Dwayne Haskins was waived by Washington this week after he violated COVID-19 protocols and then played poorly, but those clearly were not the only reasons the team gave up on its former No. 15 overall pick.
Les Carpenter of the Washington Post published a story on Tuesday that highlighted many of the issues Haskins had during his two seasons with the Washington Football Team. The story seemingly confirmed that team owner Daniel Snyder was the driving force behind the Haskins pick and that former president Bruce Allen raised concerns about it. Those concerns were quickly validated with Haskins’ lack of worth ethic and inability to adjust to life as an NFL quarterback.
According to Carpenter, coaches on both Ron Rivera’s and former Washington head coach Jay Gruden’s staffs were “stunned by (Haskins’) constant late arrivals to meetings, failure to master the playbook and refusal to prepare for games as diligently as NFL quarterbacks must." Most who worked with Haskins did not find him to be rude or arrogant, but they were downright confused by why he failed to do the simple things that almost all NFL quarterbacks do when it comes to studying and outworking their teammates.
Some with Washington believed Haskins’ freakish arm strength and ability to make any throw may have contributed to his bad practice habits and the feeling that he did not need to spend as much time preparing for games.
In one instance last season, Gruden reportedly put Haskins into an early-season game against the New York Giants to prove to Snyder how far the former Ohio State star was from being a capable NFL starter. Haskins threw three interceptions.
It’s rare for a team to give up on a first-round pick in Year 2, so none of this comes as a shock. There was a report early this season that Haskins bragged about his stats following a loss. That was before he was fined by the team twice for violating COVID-19 protocols and stripped of his captainship for his latest off-field blunder.
Haskins has undeniable talent, but nothing can sink an NFL quarterback faster than a poor work ethic. If he can’t somehow turn that around and convince teams he has learned from his mistakes, he may not play another snap in the league.
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