The Dwayne Haskins ‘era’ with the Washington Football Team has officially ended.
The Washington Football Team selected Dwayne Haskins with the 15th overall pick in the 2019 NFL Draft. There were a lot of reasons to be excited about that. Yes, he was very raw but he had a ton of potential. He still does, if we are being honest. However, there are a few negatives there too. Haskins has not shown much (if any) growth. In fact, he seems to have regressed this year.
Subpar play led to his benching after four weeks early in the 2020 season. That was followed up with some immaturity reports. Injuries saw Haskins appear again late in the season, though, and suddenly he had a second chance.
The quarterback squandered that chance pretty quickly, however. In fact, it had to be some sort of record. Mere hours after Haskins his first start back in the role, the quarterback was spotted with strippers and without a mask on. That’s bad, to say the least.
Haskins apologized but an apology does not really make up for a mistake. The quarterback was fined and stripped of his captain title. He was still the starter for their Week 16 matchup with the Carolina Panthers.
That game saw him benched later in the second half after a miserable start. He went 14-for-28 for 154 to go along with two interceptions and one fumble — and, of course, no touchdowns. Taylor Heinicke replaced him (a 27-year-old with 58 career passing attempts coming into the game and hadn’t thrown an NFL pass since 2018). He went 12-for-19 for 137 yards and a touchdown.
That would be the end of Haskins’ Washington career. On Monday, he was released from the team.
Dwayne Haskins’ departure is an embarrassing moment for the Washington Football Team.
It is an embarrassing chapter for the Washington Football Team. They are releasing the 2019 15th overall draft pick not even two years later. He made plenty of mistakes but Haskins is still a young man. At 23 years old, there is no reason to believe he cannot turn his career around. He needs the guidance and help to make that happen, though.
A lot of that falls on him. Haskins needs to put in the work. He needs to buckle down and work on his craft but also mature as a person — not just a player. That can be done. It is no secret that the media and the fans in Washington can be harsh, especially when it comes to the quarterback position.
Quarterbacks and Washington don’t mix well. Very few have been successful for the team in a long time. Robert Griffin III had that magical rookie season. Kirk Cousins was solid for a few years. Jason Campbell was decent. And Mark Brunell had some good years for them late in his career.
Haskins’ was probably the most disappointing, though. You could argue Griffin III because it started out so promising but he at least gave the team that first season. With Haskins, there were a couple of wins and a glimmer of hope. Outside of that, it was mostly disappointment.
That being said, let’s not pile on. It’s easy for fans and media to get frustrated. Washington has not had a great go of it in a long time in the wins department — or the quarterback department. That combination makes things rather frustrating.
Overly-celebrating the release of a 23-year-old who made a few mistakes and mocking him is not the move. Let’s not pretend like he was dealt the best hand. His line was not perfect, he was given a coaching staff that didn’t want him, then a new one in year two. His weapons aren’t phenomenal outside of Terry McLaurin and the rising star that is Antonio Gibson, but Haskins did not even really get to play with much).
That being said, you play with the cards you are dealt and don’t make any excuse. Every quarterback gets the same players in this offense and there is no denying that Washington’s offense looked better when both Kyle Allen and Alex Smith were the quarterbacks this year.
This was the hand Haskins was dealt and he did not seem to want to work with it all that much. So this is not a piece absolving him of his sins. He made more than his fair share of his mistakes and he seems to know that.
This is simply pointing out that everyone should be mature. If you’re jumping on social media to “brag” that you knew he was bad, congratulations — you made an educated guess based on the fact that Washington can’t produce a quarterback if their lives depended on it and were right. If you’re mocking him, congratulations — you’re kicking a man while he’s down.
All that aside, this does close an embarrassing chapter for the Washington Football Team. Another first-round quarterback done after a few seasons, this time an even shorter run than the last.
The question is, where do they go from here? Does Smith have some more years left in him? Do you trust Allen to grow and develop, especially after that nasty injury? Even if he does, is he the answer? Do they look to free agency (throw the absolute bag at Dak Prescott if the Dallas Cowboys let him slip away maybe)? Or make a trade? Perhaps go right back to the draft?
Whatever the move is, this time it is Ron Rivera that gets to make the call. So at least we know the head coach of this massive culture change is getting his man.