Washington Football Team: Evaluating Dwayne Haskins’ play in Week 1

The Bad

Footwork

Haskins’ mechanics and fundamentals continue to be inconsistent. Early on in the first half especially, Haskins wasn’t driving through his throws. He sometimes seemed to be throwing completely off his back foot. These throws were then typically high. As many have noted, when Haskins misses, he misses high. This continues to be due to his inconsistent footwork. Haskins will need to continue to refine his footwork.

Inability to Sustain Drives

Washington’s offense, when it was given a short field, was pretty solid. However, on almost every other drive, it was bad. Haskins didn’t get any help from his run game, but Haskins still wasn’t accurate enough to sustain drives.

On one particular drive, Haskins had a third-down pass that came up short to Dontrelle Inman. On another, he almost threw an interception on a crosser to Logan Thomas. On a triple option play, he pitched it to J.D. McKissic on a ball that was almost a fumble. The offense was very bad when it was tasked with driving the length of the field. This negative isn’t completely on Haskins, but as the quarterback, it starts with him.

Avoiding Contact

This negative is maybe a little nit-picky. Yet, when Haskins runs, he almost never slides and when he did, he slid late and almost got his head blown off (should’ve been a penalty). Haskins in his young career has shown a surprising ability to create yards on the ground. He is more athletic than most thought in the pre-draft process.

However, when Haskins does use his underrated legs, he has to protect himself. He almost never slid and took unnecessary contact. I understand fighting for extra yards, but as the team’s quarterback, you have to protect yourself. Ask Robert Griffin III how not sliding went. Protect yourself, Dwayne.