Dwayne Haskins’ performance Sunday was exactly what we needed to see

Dwayne Haskins’ performance in Week 3 was exactly what the Washington Football Team needed to see.

It’s three games into the season and I’m already exhausted, pretty typical for Washington Football fans.  But personally, I expected this, as I’m sure most logical fans did.  I mean, the deficiencies were obvious and questions remained at the most important position in sports, quarterback.

So ultimately, what’s most important this year?  For me, it’s allowing Dwayne Haskins the largest sample size of snaps possible so the coaching staff can determine if he’s the future of this organization.

We all know the success stories of quarterbacks like Manning, Elway, and Aikman.  But for every one of those guys, there’s a hundred Heath Shulers & Ryan Leafs.  Depending on which side of the Haskins debate you’re on, it’s easy to create a narrative using these former QBs to support your case.

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For me, I’m not about guessing which direction Haskins may travel.  I’m certainly not an evaluator, I’ve seen some good, I’ve seen some bad.  But what I saw last week vs the Browns was exactly what I wanted to see.

Here’s why…

The first two games of the season were rather “meh” for Haskins.  He just wasn’t impactful.  Dwayne didn’t do much too much to impact the outcome of the games.  He was a game manager.  Sure, game managers can make it in this league.  In the right situation, they can even win at the highest level.

But instinctively, I don’t see Haskins as a game manager.  He has arm talent, and those guys don’t manage games.

Saturday night before the game, I was asked what I wanted to see Sunday.  My answer was simple, I wanted to see Haskins impact the game.  I wanted to see what Dwayne was as a QB.  It’s time to see what the future holds.

And that’s exactly what we got Sunday. It didn’t yield the result I wanted. I’m pulling for Dwayne,  as starting over at QB and setting this organization back another year doesn’t excite me.

But this was a performance the decision-makers needed to see.  Even as fans, we needed to see it.  We’re all driven by wins and losses, I get it.  But what’s truly important this year is evaluating.  Haskins and games like he had vs Cleveland help with the evaluation process.

And remember, Cleveland was only one game.  Even great quarterbacks have bad weeks.  Let’s see how Haskins responds after a bad game with his back against the wall.  He’s rolling into FedEx Field this week with Lamar Jackson and a great defense coming to town.

Maybe he implodes again. If he does, again, it’s important to see.  But maybe, just maybe, he responds well and shows the competitive fire to give the middle finger to all the critics and a great game gives him the confidence to showcase his talents for the rest of the year.

Who knows? I’m not predicting what may happen.  We just need to see it; we can’t guess what he may be or not.

I’m tired of chasing 8-9 wins, and that’s what we’re doing by screaming for Kyle Allen to play already. No offense to Alex Smith, but he’s more of the same.

Maybe staying with Haskins results in a 3-13 year, but that’s not my nightmare.  It’s getting to the end of the season with an unknown at quarterback.  We need to know if Haskins is the future franchise QB of this organization. We already know that Allen and Smith are not.