Dwayne Haskins‘ standing in the Washington organization has plummeted tremendously since the previous regime drafted him 15th overall last year. He is now the team’s third-string quarterback, with both Kyle Allen and Alex Smith leapfrogging him on the depth chart, and trade rumors have emerged. Haskins has clearly not impressed Washington’s coaching staff, and John Keim of ESPN.com notes last year’s staff took issue with the one-year Ohio State sensation as well. Both staffs have communicated concerns about Haskins’ work ethic to the quarterback. This concern surfaced early during Haskins’ rookie season, one that ended with the young passer ranking last in QBR by a considerable margin. Haskins has not made a trade request, and Washington has yet to field any trade calls on him, Keim adds. Although Ron Rivera has publicly backed Haskins, Keim notes both sides appear prepared to move on after one of the quicker auditions for a first-round quarterback in recent history.
Here is the latest from the NFC East:
- Leighton Vander Esch is progressing closer to beating his recovery timetable. The Cowboys linebacker saw his first post-injury work in pads Friday, and NFL.com’s Jane Slater tweets the third-year defender could well be activated ahead of Monday’s game against the Cardinals. The Cowboys placed Vander Esch on IR after Week 1 because of a broken collarbone. Given a six- to eight-week timetable, Vander Esch returning Monday would mean a mere four-game absence. That would obviously be encouraging for a player who has seen injuries stall his promising career.
- The Eagles‘ offensive line resides as one of the NFL’s most decimated position groups. Jason Peters, Brandon Brooks and Isaac Seumalo are on IR. The team declared Pro Bowl right tackle Lane Johnson out for Week 6 with an ankle injury. While Johnson’s injury is not expected to require surgery, per the Philadelphia Inquirer’s Jeff McLane (on Twitter), he will rest it this week against the Ravens. Although Johnson not needing surgery represents good news, the Eagles are down to one original starter — center Jason Kelce — in their lineup against a top-tier Ravens defense.
- One of the Eagles’ defensive depth pieces returned to practice this week. The Eagles opened Will Parks‘ 21-day activation window. The fifth-year safety has yet to debut for his hometown team. The Eagles placed Parks on IR before Week 1 because of a hamstring injury and have until 4pm CT Saturday to activate him for Week 6.
- The Cowboys worked out defensive tackle Gabe Wright on Friday. Wright has not played in a regular-season game since the 2018 season. The former fourth-round pick has spent each of his four seasons with a different team — the Lions, Browns, Dolphins and Raiders. The team only has two defensive linemen on its practice squad.
I think it was on CBS sports website, but some fella wrote up a list of 1st round QB’s DC has chewed threw this century. Something like 4 or 5 of them & none lasting longer than a rookie deal.
What a miserable franchise.
With QBs, it’s a crap shoot. But when the owner insists on jumping in the second things improve even in the slightest, it’s gonna end poorly 99.9% of the time.
I’m not sure Haskins or Ron Rivera will be in D.C. much longer…
Why would Ron Rivera not be in DC much longer? The guy is 5 games into a year in which he inherited a dumpster fire of a team and impressively already has a win with a QB that is the worst in football and another working his way back from a leg that almost had to be amputated. I’d say he’s got quite a bit more time than you’re giving him.
He’s not well.
Haskins is the convenient fall guy now that Trent Williams is gone. Rivera and Snyder have such strong personalities that it’s inevitable that a showdown between them will eventually occur. Hoping the Bears have a job for Ron when the marriage in Washington ends.
I wish you would post a link to the article. The Redskins have only drafted 3 QB in the first round since 2000… 02 Patrick Ramsey, 12 RG III, and 19 Dwayne Haskins.
However, over that same time frame from the year 2000 The Redskins have started 21 different QB’s with 10 different coaching staffs.
I have no idea what Washington is thinking. You drafted Haskins in the first round knowing he’d be a project considering his limited experience. He has potentially his best game as a pro, going 32-45 for 317 yards against the Ravens (Washington only has *one* other 300+ yard passing game since the start of the 2018 season). They immediately bench him and destroy his confidence and their relationship with him by making him third string. They completely gave up on a highly drafted player that *they knew would be a project* after 13 games.
So they start Kyle Allen, which okay, fine. He goes down with injury, so they play Alex Smith, who plays terribly and they manage 108 yards of total offense against the Rams.
If you want to start Allen to see what you have, I can maybe see that. But Alex Smith is coming off a serious injury and is 36. They are a terrible team. Even if they squeaked into the playoffs because of how bad the NFC East is, they’d get crushed in the first round. Alex Smith should not be playing at all. In addition to the above, he might actually be the worst QB of the three at this point in his career.
Just play Haskins the rest of the season and let him develop. If he’s bad, fine. Draft another QB next year.
It’s like Washington wants to set an example for the rest of the league on how not to handle their QBs, year in and year out.
You do have a lot of great points here. The biggest issue with Haskins has been the dedication to make himself better per most of the reports out there. He is trying to ride his talent like he did in college. The NFL as a QB, you need to be even more. First in, last out especially as a young player. There is alot of grey info on this issue in D.C. which doesn’t help the team nor the player.
Ron Rivera is not going anywhere. Daniel Snyder is a complete moron but I think he will be smart enough to let Rivera do his thing for a couple seasons.
Ron Rivera’s health may dictate his departure.
rct…..you must be wearing soft sole shoes, I never even heard you walking around in my head gathering up my thoughts on my he Haskins situation…..excellent post!!!!
You’re exactly right, and I’ll add one more point. If two coaching staffs both think his work ethic is a concern, then it must be an obvious issue. If that’s the case, how wouldn’t they have known that before drafting him? They had the same opportunities to gather info on him from interviews and previous coaches/teammates, so a guy allegedly not having a great work ethic shouldn’t be a shock.
So either Washington didn’t do their research before drafting him, or they’re using this as an excuse to move on from him. Either one wouldn’t surprise me.
Isn’t it a coaches job to teach a player how to improve his work habits?
You also have to think about the fact Haskins came into the league with a different staff. This year the staff didn’t choose Haskins in the first round.
Haskins with the Patriots would be a nice fit. Learn to be a pro from Cam and work with a capable coaching staff.
Who’s teaching Cam how to be a pro!?
This team will be an absolute dumpster fire until the day Snyder sells it. This guy is an utter idiot and has created the worst sports organization maybe in all 4 major sports. I can’t imagine anyone being happy they were drafted there and it’s a place where talent goes to die!