Earlier in the week, Washington Football Team benched their young starter, Dwayne Haskins. Instead of moving him down to second string, they made him the third quarterback which means he’s getting no snaps and probably won’t dress for games. “This is not as much an indictment on Dwayne as much as it is an indictment on the situation and circumstances that we are in,” said head coach Ron Rivera. Yes it is. If it wasn’t an indictment of what they thought of Haskins, he would be the number two quarterback and he would take snaps, albeit limited ones, during the week.
Alex Smith will be the back-up. Mind you, Smith hasn’t taken any contact since his horrific leg injury but Rivera rather have him as the back-up than Haskins.
Up next is Kyle Allen. Rivera and Allen worked together in Carolina. In 13 starts, Allen is 6-7 with 19 touchdowns and 16 interceptions. That’s hardly long-term starter material which is what makes the change even more baffling. But he is familiar with Rivera’s system and that provides the coach with a certain level of comfort. “I’m not trying to compare him to what he did in Carolina, said Rivera. I’m just saying, he knows the offense. He’s been in the system.”
No one could anticipate that the NFC East would be this bad but there was supposedly a commitment to Haskins which means Rivera probably shouldn’t have brought in his own guy. Washington, and Haskins for that matter, would’ve been served better by bringing in a veteran whose role would be a mentor role plus could provide mop-up duties. Ryan Fitzpatrick-lite would’ve been better than having the temptation of Allen.
Furthermore if Rivera wasn’t completely sold on Haskins and, with this move you can tell he wasn’t, there were several veterans available including Teddy Bridgewater and Cam Newton.
Rivera’s nickname is Riverboat Ron and he’s certainly gambling early on. If the Allen move doesn’t work, where does he go from here? There are reasons why organizations like the New York Giants and the New York Jets are giving their young quarterbacks every chance under the sun.
Rivera has decided that Allen is worth pushing all his chips to the middle of the table. Now that’s gambling.
