Washington Football Team quarterback Dwayne Haskins is ready to shine.
In 2019, the Washington Football Team hit a stroke of good luck. Somehow, Ohio State quarterback Dwayne Haskins fell to them at the 15th spot in the NFL Draft, despite the fact that no one thought he would last even past the top 10. Haskins was considered extremely raw, but with incredible talent and potential at quarterback.
However, even though everyone knew he was a raw prospect, it seemed like a lot of people were quick to dismiss Haskins when his rookie season started off rocky. Even worse, many of those same people appeared to ignore the fact that the quarterback looked better in each start and, by the end of the year, was playing very well.
Haskins finished the year with a completion percentage of 58.6, throwing for 1,365 yards and seven touchdowns compared to seven interceptions in nine games with seven starts. The last two of those games saw the quarterback complete 31-of-43 passes (72.1 percent) for 394 yards and four touchdowns (no interceptions). And he did that in only six quarters after suffering an injury against the New York Giants in Week 16.
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His confidence was skyrocketing and, with that, he was greatly improving his performance.
The narrative around Haskins was negative though. This offseason he’s worked to change that. He shed some pounds and lost body fat. Not a day goes by where a new video of him doing some sort of offseason workout can’t be found.
Not only does Haskins look to be in the best physical shape of his life but it’s clearly translating. We’ve seen videos of the quarterback throwing plenty of dimes but we’ve also seen him showing off his (always underrated) footwork. He truly looks like he could be dangerous in the pocket.
Despite the strong end to his 2019 season and an impressive offseason, the quarterback seems to still have a lot of doubters. Haskins seems to have a firm grasp on the starter role but with Alex Smith and Kyle Allen behind him, many question even that.
As of right now though, there is no denying he is the starter. And there is plenty to love about Haskins.
Dwayne Haskins is the guy and is ready to break out in Washington.
As mentioned earlier, he has great footwork. He also has an absolute cannon. While the touch on his throws has been somewhat of a problem, he already looks to have improved that this offseason.
So he’s the starter, and he’s made major improvements. A breakout is on the way, right? Well, there’s one other argument people can make against him: the help around him on the offensive depth chart.
Washington is not exactly stacked around Dwayne Haskins. The running back position is pretty solid (although the loss of Derrius Guice hurts the potential of the position a bit). Other than that though, Washington is lost at tight end. And the offensive line has multiple question marks with only one real star in Brandon Scherff.
The wide receivers should be really fun. It’s upsetting that Kelvin Harmon is being robbed of his sophomore season due to injury. But Terry McLaurin and Steven Sims Jr. are both back and looking to build on incredibly rookie seasons. Antonio Gandy-Golden is an intriguing rookie as well. And all those young players should mesh nicely and grow with Haskins.
So yes, the weapons aren’t great but, like the quarterback, they are improving. Could a “breakout” season from McLaurin and Sims Jr. be enough? What if you throw in a solid rookie season from Gandy-Golden? And maybe they find a hidden gem among the long list of tight ends.
I’m not saying Haskins is going to make the leap into superstardom. But at the end of last season, many had him right near the bottom of the young quarterback group. That won’t be the case for long though. In reality, he was one of the better performing rookie quarterbacks. And that was coming in as the young, raw prospect of the group.
He has now had a year to learn and another offseason to grow. Haskins has gotten into better shape and is now entering a season as the starter. He also has a new coach who should instill more confidence in him and a young weapons corps. that is growing with him.
The 2020 season truly is poised to be a breakout campaign for the young quarterback. Throwing 4,500 yards and 35 touchdowns might not be in his immediate future. But around 4,000 yards and 25 touchdowns are definitely within his grasp.
There are still plenty of people who doubt Dwayne Haskins. Washington seems to believe in him though and he’s in a perfect position to shock a lot of people.