The Washington Football Team is making a quarterback change. Former first-round pick Dwayne Haskins will be benched in favor of Kyle Allen, as Ian Rapoport and Mike Garafolo of NFL.com tweet. Furthermore, Haskins will be moved down to No. 3 on the QB depth chart with Alex Smith taking over as the primary backup. 
Washington tried to tailor the offense to Haskins’ strengths this offseason while giving him all of the first-string reps in practice. So far, that hasn’t panned out. After their comeback win over the Eagles to start the season, WFT has gone without a W in the last three games.
Haskins, the No. 15 overall pick of the 2019 draft, has been sacked a ton — the offensive line is partially to blame, though Haskins has not been able to locate his open targets quickly, either. Between his three interceptions and one fumble against the Browns, Haskins is coming off of a four-turnover game, one that may change the trajectory of his NFL career. All in all, Haskins has completed just 56.4% of his passes with four touchdowns against three INTs.
Washington is set to play the Ravens this week, presenting Allen with a tough task. But, after that, they have a fairly soft stretch that includes the Rams, Giants (2x), Cowboys, and Lions. Ron Rivera & Co. believe that Allen can take advantage of that stretch and put them on the right track.
Meanwhile, this marks yet another remarkable milestone for Smith, who suffered a gruesome leg injury in November of 2018.The injury was thought to be a potential career ender, especially after Smith contracted sepsis. Now healthy, the 36-year-old could be on the verge of taking his first snap in years.
They play the Rams. Washington played Baltimore last week.
In the Covid article both the titans and the patriots play the bills this week!
Also, Haskins is NOT coming off of a four turnover game as the article states. He’s coming off, from a purely statistical perspective, his best game as a pro. This article is all kinds of messed up.
If Kyle Allen is the answer, you’re asking the wrong question. Even if you want a new QB next year, wouldn’t you rather gamble this year on a chance that Haskins can salvage any of the value of last year’s first round pick?
He has looked terrible. It’s probably in Haskins best interest to learn from the sidelines for a month or so. Idk what to expect from Allen, but it will more than likely be better than what you got from Haskins. Which I would consider a positive. WFT is still in the hunt for the division bc the NFC East is awful.
Haskins showed more promise last year than Allen has ever shown. It just seems shortsighted and like burying your own investment, even if leadership has changed since last year. And yeah, they may technically be in the hunt, but you could just as accurately call them a team with one win.
Not this coaching staffs investment.
They didn’t draft him.
Sure, but still assets they inherited. If it were a question of whether to let the guy stop you from drafting a QB this year, that would be one thing. But we’re talking about Kyle Allen here.
Maybe they know more about Haskins then we do. They see his practice habits etc.
Or maybe Norv Turner’s kid doesn’t know how to develop QBs.
Maybe Haskins is a turd
I will take Ron Rivera and his track record.
I’m a big Ron Rivera fan, but he’s not an offense guy and for the vast majority of his head coaching career, there wasn’t much QB choice to make. He came in the year they drafted Cam. The only thing we know beyond that is that he’s fond of Kyle Allen for some reason. Washington is not a win-now team and this is time they could spend getting a better evaluation on Haskins, who has more upside and more potential market value than Allen. I just don’t know what you get out of starting Allen.
Exactly, Oooof. Rivera is a defensive guy. If he makes a defensive change, it’s probably safe to assume he knows what he is doing. He hasn’t shown the same aptitude offensively. He had Cam, and Cam was good. As much as I hate NE, the coaching there has helped elevate Cam a level though.
Elevate him a level? Cam won an MVP with Carolina but will never win one in NE. He doesn’t look comfortable throwing down field, and if he can’t run the ball the offense is stagnant. Cam is my fantasy QB and I’ve watched every game. His play has not been elevated.
Three facts:
1. Cam has the 3rd highest QB rating of his career so far this year.
2. Cam’s completion percentage is the highest of his career so far.
3. Cam’s interception rate is down.
You’ve watched more NE than I, but the stats suggest they’re using him to his strengths. I hear people talking about slinging the ball downfield when they talk about QBs, but why does that matter? If my QB is efficient and the team is winning, I don’t care about the style.
He hasn’t played enough this year to be drawing conclusions from things like interception rate and QB rating. Even if we go with PFF ratings, his grades this year are very similar to his better Carolina grades, other than his outlier 2015 season.
Allen is only a year older than Haskins. He has similar arm talent, but seems to get through his reads quicker. It wasn’t long ago that he himself was a 5 star recruit. He has been more accurate and on top of that he is quicker than Haskins (which could help him get away from the pressure that their oline is allowing). Just because Haskins was taken in the 1st doesn’t necessarily mean he has more potential. With his current stats he is looking more like JaMarcus Russell than Donovan McNabb. They might as well see if Allen can produce and can start winning games.
Allen got a full shot last year and his performance was roughly the same as what’s getting Haskins benched. He also wasn’t any good in college against much weaker competition. And his physical tools aren’t anything to write home about. He might have a career as a backup, but Haskins has more shot of more than that. And he’s nothing like JaMarcus.
