It’s been a rough few days for Dwayne Haskins, who was demoted to third-string status following Washington’s Week 4 loss to Baltimore. Now working behind newly-named starter Kyle Allen (a favorite of head coach Ron Rivera) and veteran Alex Smith, Washington appears to have thrown in the towel on its ill-fated Haskins experiment.
Turnover-prone and largely stationary—the latter a death sentence in today’s landscape, which rewards mobile quarterbacks like Lamar Jackson and Kyler Murray more than ever before—the former Ohio State Buckeye may not be cut out for an NFL starting gig (not that Washington’s barebones supporting cast has helped him any). Whether out of frustration, a growing sense that his NFL future lies elsewhere or some semblance of the two, the 23-year-old appears to have unfollowed Washington on each of his social media accounts.
This could be much ado about nothing. Saquon Barkley recently deleted his Giants photos from Instagram while disgruntled Bears receiver Allen Robinson (angling for a new contract) pulled a similar stunt last month. Robinson and Barkley’s concerning social media activity did cause a minor stir, but ultimately those minor acts of rebellion were swept under the rug.
Rivera’s logic for benching Haskins, whose 80.3 quarterback rating (a tangible improvement on the 76.1 he posted as a rookie) ranks fifth-worst among qualified signal-callers, seems somewhat flawed. While it’s true Washington remains afloat in the embarrassingly lackluster NFC East (the Eagles lead the division with a record of 1-2-1), if Rivera is convinced Haskins is not the team’s long-term answer at QB, wouldn’t it make more sense to tank for a high draft pick, increasing Washington’s odds of landing a Trevor Lawrence or Trey Lance next year? Not that Kyle Allen, who fared miserably in Cam Newton’s stead a year ago (23 combined turnovers), represents much of an upgrade on Haskins.
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Regardless of Haskins’ current displeasure with the organization that drafted him 15th overall in 2019, the 6’4” signal-caller shouldn’t expect a robust trade market following ugly showings against Cleveland (three interceptions, 58.8 quarterback rating) and Arizona (57.6 completion percentage, four sacks, one lost fumble). Perhaps Haskins will eventually latch on elsewhere as a reclamation project, but based on how he’s performed to this point in his career, it’s going to take some convincing.
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