Howell was selected by the Washington Commanders in the fifth round of the 2022 NFL draft, starting the final game of the season.

[3] The second-ranked recruit in North Carolina, Howell originally committed to play college football at Florida State University (FSU) but flipped to the University of North Carolina (UNC) after FSU offensive coordinator Walt Bell left the program to pursue other coaching opportunities and Mack Brown was hired as UNC's head coach.

[8] Howell was named the ACC Rookie of the Year after completing 259 of 422 passes for 3,641 yards with 38 touchdowns, a freshman FBS record.

He would finish the season throwing three touchdowns in the 2021 Orange Bowl in a 41–27 loss to Texas A&M and would earn second-team All-ACC honors in the process.

[16] 2020 would be Howell's most successful season as Tar Heel starting quarterback, leading the team to an 8–4 record and a final ranking of 18 in the AP Poll.

[17] Much like his sophomore year, Howell received significant hype going into his junior campaign, being named to multiple award watchlists, and was also considered one of the top quarterbacks in the nation.

Despite common predictions of being an early pick in the 2022 NFL draft, Howell was selected in the fifth round (144th overall) by the Washington Commanders.

[31] By mid-November, he led the NFL in passing yards with over 2,700 while on pace to break the single-season sack record by a quarterback, taking 40 in the first seven games.

[32][33] In week 15 against the Los Angeles Rams, Howell was benched in favor of Brissett in the fourth quarter after only managing to accrue 11 completions out of 26 pass attempts, one touchdown, and one interception.

[34] Howell started the following week against the New York Jets, but would be benched in the third quarter after recording 56 yards on 6 pass completions and two interceptions.