Dwayne Haskins is struggling, y’all.
Since being drafted 15th overall in the 2019 NFL Draft, he’s accrued a 3-8 record (while making way too many plays like these) in 11 career starts. But despite his struggles, he also boasts a quarterback rating of 80.3 this season—which ain’t great, but is far superior to likes of Daniel Jones, Sam Darnold and Carson Wentz. This point of comparison is important because similar to Doc Rivers, Haskins spent his Wednesday morning trying to explain to his momma how he got fired on his day off.
As Tom Pelissero of the NFL Network reports, Haskins has been benched by the Washington Football Team in favor of Kyle Allen—who went undrafted in 2018. But not only will Haskins be riding the pine on Sunday, he won’t even be the No. 2 quarterback. That distinction will go to Alex Smith, who suffered a compound fracture of his right tibia and fibula in 2018 that was so gruesome that he quite literally almost lost his leg and hasn’t played a single down since.
Haskins will be the No. 3 quarterback.
Not exactly a ringing endorsement for a player positioned to be Washington’s quarterback of the future, but one can’t help but notice that despite their own struggles, Darnold and Jones, each young players in their own right, are at no risk of losing their jobs. While Wentz, who once watched from the sidelines as perennial underachiever Nick Foles brought a championship to Philadelphia—and now has second-round pick Jalen Hurts breathing down his neck—is playing like dog shit, yet still has about as much job security as a Supreme Court justice.
It must be nice to be white and play for organizations that will allow you the necessary time on the field to develop. But sadly, it appears that Haskins is being deprived of such a luxury. And in being the only Black quarterback in that group, many are taking to Twitter to question why that could be.
However, it was sportswriter David Wysong who made it a point to skip the bullshit and call a thing a thing.
“Why do Black QBs seem to get much shorter leashes?” he tweeted.
For those out the loop, Haskins has never had the opportunity to thrive. Outside of being banished to the armpit of the NFL universe, he’s played for three different coaches since being drafted, with each one installing their own offense. Then when Ron Rivera came aboard, guess who he brought with him? His old quarterback from his old team: Kyle Allen—a.k.a. the guy who just stole Haskins’ job.
Washington has also been mired in controversy after controversy after controversy since Haskins’ arrival, so hard’s not to believe that all this chaos and perpetual bullshit hasn’t hampered his play. Because no matter how good of a player you are, where you play is not only crucial to your development but to your ability to excel on the field. Does anyone really think Lamar Jackson, Kyler Murray or Patrick Mahomes would be playing at the same level in Washington? Of course not.
And I can’t be the only one that remembers how Josh Allen had to fight through his own growing pains—in order to become an MVP-caliber quarterback.
Dwayne, this ain’t your fault, fam.
For his sake, I hope he’s able to eventually escape Washington and actually play for a competent organization. Because as long as he’s stuck doing this...
We’ll never know how good of a player he could actually be. Which sadly, is a familiar refrain among plenty of Black professionals who’ve squandered their talents because they never got a fair shake or were put in a position to thrive.
Free Dwayne Haskins.