Has WFT QB Haskins Changed?
ASHBURN, Va. - Has Dwayne Haskins changed as a quarterback and as a person since his benching by Ron Rivera after Week 4 of this NFL season?
The first part is hard to answer ... but we'll start to find out Sunday. The second part is what has jumped out in two media visits with the former first-round pick and the once-again starting QB.
Haskins, 23, comes across as much more humble, sincere and thoughtful. It seems as if he's been knocked down a peg or two (or 100) and he's not as cocky or as arrogant as his critics believed he seemed to be this summer and last year.
That could be a show, but after the win in Arizona, a teary-eyed Haskins broke down a bit when talking about how much playing football again meant to him. That was for real.
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On Friday, Haskins also met with reporters and was peppered with questions. He was asked by Olivia Garvey of ABC-7 about what he's absorbed from the veteran Smith.
The belief by some is that Haskins has indeed changed and understands now what he was doing wrong or not good enough.
Many believe 75 percent of the quarterback position is mental. WFT watchers get to judge some of that Sunday.
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The more significant question is this: Has Haskins improved as a quarterback on the field? It's impossible to fully judge by last Sunday because he came in under very different circumstances - Out of the bullpen without first-team reps.
This week against Seattle? He received all of the practice work and knows exactly what kind of opportunity he has: a chance to drive home his improvement and his value.
106.7 The FAN NFL analyst and former WFT tight end Logan Paulsen analyzed a few plays from last Sunday. In this first breakdown, Paulsen says there are "some things to be encouraged by" for Haskins.
In the video piece below, Paulsen takes two unsuccessful plays and explains why things went wrong.
In any reasonable opinion, both plays show lost opportunity but mostly understandable failures.
Haskins is going to miss throws. He's going to be inaccurate at times. The area he needs to improve is two-fold for us:
1. On throws that are open or available, he must have better footwork and mechanics, which will help him avoid sailing balls either high (a constant problem) or wide. Haskins often does not set his feet - and it shows.
2. Can he adjust blitz protections and avoid bad sacks that cost points or field position?
We'll know more Sunday around 4:15 p.m. assuming Haskins makes it through the game (avoiding any quick hook or injury), this giving himself a chance for one week at least to justify the No. 15 overall pick owner Dan Snyder spent on him.
If he can, the DMV will be euphoric. If he can't, there will be disappointment over a change that did not come.