All week long the rumors and thoughts surrounding the Washington Redskins have been about their pursuit of a quarterback. Tonight with the 15th pick in the NFL Draft, the Burgundy and Gold selected Ohio State signal-caller Dwayne Haskins.
The Redskins are in a bit of a quandary with injuries to starter Alex Smith and back up signal caller Colt McCoy.
Washington traded for 2018 Denver Broncos starting quarterback Case Keenum to bring a veteran presence to Jay Gruden’s offense, but the need to get younger at the position and foster competition throughout their upcoming mini-cap and into training camp was just too much to pass on in Haskins.
Haskins, who threw for 50 touchdowns last year as a redshirt sophomore last year for Ohio State, will now have a chance to compete with Keenum and perhaps even bring a level of excitement to a fanbase looking for a reason to be excited about the 2019 season.
Haskins possesses a strong arm but needs to work on his intermediate passing game but nevertheless looks to give the Redskins a true franchise-caliber player at a position that needs an infusion of youth.
How he will fit into the Redskins offense will be interesting. Coach Jay Gruden is a coach who could find himself on the hot seat this year despite coaching a team ravaged by injuries for the second straight season.
If winning is a must for Gruden and the Redskins, will Haskins be given a fair chance to compete for the starting job?
Only time will tell, but the Redskins have the player they really built up steam for over the past several days. Haskins has ties to the Washington, DC., area having gone to the Bullis School in Potomac, Maryland with team owner Dan Snyder’s son.
“I’m excited, man. I just really can’t believe it,” Haskins said via conference call into Redskins Park. “I’m just grateful for the opportunity.”
“My Expectation is to work as hard as I can, do all I can to be a part of this position in this franchise and I’m looking forward to contributing any way possible and just get down and work,” Haskins said. “I’m just excited to be a part of something special, be a part of a team again and I’m looking forward to calling the Redskins home for years to come and I’m just going to do everything I can to be ready.”
Haskins is excited to be coming back to Washington. He knows and understands how big the Redskins are in the area.
“I went to a couple of games with my friends back in high school, back in the RG3 (era),” Haskins said. “Football’s taken very seriously down here, and I’m looking forward to bringing that winning tradition back to the Redskins.”
The young player knows he needs to continue to work on his game and get better.
“I’m just going to work on getting my head in that playbook,” the Big Ten Conference Player of the Year elaborated. “I’m going to do all I can to get physically and mentally ready for the upcoming season and just motivate my guys that’s coming in with me in this rookie class and do all I can to be prepared for the season. Everything’s going to be a new challenge for me and everything will be something I’ll take on head on and I’m just looking forward to getting to D.C. and being able to be a part of this team. I’m really excited.”
Haskins has a small sample size as a one-year starter at Ohio State but amassed incredible numbers that consisted of Big Ten Conference records, including single-season passing yards (4,831), touchdown passes (50) and total offensive yards (4,939).
“I had one year in college and I feel like I showed all I could as far as one year,” the redshirt sophomore said. “I broke a lot of records and did a lot of great things. I feel like I did a lot of stuff that showed that I can be able to translate to the NFL. Just being able to do what I did at a high level, it was the right choice for me to make that change to go to the pros. I’m grateful the Redskins thought so as well and have selected me.”
The Redskins have had three straight seasons of luck drafting players that were considered to be early-round caliber players in Jonathan Allen, Deron Payne, Derrius Guice, and now Haskins.
The #Redskins have had great luck over the past three drafts where Jonathan Allen, Deron Payne, and now Dwayne Haskins have fallen into their lap. Now the kid needs a playmaker on the outside to pair with.
— Lake Lewis Jr (@LakeLewis) April 26, 2019
The young group of players will give the team a nucleus that should be around for the foreseeable future and hope to turn around the team’s fortunes on the field.