Washington Commanders general manager Adam Peters said they have not yet decided whether to select a quarterback with the second overall pick in the draft.
Peters told reporters at the scouting combine in Indianapolis that he has discussed quarterback play "in general" with new offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury, but that the team has not yet settled on what to do with the second pick "by any stretch of the imagination."
He also said he met recently with incumbent starter Sam Howell, taking a walk with him around the Commanders' practice fields.
"I feel really good about him too," Peters said. "We got a lot of different things we can do, but still really excited about him."
Commanders coach Dan Quinn, who faced Howell the past two years as Dallas' defensive coordinator, later told reporters that he considered him "one hell of a competitor. We tried to hit him, to really put pressure on him. That was one thing I really admired about him coming up from North Carolina and through his two years here."
Howell started 17 games for Washington this season, throwing 21 touchdowns and 21 interceptions as the Commanders finished 4-13. Howell threw for 3,946 yards -- 12th most in the NFL.
The Commanders drafted him in the fifth round two years ago, but since then, Washington has changed its ownership, coaching staff and general manager.
Howell showed flashes during the season; through 10 games he threw for the most yards in the NFL -- with 47 more pass attempts than any other quarterback -- and was tied for fifth in touchdown passes with 17. He ranked 21st in QBR through Week 10. But in the final seven games, Howell managed just four touchdown passes and was intercepted 12 times. His QBR over that stretch ranked 29th in the NFL.
Howell was sacked an NFL-high 65 times with 40 occurring in the first seven games.
Meanwhile, Peters was part of a group in San Francisco that selected quarterback Brock Purdy with the last pick of the draft in 2022.
"If we thought he was that good," Peters said, "we probably wouldn't have waited until the last pick. But we liked him that much, and now I got to find a new quarterback."