A Debate Begins About Washington Bailing on Dwayne Haskins

Redskins have the No. 2 pick, can take Chase Young or Tua Tagovailoa

Bruce Hooley | Apr 19, 2020

A Debate Begins About Washington Bailing on Dwayne Haskins /

The NFL Draft doesn't need drama to draw phenomenal ratings on Thursday night.

The tandem ESPN-NFL Network broadcast is likely to do a record number as the first live sporting event of any sort in more than one month thanks to COVID-19 precautions nation wide.

But a little intrigue never hurt, and if a little bit helps, then a lot helps even more, and that's what we'll have if Washington shocks everyone by passing on Ohio State pass-rusher Chase Young and instead takes Alabama quarterback Tua Tagovailoa.

SI.com columnist Michael Rosenberg suggested as much late last week, only to have Chris Russell of Redskins Report take him to task for the very idea of passing on Young, who's seen as a transformative defensive force after a record-breaking junior year at Ohio State.

Russell believes Tua would be an, "impulse buy," because of his injury history, and thinks the Redskins adding veteran Kyle Allen in the off-season shows they have no intention of gambling on a QB who's had multiple surgeries in college.

The easiest way for a 3-13 team to turn it around? Upgrade at quarterback. So if Washington determines either Tua or Herbert is a better prospect than Dwayne Haskins, how could they possibly pass on a QB? (By @Rosenberg_Mike)https://t.co/mbndQVNXzJ
— The MMQB (@theMMQB) April 17, 2020

Haskins threw 50 touchdown passes in his only year as a starter for Ohio State and then went 15th overall to Washington last season.

He became the Redskins' starter in mid-season and went 2-2 in four starts with 1,365 yards, with seven touchdown passes and seven interceptions.

Haskins' draft placement revealed a lot about the mixed feelings league-wide on him as an eventual franchise quarterback at this time last year.

The Denver Broncos had the 10th pick and traded it to Pittsburgh to drop down to No. 20. If John Elway believed in Haskins, he would have taken him No. 10, because Denver dropped back to No. 20 so the Steelers could take Michigan linebacker Devin Bush.

Denver wound up taking Missouri quarterback Drew Lock in the second round. He was the next quarterback off the board after Haskins.

Likewise, the Cincinnati Bengals were thought to be in the market for a quarterback with the 11th pick. They could have taken Haskins, sat him behind Andy Dalton for a year, then moved forward in 2020 on the same plan they used to prepare Carson Palmer behind John Kitna.

Palmer, the No. 1 overall pick in 2003, did not take a snap his rookie year and then became the Bengals starter in 2004.

Cincinnati, though, passed on Haskins to take Alabama tackle Jonah Williams, who missed the season with a knee injury.

The Bengals will likely get their franchise QB Thursday night when they select Joe Burrow from LSU, via a graduate transfer from Ohio State, where Burrow spent three seasons untl he found himself jammed up on the depth chart behind -- ready for the irony -- Haskins.