Washington Football Team Reality Checks – Week 4, 2020
By Tim Payne
No. 3 – The Reality Is, Dwayne Haskins doesn’t need to be perfect.
Some fans are ready to give up on Dwayne Haskins. Don’t be. Some fans are convinced he’s destined for greatness. Don’t be.
Haskins is a typical rookie (he’s about to start his 11th game). He had a bad game on Sunday. He has generally struggled all season. But he’s playing for his third head coach in under a year, playing behind a relatively untested offensive line with only one proven offensive weapon.
Haskins needs to play better. He needs to slow down his feet, speed up his progressions, and trust Terry McLaurin to make more contested catches. He needs to avoid staring down his receivers (yes, he did), and he needs to start stepping up and right in the pocket rather than sliding left into pressure.
But we should not expect that he does all of that immediately or in a straight-line progression. He simply needs to make incremental progress, week by week. This week, with the quality of Baltimore’s defense, expecting some kind of breakout performance is not realistic.
My Prediction: Haskins is a gamer, and he’ll take on the challenge of Baltimore’s defense this week with a bounce-back performance. A line of 21-35 for 265 yards, two touchdowns, and one interception should be plenty to keep the vultures at bay for a week or two.