Redskins: Slow down premature assessments of Dwayne Haskins

Complete and total panic has ensued in the wake of the Redskins meltdown in MetLife in Week 4, and the Redskins rookie quarterback is not immune.

There were seldom bright spots to remember from the Washington Redskins 24-3 loss to the New York Giants in Week 4, and the offense had none to offer. Veteran quarterback Case Keenum was benched midway through the second quarter after an uninspiring five-quarter stretch, and Dwayne Haskins took his place.

Haskins would go on to throw for 107 yards on nine completions, and of his other eight incompletions, three were intercepted by the Giants defense. And in the immediate aftermath of that performance, Haskins became the Redskins next quarterback bust. And the Redskins suddenly became players in the Tua Tagovailoa sweepstakes.

At least, if you subscribe to the knee-jerk reactions that followed the rookie’s debut.

If you subscribe to patience and decision making based on greater sample sizes, then it’s time to slow down the premature assessments of Dwayne Haskins. His debut was one to forget, and juxtaposed with Daniel Jones’ impressive debut, it fosters a feeling of uncertainty.

But making a conclusive negative judgement on Haskins’ entire future in the NFL, based on a single debut in which he was thrust into NFL action mid-game, without any first-team reps, without the confidence and support of his lame duck head coach, and without his No. 1 receiver, starting center, and starting right guard, is irrational at best.

There’s a chance the Redskins ruin Haskins. We can’t rule that out, especially after remembering the long line of first-round signal callers that have cycled through the nation’s capital to no avail. But one game has been played, and the Redskins set Haskins up to fail in that situation. Don’t pin that on the rookie. And don’t decide what his future has in store, because of what a small sample of recency bias tells you.

The process is a long one, and with explosive change on the horizon in Ashburn, Haskins future is very unsettled. He’s always had the traits to succeed in the right situation; solid arm talent, toughness, and processing ability. And if the 0-4 Redskins shift their focus toward Haskins’ development, and put him in the best position to succeed, then he may yield greater returns. That’s no guarantee; in D.C., it never is. But the book on Haskins is not written yet.

In fact, it’s barely been started.