I was never one to defend Dwayne Haskins but I always acknowledged that he was put in a bad situation. He had a coach that didn’t want him only to have that coach replaced with a coach that didn’t want him.
The NFL is hard enough to navigate when you have support but what daggum hard must it be, if you’re a young quarterback without support?
That’s what Haskins has been up against but after two chances under head coach Ron Rivera, it’s time for Washington to seriously consider moving on from Haskins.
This isn’t solely based on his performance against the Carolina Panthers. In a “win-and-in” game against the Panthers, Haskins was 14-28 for 154 yards, no touchdowns and two interceptions. He also had a lost fumble to boot.
It isn’t based on the pictures that came out last week showing him around several women with no mask on. It’s based on the fact that he doesn’t fit in with Washington’s plans.
The organization appears to be trying to change. I’m not willing to buy into until I see more from the organization as a whole but the dysfunction brought on by the owner and his cronies have nothing to do with Haskins’ inability to perform.
One of the things that NFL fans have a hard time grasping is the concept of a “fair chance”. Just like most industries, chances in the NFL are based on the level of investment.
Rivera didn’t draft Haskins. He can always go to the owner and say he gave the former first round pick two chances, one during a playoff chase, and he failed to deliver both times. With complete control over the football side of the business, Rivera will have a chance to bring in the quarterbacks who fit his system even if that means that he eventually parts ways with Alex Smith also.
There’s no guarantee, short of putting up video game numbers, that Haskins could’ve done enough to convince Rivera to keep him but, at least, if he showed that he could run an NFL offense with a certain level of competence, other teams in the NFL would kick the tires on him.
Instead all Haskins has done is back up what Rivera and Jay Gruden thought of him. Not only has he not delivered on the field but all the pseudo-character and work ethic issues that have been expressed about him has been sustained by posing for pictures before a game was over and the aforementioned snafu with last week’s pictures.
As for now, Washington’s playoff chances will lie with Alex Smith or Taylor Heinicke.
For Haskins, it will be up to him and his agent to try and conjure up another chance elsewhere in the NFL.
Unfortunately the local star made good story didn’t workout here in DC. Maybe it was Haskins. Maybe it was the organization. In reality, it was probably both.
