Why did UNC football quarterback Sam Howell slide past first two days of 2022 NFL Draft?

Once projected as the top quarterback in the 2022 NFL Draft class, North Carolina’s record-breaking Sam Howell dropped out of the first three rounds.

Kenny Pickett of Pittsburgh, Desmond Ridder of Cincinnati, Malik Willis of Liberty and Matt Corral of Ole Miss are the quarterbacks who have been picked ahead of the falling Howell, passed by across the course of 105 overall selections thus far.

The draft resumes Saturday with Rounds 4-7. The Pittsburgh Steelers took Pickett, the Player of the Year last season in the Atlantic Coast Conference, at No. 20 in the first round Thursday night.

Ridder didn’t come off the board until the third round Friday night. He went No. 74 overall to the Atlanta Falcons, coached by Tar Heels alum Arthur Smith. Willis, a slider down the board like Howell, was chosen at No. 86 by the Tennessee Titans.

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Corral’s selection had to arrive with disappointment for Howell. His hometown Carolina Panthers put together a trade with the New England Patriots to move into the third round for the purpose of drafting a quarterback, which became Corral instead of Howell at No. 94.

Howell is from Indian Trail and starred at Sun Valley High School in Monroe, about 20 miles from Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte. As a kid growing up in the area, he worked jobs at the stadium during Panthers home games, even delivering play printouts to the opposing quarterbacks.

Tom Pelissero of the NFL Network said a number of NFL scouts and coaches had rated Howell’s pro day workouts in late March in Chapel Hill as the best of the quarterbacks in this draft. Pelissero said the common move of comparing Howell to Cleveland Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield because of their physical similarities can take a contrasting turn.

“Personality-wise, Howell couldn’t be more different than Mayfield,” Pelissero said. “His flatline interviews with teams at the Senior Bowl (in early February) left many wanting more, but his even-keeled nature is mostly viewed as a positive trait.”

North Carolina coach Mack Brown said recently during the leadup to the draft that Howell will be a franchise quarterback in the NFL. As Howell claimed 27 school records and grew into the Tar Heels’ career leader in total offense, passing yards, passing touchdowns and total touchdowns, Brown often referred to him as a future first-round pick.

“Somebody will be lucky to get him,” Brown said recently. “Sam was a dream as a player, as a teammate.”

Ridder, Willis, Corral and Howell remained undrafted by the start of the third round Friday night, against long odds. ESPN’s draft tracker had assigned Willis a less than 1 percent chance of being on the board past the second round. Likewise, Corral (2 percent), Ridder (4 percent) and Howell (19 percent) had been projected to be taken before the third round by considerable margins.

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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: Why is UNC football quarterback Sam Howell sliding in 2022 NFL Draft?