Washington Redskins fans had to know this one was going to come up.
The Redskins hold the second pick in the 2020 draft, meaning it doesn’t matter the team took Dwayne Haskins last year — pre-draft questions were always going to wonder if they should take a quarterback again.
ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr. is the latest to tackle this topic ahead of the combine, with Alabama’s Tua Tagovailoa the center of discussion. Here’s what he said, via Garrett Stepien of 247 Sports:
“They consider it if he was healthy. And it goes back to if Drew Brees had been healthy, he’d have been a Dolphin, not a Saint. But he wasn’t, so they opted for (Dante) Culpepper. So again, ere’s a situation with Tua — not completely healthy, medical being an issue, durability being an issue with three separate lower-extremity injuries. I’d think, if you’re the Redskins right now, you move forward with Dwayne Haskins. And you draft Chase Young. But it’s definitely tempting because Tua is better than Haskins, so you want to be better at quarterback than you are. That’s always what you want to be. You can’t get better than great, unless you have a great one, but … if Tua wasn’t coming into this process with that question, I would take Tua. … so I would say it’s definitely worth strongly considering.”
Whether Tagovailoa is a better prospect than Haskins was is hard to say. He’s certainly got more on tape and has some massive upside of his own.
But the Redskins are already married to the idea of Haskins, even if a prior coaching staff drafted him. Adding another passer would sacrifice improving the team in a significant area elsewhere and dash Haskins’ chances before they really get underway.
Interestingly, while this conversation might draw the ire of fans, it’s probably beneficial if the rest of the league thinks the Redskins could take a quarterback again.
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