The Chicago Bears continue their long search for a franchise quarterback. One thing they’ve never been shy about in the past is taking failed experiments from other teams and giving them an opportunity here. It sounds insane considering how little success this franchise has developing QBs, but there it is. The latest name to enter this category might be Dwayne Haskins.
After a stellar season in 2018 at Ohio State where he threw 50 touchdowns, the Washington Redskins made him their 1st round pick of the 2019 draft. Their initial plan for him was sound. Given his inexperience (only started one year for the Buckeyes) he would sit behind veteran Case Keenum and learn the ropes as a rookie.
That plan didn’t hold. Keenum was benched in Week 4 against the Giants and Haskins came in. He regained the starting job again a week later but was finally benched for good in Week 8. Starting the final seven games of the season, Haskin actually didn’t play too bad, throwing for 1,225 yards, seven touchdowns, and three interceptions.
Sadly things changed fast.
Ron Rivera and a new coaching staff arrived with a new system. Then COVID-19 struck, robbing Haskins of a full offseason to prepare. Four games into 2020, the former 1st round pick finds himself back on the bench. Rivera was candid in explaining the decision.
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“We’re 1-3. Watching the game and Dwayne’s play, Dwayne needs more work. He just hasn’t had enough work in, and that’s the thing I think I hope that everyone understands. He’s got a live NFL arm. But he only played one year in college, he played very limited last year — I liked the things that I saw from last year — and this year he played, we gave him every opportunity, we gave him all the reps with the 1s, we gave him an opportunity to start four games and gave us a chance to truly evaluate him.
“But with the division where it is right now, I’d be stupid not to give it a shot and see what happens in the next four games. But I wanted to put it in the hands of somebody who knows the system a little bit better, backed up by a guy that’s been there.”
Dwayne Haskins has been benched and Kyle Allen will start at QB for Washington this week, the team announced. pic.twitter.com/XHA2rB19gR
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) October 7, 2020
Should the Bears gamble and trade for Dwayne Haskins?
Does this mean Haskins is a lost cause? Not necessarily. He’s only 23-years old with less than a full season of experience under his belt. It is hard to make a definitive final assessment on him at this point in time. He has the size, a good arm, and has made his share of encouraging plays. The problem has been consistency.
Dwayne Haskins made this throw on 4th and goal. Washington will be starting over with a new QB next season pic.twitter.com/HBl3zgWY8d
— Eric Rosenthal (@ericsports) October 4, 2020
Ron Rivera on Dwayne Haskins benching and teams desire to win.
"He did some good things but not enough…. For 10 years this team has been kicked around, enough is enough"
Listen 👇 pic.twitter.com/pWozRAqPjP
— SiriusXM NFL Radio (@SiriusXMNFL) October 7, 2020
Could Haskins benefit from coming to a team like Chicago with several QB-centric coaches on it and learn behind someone like Nick Foles? It’s possible. Then again Bears fans should be familiar with this scenario. They experienced the same things with Mitch Trubisky. The lack of college experience, inconsistency on the field, questionable field vision, and so on.
People should not forget Rivera has successfully developed quarterbacks before. He helped turn Cam Newton into a league MVP. For him to give up on Haskins this fast? That should be taken as a major warning sign.