Redskins QB Dwayne Haskins “doing a great job”, per Scott Turner

Early on, Redskins head coach Ron Rivera made it clear that Dwayne Haskins would be given an opportunity to maintain the starting quarterback job.

He also made it clear that the job wouldn’t just be handed over.

Washington Redskins quarterback Dwayne Haskins showed tangible growth down the stretch during the 2019 season, after taking the starting role from Case Keenum. He managed to end the season on a high note, transcending the dysfunction that marred the organization in the campaign’s early stages.

Haskins made the most of his opportunities down the stretch, but with a regime change underway in Washington, there was concern that Haskins might not get a chance to compound his development in 2020.

Rivera was quick to dispel those concerns in his introductory press conference, asserting that he saw franchise quarterback potential in Haskins. But he didn’t make any promises, and later in the offseason, he traded a fifth-round pick for Panthers signal caller Kyle Allen, a quarterback with starting experience and knowledge of Rivera’s offensive system.

Despite Allen’s arrival, Haskins is still the starting quarterback, and with him being a first-round caliber player, Rivera and offensive coordinator Scott Turner will do what they can to try and get adequate returns on that investment. Early offseason reports suggested that Haskins was working hard to prove his worth, and in a recent Zoom conference, Turner confirmed Haskins’ progression.

“In every meeting, we do some quizzes, just test their retention,” Turner explained via Burgundy Blog. “When we’re talking to (Haskins), he is speaking the language. It’s pretty easy to tell if they get it or not. He’s doing a great job. You can tell he’s putting the work in away from the meeting time.”

ESPN’s John Keim went into more depth on Turner’s comments regarding Haskins in a comprehensive article. The following excerpt provides an example of Haskins’ mental growth through film study, as well as Turner’s interpretation of Haskins’ progress.

"During film study, Tuner will just ask what coverage the defense is playing. If given the correct answer, Turner will then ask Haskins why he picked that particular coverage to gauge the depth of his knowledge.One time, Haskins told him the coverage as the safeties were aligned in a two-deep look. But Haskins noticed the weakside linebacker was moved over, tipping him off that one safety would rotate down to fill that void.“That is something that we talked about a few days earlier and we picked up on it because he saw it,” Turner said. “That is just a very simple example. Things like that. ‘Hey, what is this motion called?’ And he will answer correctly.“It isn’t always like that. Sometimes you have to go back over things, but that happens with everyone. When you can have that dialogue and they can give you the correct answer and are repeating the things that you talked about in earlier sessions, that is when you know it is really starting to click.”"

Turner added that Haskins’ progress through the last four games of the 2019 season was something he and Rivera wanted to build on in 2020, and he especially lauded Haskins’ pocket toughness, praising the quarterback’s ability to keep his eyes up and deliver passes amidst pressure as a rookie. Some quarterbacks shrink away from the chaos, but Haskins navigated it well.

Now, with the modified offseason still underway, Turner and Haskins will continue to confer virtually, along with the other quarterbacks in the quarterback room. Applying the knowledge added in May and June becomes an entirely different process in July and August, but according to Turner, Haskins is well on his way to improving even further in 2020.