How did Redskins QB Dwayne Haskins grow in Week 11?

Physical Traits

In my evaluation of Dwayne Haskins last spring, I was not impressed by his physical traits and off-script ability displayed in his college tape. I marked his lack of mobility as a weakness, and I surmised that while his arm was above-average, his arm talent was not beyond that.

After watching several games of Haskins with the Redskins, I believe I underestimated Haskins in both these areas. As an athlete, Haskins still isn’t top-tier, but he’s mobile enough to perform some of the basic functions of a west coast quarterback: Pocket manipulation, rollouts, and read-pass options. His mobility was on display in earlier clips, where he avoided pressure and bought himself time. He has the awareness to use it effectively.

As a thrower, I still don’t think Haskins has generational arm talent, but he has displayed in small glimpses that his arm talent, when harnessed properly, is well above-average, and in fact upper-echelon. The ease with which he generated velocity off-base on the overturned completion to McLaurin does well to encapsulate that. He has more than enough arm talent to succeed in the NFL.

Perhaps more credit must be given to Redskins quarterbacks coach Tim Rattay, and if not him, then the rest of Haskins’ support group on offense. Haskins showed glimpses of his arm talent in college, but rarely were they as explosive as we saw on Sunday. Perhaps his elbow inconsistencies contributed to his inability to put maximum velocity on the ball. Now that Haskins’ mechanics are starting to get cleaned up, he’s able to free up more and more of his raw, physical talent. He still needs to be more consistent, but it appears as if he’s on the right trajectory.