Washington-Packers Q&A: Evaluating rookie quarterback Dwayne Haskins

On Sunday, the Green Bay Packers return to Lambeau Field to take on Washington. Andrew York of Hogs Haven kindly volunteered to answer our questions about the Washington and provide some insight into their strengths and weaknesses.

APC: Washington named Dwayne Haskins as the starting quarterback last month. Now with four starts under his belt, what are the rookie signal-caller’s strengths and weaknesses at this point in his career?

He is very raw at virtually all aspects of the QB position. This was know from the beginning, as he only started one year at Ohio State. He has made mistakes in processing the field, reading defenses, calling protections, and calling plays correctly at the line. However, he has very visibly improved in all of these areas since starting, and will no doubt continue to improve.

One of his biggest strengths is that he has a cannon of an arm and can throw the ball effortlessly 50 yards down the field. He has proven to be surprisingly elusive in the pocket, and has shown a lot of ability the last couple of games at extending plays. He’s also fearless; the prospect of getting hit doesn’t seem to scare him, and he bounces back from mistakes without playing timid.

His biggest sticking points have been footwork and knowing when to throw the ball away or take a checkdown. In terms of footwork, I think his big arm has allowed Dwayne to get away with poor footwork in college, because he has enough arm strength to push the ball downfield without setting his feet properly. However, his poor footwork results in inaccurate throws in the short to intermediate areas of the field. It’s the same problem Lamar Jackson had his rookie year, and it took Jackson an offseason of consciously practicing his footwork to correct it. I think the same will be true of Haskins.

We’d like to thank Andrew. Be sure to check out the rest of our Q&A session with Hogs Haven over the course of the week as well as our Q&A session over there. As always, keep your internet machines tuned to Acme Packing Company this Sunday for our comprehensive game-day coverage of Washington versus Green Bay.