The Steelers picked Dwayne Haskins up this past January in hopes of helping him capitalize on some of the flashes of brilliance he displayed during his collegiate run with Ohio State, but it remains to be seen if that bet ultimately pays off. Ken Blaze-USA TODAY Sports

Mike Tomlin gets very honest about Dwayne Haskins

Originally posted on Game 7 | By Anthony Amador | Last updated 8/13/21

Dwyane Haskins is one of the NFL’s more fascinating young players. Thus far, whether he’s been getting his messages exposed by models or getting involved in strip-club controversies, the 24-year-old has traditionally seemed to find himself in the headlines for something other than playing good football.

This year, he is hoping to change that.

Haskins entered in the second quarter of Thursday night’s showdown between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Philadelphia Eagles. As is typically the case with him, the former Ohio State standout’s performance was something of a mixed bag.

On his very first drive, Haskins made a terrible throw that immediately went viral.

Haskins might end up being an all-time draft miss for me lol pic.twitter.com/JoNI6MXdxp

— Brett Kollmann (@BrettKollmann) August 13, 2021

Following that throw, however, Haskins collected himself nicely. By the end of the outing, he finished with 161 yards and a touchdown on 16-of-22 passing.

After the game, Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin got very honest about Haskins’ performance.

“I thought he was in command tonight,” Tomlin said, per Joe Rutter of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. “He did a great job communicating with people, going through his progressions. There was a third-down play, third-and-eight maybe, and I saw him go through three or four reads and throw the ball over the middle of the field and converted for us. That was a snapshot of the night he had.”

Haskins was drafted by Washington with the 15th pick of the 2019 draft. Over the span of two seasons, he put together a 3-10 record as a starter and amassed 2,804 yards, 12 touchdowns and 14 interceptions.

In addition to being unimpressive on the field, Haskins was also problematic off it. He struggled to follow COVID-19 rules and ended up being benched several times by Ron Rivera. Finally, Washington opted to cut him midway through the season.

The Steelers picked Haskins up this past January in hopes of helping him capitalize on some of the flashes of brilliance he displayed during his collegiate run with Ohio State, but it remains to be seen if that bet ultimately pays off.

This article first appeared on Game 7 and was syndicated with permission.

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