Redskins QB Dwayne Haskins values mentorship of Smith, Keenum

It was an up and down rookie season for Redskins quarterback Dwayne Haskins, and you don’t need him to tell you himself.

Haskins, a redshirt sophomore coming out of Ohio State, was thrust into a somewhat dysfunctional situation in Ashburn. He didn’t see the field until the second half of the Washington Redskins‘ Week 4 contest against the New York Giants, and he didn’t receive full-time first-team reps until the week of the Buffalo game.

Haskins would eventually find his stride, but not before he faced a great deal of adversity along the way. Haskins isn’t disappointed with the way things turned out in his first season, however; in fact, he’s thankful for the learning experiences he had along the way, and thanks some of the veterans who were in his corner for helping him along the way.

Haskins recently released a Players Tribune-style piece on the Redskins official website, giving fans a rundown of his first NFL season. In that article, Haskins went in-depth on numerous topics, such as being drafted, competing in training camp, and learning to let the game come to him. He also shed some light on the value that veteran presences such as Alex Smith, Colt McCoy, and Case Keenum provided during his tumultuous debut campaign.

"They helped me in several ways. They recommended I lift on Tuesdays instead of Wednesdays so my body has more time to recover and I can meet with the quarterbacks coach longer. They also offered scouting reports. Colt would say, “I played this defensive coordinator two years ago and he likes to bring this and bring that.” And Alex would say, “I played this corner and he plays this type of tendency.”"

Haskins also details a moment during the season where Keenum came off the field and said to him, “Man, it’s a grown man’s league. It’ll eat you up if you let it”, and chronicles a point after the Vikings game where a conversation with Smith helped him relax his nerves and find his groove late in the year. It was incredibly helpful for Haskins to have veterans around him who could contextualize the chaos of the NFL for him. Not all rookies are afforded the luxury of experienced mentorship, but Haskins was able to glean assistance from three veteran-caliber quarterbacks, and in the end, it helped expedite his growth.

Haskins will only have one of those quarterbacks in the room with him this year. Keenum left to join Baker Mayfield with the Browns, and McCoy moved to New York to back up NFL sophomore Daniel Jones. But as Haskins’ article showed us, even one mentor is better than none, and judging by the adversity Smith himself has fought through, his presence alone must be a boon, not only for Haskins, but all of the players on the roster.