Slinging a pigskin around the football field seemed to come naturally for former Ohio State and current Washington Football Team quarterback Dwayne Haskins. And while that still might be the case, Haskins is now in a position he’s not been in before.
Picked as the No. 15 overall pick by Washington in the 2019 NFL Draft, Haskins had to sit and wait his turn last season before finally given a shot at starting a game towards the tail-end of last year. It would be foolish to not point out that he had some struggles, but he did show promise as the season wound down prior to suffering an injury that cut the rise short.
Because of that improvement, Haskins was given the keys to the offense to start 2020. Again, there were some growing pains with a new head coach and all, but he just finished off last week by throwing for over 300 yards on 70 percent passing and no interceptions.
Now, after arguably his best outing of the season, he’s been benched — and fallen to third string.
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Ryan Day appeared on 97.1 The Fan for his coaches show Thursday and was asked about Haskins’ situation. As the assistant that was responsible for much of the development of the former Ohio State QB, Day knows Haskins better than most.
And while the Buckeye head man is focused on getting the Scarlet and Gray ready for a delayed and abbreviated season, he was quick to support Haskins and his abilities.
“Dwayne is a very talented young man, and I have a special place in my heart for him,” Day said. “It’s not easy for him to go through. He’s going to come out of it. There’s still a lot of football ahead of him.
“He’s resilient, he’s strong and he’s going to get through this. All great quarterbacks have gone through adversity.”
Despite the progress, Haskins hasn’t been lighting it up this year. He’s thrown three interceptions to just four touchdowns and has a quarterback rating of 80.3 which ranks No. 29 in the NFL. There is growth, but his team sits at 1-3, and that stat likely matters more than anything else.
“This is going to be a learning experience for him for sure,” Day said. “I know he’ll come out stronger in the back end.”
Haskins is going to be tested more than he ever has before but he’s shown throughout his time at Ohio State and early on in his NFL career that he has the attitude and perseverance to stick it through. Here’s to hoping he gets another shot soon and shines like we know he can.
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