You say their performance has been roughly the same, even though Allen has a better QBR and completion percentage, so we can just forget about those for now. Then you act like swapping the two is a terrible decision for a FO that didn’t draft the guy. If they performed roughly the same, then what is your argument for not putting in Allen to see what he can do? Is it because Haskins essentially played one year at OSU, he is a year younger, or that he is 20 pounds heavier? Both have good arm strength and can make all the throws, I’ll give it to you that Haskins has a bit stronger of an arm. However, what does that matter if he is not as accurate, or is slower through his progressions and on his feet than Allen. My thing is you have two young QBs, they gave Haskins the first shot to see if he was the guy and hasn’t really showed it yet. They might as well see what they have in Allen for a couple of games to see if he can produce any better. If not, they can give Haskins another shot before looking at drafting one of this years QBs.
Haskins’ completion percentage is one point lower than Allen’s was last year, so I’m calling that a wash. Haskins also showed a lot more upside in college. Basically, I don’t see where anyone would get the idea of Allen having any upside, so why aren’t we looking for what Haskins flashed in college and the second half of last year? If this team isn’t going anywhere and one of Haskins’ weaknesses is his lack of experience, work on that.
I love it, he plays better but just say it’s a wash because their numbers are close. He was undrafted so lets just say he can’t do anything but be a backup. I am sure every undrafted or late round QB that has gone on to do something would love that (ie Starr, Staubach, Moon, Warner, Romo, Delhomme, Jeff Garcia, Hasselbeck, Brady). By flashed last year, I assume you are referring to the last two games that he played well against a terrible PHI & NYG secondary. In that case Allen had some flashes last year too. Allen can play, and while he may not be an all world QB like Mahomes, he can compete with Haskins. That is the reason he will be starting this weekend.
You cited a number as better. I pointed out that the difference in that stat was less than a rounding error. And I’ll be happy to eat crow if Allen turns out to be nearly as good as the very best late round or undrafted QBs of all time, but that’s a doozy of an argument to make. I think he’d be lucky to turn out as well as Case Keenum.
Jb19, I’d say expect similar results from Allen. The left side of the line is abysmal, and the club just doesn’t have a ton of weapons. You could have two all-pro WR and an all-pro RB, but it doesn’t matter if your front isn’t strong. I don’t understand choosing to lose with Allen over choosing to lose with Haskins when Haskins could at least be learning. I get the division is weak, but is it really worth fighting for a 1st rd thumping?
Guys, the reason Allen is starting is not because of potential or current skill set. It’s because he knows the offense better and coaching staff trusts him more. If your results are the same, go with the guy who is more reliable. At best, they win more. At worst, Rivera shows what values he wants in a QB.
I don’t mean to kick dirt on Haskins, but Rivera’s comments last week indicated frustration with his inability to learn the playbook/reads. When Rivera brought Allen on, he cited his familiarity with the playbook as a strength. Haskins also had this criticism last year with the old staff. Rivera is trying to build a culture in Washington. It’s hard to do that with a QB with work ethic questions.
Need to stop calling them WFT it gets turned in my little mind. Why not DC or the team formerly known as a racial slur.
It is frustrating explaining there is a State plus Washington DC. Find it hard to believe people don’t know that. Back to the topic come up with something or change it to WTF I am sure most of their fans are saying that a lot every since Snyder bought the team.
“the team formerly known as a racial slur”
hahaha. i love it.
Thought it was a mistake when they drafted him. Ohio St quarterbacks never seem to pan out. I believe Allen was Coach Rivera’s backup in Carolina
Yep, he was Rivera’s backup last year and started 12 games. He was mostly pretty bad, but his first game last year had 4 TDs and 0 INT (against the Cardinals).
The Ohio State point seems unfair. You can’t judge a QB by how many others his school has turned out. Russell Wilson ended up coming out of Wisconsin, which never produces NFL starting QBs. Before Deshaun, who was the last Clemson QB to play? Charlie Whitehurst? In Haskins’ case, he played at Ohio State in the very beginning of Ryan Day’s tenure, and their passing game has been radically different. No coincidence, they’re expected to produce a top-5 pick QB after this season. It’s not like Ohio State produced a bunch of 1st round picks who failed before Haskins.
Looks like they transposed the “F” and “T” in “WFT”.
Good one
Remember when Joe Gibbs could wave his magic wand and make any QB in a Washington uniform look like a champ?
Ah yes, back in the days when RGIII was… born.
Joe Gibbs racing baby
Let’s see how he reacts.
I think this is a bit premature and doing him a disservice. Granted, he hasn’t played well, but he also has a new coach and hasn’t played what amounts to a full season.
I agree.
Agreed.
Alex Smith is your guy if you’re looking to enter the playoffs. This is just Coach Ron Rivera going with the QB he knows.
Washington is a pretty bad team top to bottom. Their problem isn’t Haskins and Alex Smith is not bringing them to the playoffs (neither is Allen, who is not good). This move makes zero sense and only serves to stunt Haskins’ development.
A pure headscratcher that goes to show that no matter who is in charge, Washington will make baffling decisions.
I like Rivera, but it is tough to judge Haskins given how bad Washington is.
Haskins is a kid that needs a wake up call, and it looks like the team has lost confidence in him. He has come out of the gate very slow, in every game. Granted there skilled positions are weak as a whole, but you have to make plays as a QB