Haskins Must Overcome a System of Failure

Washington quarterback Dwayne Haskins has right attitude, coach and running game to help him succeed. Then again, there’s a franchise history of failed passers, too few offensive playmakers and a suspect line that can bring his demise.

The over/under on Haskins’ succeeding is even money.

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Washington fans have seen a string of first-rounders arrive with hope and exit with scorn. Heath Shuler’s name is cursed in Washington nearly 30 years later. So is Robert Griffin III’s, though at least the latter made it to the playoffs once. Between them, Patrick Ramsey was treated like an unwanted interloper and Jason Campbell was ridiculed despite a couple fair seasons before taken down by the Jim Zorn debacle.

Passing stars like Sonny Jurgensen, Billy Kilmer, Joe Theismann, Trent Green and Brad Johnson arrived via trade. Washington’s few home-grown passers aside Sammy Baugh in 1937 were late-round after thoughts like Kirk Cousins and Mark Rypien.

Haskins must overcome a system of failure that rolls through every regime since owner Dan Snyder’s 1999 arrival. Haskins nearly became the latest wrong coach/quarterback combo last year when Jay Gruden welcomed him with a seat on the bench. The rookie managed to play nine games after Gruden’s dismissal with plenty of poor outings before a couple late-season ones showed enough promise for another chance.

That Haskins arrived at training camp with a good attitude demonstrated by a better body and library of online videos showing him pass in public parks shows some maturity after a suspect rookie year when the coaching staff whispered he was lazy. Haskins has now seen what the NFL demands in commitment and is better prepared despite no preseason games to gauge improvement.

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Still, coach Ron Rivera saw enough on the practice field to make Haskins the opening starter versus Philadelphia on Sept. 13. Everything began to click in workouts.

“[Haskins] began to speed up,” Rivera said. “Things happen fast, and when you try to get guys to practice fast, play fast so that everybody’s getting a fast, fast look, well you’ve started to see him early on catch onto things. While things were happening fast, he was just a tick behind and all of a sudden he was even with everything. Now all of a sudden, he’s ahead of everything. Those are the things that you’re looking for when you’re watching guys. Is he speeding up? Is he picking up the nuances of what the defense is showing? Is he wrapped into them in a timely fashion or ahead of it to where he’s almost anticipating it?”

Dwayne Haskins Is the Man, Per Rivera

Rivera’s vote of confidence is something Ramsey, Campbell, Shuler and Griffin never received. Maybe Rivera has no choice given Kyle Allen is a backup and Alex Smith’s comeback remains unproven, but the coach is a pretty transparent person. If Rivera didn’t believe in Haskins, the coach wouldn’t use his catchphrase “he really does” too often.

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That backing will be urgently needed. Washington opens against Philadelphia, at Arizona, at Cleveland, Baltimore and Los Angles Rams. It could be another 0-5 start like last year, 2-3 at most. Rivera needs some strong mojo for anything better.

Don’t think Philadelphia, Baltimore and Cleveland won’t test Washington’s left side of the offensive line to put Haskins on his heels. While Washington has a talented group of running backs, it may need a blocking fullback to keep Haskins from hurrying into mistakes.

Haskins also doesn’t have a fistful of playmakers to bail him out. Predecessors Doug Williams and Rypien were largely average NFL passers. However, the Super Bowl champion passers had receivers Art Monk and Gary Clark grabbing balls not to mention the Hogs line that included Russ Grimm and Joe Jacoby. Haskins has Terry McLaurin as the only proven receiver with a whole lot of promising youth. Haskins would give his kingdom for a tight end like Philadelphia’s Zach Ertz or Tampa Bay’s Rob Gronkowski.

Haskins must largely succeed on his own. There’s where his confidence comes in. Hopefully, it’s not arrogance because that’s what knocked off former Washington passer Jeff George, who never saw an interception coming. Hopefully, Haskins won’t either.

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Rick Snider is an award-winning sports writer who has covered Washington sports since 1978. He first wrote about the Washington football team in 1983 before becoming a beat writer in 1993. Snider currently writes for several national and international publications and is a Washington tour guide. Follow Rick on Twitter at @Snide_Remarks