When Dwayne Haskins fell to the Washington Redskins at No. 15 overall in the NFL Draft this past April, some felt the Redskins were getting the best quarterback in the draft.
After all, Haskins was coming off of a brilliant sophomore campaign at Ohio State in which he threw for 4,831 yards and 50 touchdowns, and we all knew what type of rocket arm the kid had.
Haskins was the third signal-caller drafted, as both Kyler Murray and Daniel Jones were taken ahead of him, with many being floored at the New York Giants' decision to roll with Jones over Haskins.
Well, Haskins made his preseason debut on Thursday night, and the results were a mixed bag, as the rookie completed eight of his 14 passes for 117 yards and a couple of interceptions, carrying the ball twice for 17 yards.
Let's start with the good.
Haskins looked a heck of a lot more mobile than most anticipated. He rushed 79 times for just 108 yards during his final season with the Buckeyes, so Haskins was not exactly known for his athleticism, but not only did he tuck the ball and run for a couple of nice pickups in his first exhibition game, but he also looked comfortable on the move in rollouts.
He was able to get the ball out quickly on short, play-action throws, which, while that's not what the Redskins drafted him for, was still good to see.
Now, for the bad.
First of all, both of Haskins' interceptions looked awful. The first one was thrown directly to the defender, and the second was thrown without a receiver even in the area, as Haskins threw in the vicinity of two Browns defensive backs.
Some of his incompletions were also ugly, as Haskins overthrew his target several times, and his passes were, oddly enough, wobbly and didn't seem to have the oomph that most of us expected from the 22-year-old with the cannon for a right arm.
Now, in Haskins' defense, the Redskins don't exactly have a ton of talent offensively, as their receiving corps are arguably the worst in the NFL. But that doesn't change the fact that Haskins simply wasn't making good throws.
So, what do we take away from his performance?
We have to remember that this was Haskins' first NFL game, so some hiccups should not be surprising. It doesn't help matters much that both Murray and Jones looked terrific in their debuts, but we need to try and separate the rookie quarterbacks and look at them individually.
There is also a reason why Washington has named Colt McCoy the starter with Case Keenum as the primary backup. The Redskins understand that bringing Haskins along is going to be a process, and that process is not always going to look pretty.
Additionally, it was just one game. Maybe all Haskins needed was to get the jitters out of the way, and perhaps he will look a whole lot better next Thursday when Washington takes on the Cincinnati Bengals.
But there is no doubt that Haskins looked shaky—if not uncharacteristic—in his first outing
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