Dwayne Haskins just might be placing a phone call to Josh Rosen in the next few days. After the Washington Redskins acquired Kyle Allen for a fifth-round draft pick on the 23rd March, Haskins is facing being a one and done in the nation’s capital.
When head coach Jay Gruden after an 0-5 start in 2019, Haskins likely thought it was a result for him. Gruden didn’t really seem enamoured with his new rookie, and Bill Callaghan played him a bunch after he took over.
The big problem for Haskins in the second of half of last season was that it was pretty clear he wasn’t ready. In truth he looked worse for the Redskins last season than Josh Rosen did for the Cardinals in 2018.
Dwayne Haskins is simply not ready
Fast forward to March 2020 and new Redskins head coach Ron Rivera, fresh off being sacked by the Panthers, is trading for his 2019 majority starting QB Kyle Allen. Now don’t get me wrong, Kyle Allen is hardly a quality NFL starter yet, but he showed more last season that Dwayne Haskins did.
Couple that with Rivera saying they would kick the tyres on Tagovailoa and Herbert ahead of the draft, and things are looking decidedly shaky for Haskins. Now this could well be to try and get some trade value for the Skins number-two pick, or it could be a genuine play for one of the big QB names coming up this April.
If we assume it’s just a ploy, where does that leave the Redskins? They will have possibly the weakest QB room in the NFL. Two year player Kyle Allen, and one year player Dwayne Haskins. Two quarterbacks with 723 career NFL attempts, 26 touchdowns, and 23 interceptions between them.
With players like Jameis Winston and Cam Newton still on the market, Andy Dalton and Matthew Stafford preferring to be traded, it seems almost bizarre that the Redksins traded for Kyle Allen. Unless they are genuinely looking at drafting a top-tier quarterback. But that would still not address the lack of any leadership in that room…unless you include Alex Smith.
While Smith is certainly not ready to return to the field after nearly losing his leg in a horrific tackle back in 2018, he could well be a good voice in the Redskins QB room, if they choose to use him that way.
What next for Dwayne Haskins
Given the setup now for Haskins, it’s difficult to see where he goes from here. If the Redskins were to try and trade him, it’s hard to see him having much value. The Cardinals struggled to offload Josh Rosen last year, and the market is worse this year for quarterbacks.
Haskins probable only solution is to fight for his job in a very difficult situation. With Kyle Allen already have two years experience with the system, and head coach, Haskins starts from behind from day one. With camp almost guaranteed to be curtailed owing to the COVID-19 pandemic, things will be even harder for Haskins.
There is little doubt that Haskins has more of the physical tools than Kyle Allen, but at this point, it’s hard to see Haskins beating Allen in a straight race.
For now, Dwayne Haskins has to get his head down, grind it out, and wait for his opportunity to come. But he could be waiting a very long time to be the Redskins starting QB.
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