been held since the North Carolina football program had a player taken in the first round, a brief dry spell that figures to end next year with the 2022 version of the event.
As another draft cycle begins anew, the fresh batch of early look-ahead mock projections and prospect rankings that rolled out Monday featured Tar Heels star quarterback Sam Howell prominently.
To such a degree that, at least for the moment by their measures, he’s considered in the mix to be the No. 1 overall pick when NFL commissioner Roger Goodell walks on stage and kicks off the 2022 draft in Las Vegas.
Howell, of course, has his junior season remaining to play at North Carolina in the interim, while being billed as a Heisman Trophy candidate despite a different cast of playmakers surrounding him on offense, as compared to the explosive weapons at his disposal across his first two seasons in Chapel Hill.
But for now, with the 2021 draft completed during the weekend and the start of the next college season still four months away, Howell’s name resides among exclusive company in the forecast for the 2022 NFL Draft class.
Here’s a look:
• Sporting News ranks Howell at No. 1 overall as its top prospect for the next draft, and compares his 6-foot-1, 225-pound frame to the dimensions of Cleveland Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield, the Heisman Trophy winner at Oklahoma who was taken first overall in 2018.
• CBS Sports views Howell as the second-best prospect among 2022 draft hopefuls, behind only Oregon defensive end Kayvon Thibodeaux.
• Bleacher Report rates Howell at No. 6 overall and the second quarterback off the draft board in 2022, behind Oklahoma quarterback Spencer Rattler, the presumptive No. 1 overall pick on this list.
• FOX Sports projects Howell ninth overall and the fourth quarterback to be selected in the next draft, after Georgia’s JT Daniels (at No. 1), Cincinnati’s Desmond Ridder (at No. 2) and Oklahoma’s Rattler (at No. 5).
North Carolina coach Mack Brown has said the Tar Heels are envisioning next season to be their final ride with Howell at the quarterbacking controls. He has made 25 straight starts over the last two seasons, while throwing for 7,227 yards (or 289.1 yards per game) and 68 touchdowns against 14 interceptions, on a completion percentage of 64.4 percent.
“I do think the fact that we feel like he’ll be a high draft choice and we feel like he’ll leave, it’s taken the dilemma out,” Brown said 10 days ago, after the Tar Heels’ spring football game. “A lot of coaches will sit and say, ‘I’m not sure, maybe he’ll come back.’ If he’s a No. 1 draft choice and making a lot of money, he’s not coming back. And we don’t want him back, we want him to leave and make money.”
North Carolina put five players in the 2021 NFL Draft that just finished — running back Javonte Williams (second round to the Denver Broncos), linebacker Chazz Surratt (third round to the Minnesota Vikings), receiver Dyami Brown (third round to the Washington Football Team), running back Michael Carter (fourth round to the New York Jets) and receiver Dazz Newsome (sixth round to the Chicago Bears).
The Tar Heels had at least one first-round draft choice every year from 2008-17, with quarterback Mitch Trubisky (No. 2 overall pick in 2017), offensive lineman Jonathan Cooper (No. 7 in 2013) and tight end Eric Ebron (No. 10 in 2014) taken among the top 10 of their respective drafts.
MORE: ‘This is like my destiny’: UNC’s Javonte Williams rises to top NFL Draft running back prospect
Adam Smith is a sports reporter for the Burlington Times-News and USA TODAY Network. You can reach him by email at asmith@thetimesnews.com or @adam_smithTN on Twitter.
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This article originally appeared on Times-News: Early projections put UNC QB Sam Howell among top prospects for 2022 NFL Draft
