Washington Redskins goals for Week 12 vs. the Detroit Lions

Get Haskins some easy mid-range throws early to get him in rhythm

The Redskins tried to get Haskins into a rhythm early against the Jets. It didn’t work out at all.

Part of the problem was that Haskins simply struggled out of the gate and had some mechanical issues, notably with his footwork. But the other problem? The team’s offensive gameplan wasn’t great.

For most of the first few drives, Haskins was checking the ball down to players out of the backfield. That worked sporadically, but for the most part, the few completed passes would go for little to no gain.

The Redskins may have not been planning on Haskins taking so many checkdowns, but the larger problem here is that they need to get him in rhythm early. With young quarterbacks, the way to do this is to cook up some easy short-to-intermediate routes that will give him a chance to complete passes early and often.

Against the Jets, this was taken to the extreme with Haskins consistently checking the ball down. But if the ‘Skins come out and actually have a plan to get some completions in the 5-to-10 yard range, Haskins could ease his way into the game while actually getting a chance to move the ball.

We’ll see if Washington can figure out a passing gameplan that fits what Haskins wants to do and what he can do best. But their goal should certainly be to make him feel better than he did at the start of last week’s game against the Jets.