Dwayne's Dream Is To Be Captain
Washington Football Team quarterback Dwayne Haskins sat down with local media for a Zoom press conference, via WashingtonFootball.com. Here are my key takeaways from this interaction.
WATCH: Dwayne Haskins Press Conference
Dwayne coming into his own
There might have been concerns last year about Dwayne’s maturity. But that narrative can continue to be thrown out the window. Haskins took his conversation with head coach Ron Rivera to heart and has been running with it since. Dwayne continues to keep off field distractions away and focus on holding himself more accountable for growing as a man and player. This has led to him gaining more confidence in the huddle and earning the respect of his teammates. Dwayne is also understanding better about how the NFL differentiates from college when it comes to the different type of personalities that populate the huddle. You have vets, rookies, and contract year players that he must manage. He is taking all of that in stride and is working to better manage that.
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Goal to be the Captain
Dwayne is an ambitious player. He wants to be great and has mentioned Drew Brees and Tom Brady as players he looks towards for inspiration. There should be no fault given for him wanting to be the best. He is setting on the right path to earn the captain’s patch. He is putting the work in when it comes to the classroom, showing confidence in the huddle—something that Morgan Moses pointed out—and has been reaching out to his fellow quarterback compatriots Desahun Watson and Cam Newton to understand what it takes to be a leader. If he stays on this path, he will be wearing that captain’s patch sooner rather than later.
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Alex Smith is competition, but a friend and asset
Despite what some people on the fringes of the internet and sports talk radio want to stir up, Dwayne clearly values fellow quarterback Alex Smith being in the room with him. He believes that as Alex gets healthier and stronger, it helps mold him into a better player. Alex is a person that Dwayne looks to work with when it comes to breaking down plays and understanding where the ball should go against certain types of coverage. This is a relationship that Dwayne will continue to lean whether Alex gets removed from the PUP list or not.
The offense is similar but far different
Dwayne talked about how offensive coordinator Scott Turner’s offense is a split between what he had in college at Ohio State and what he dealt with last year under Jay Gruden and Bill Callahan. The basics of the West Coast offense that were implemented last year gave him a foundation for learning this new offense. There is not as much verbiage and is more up tempo, like the hand signal play relay he had in college. He is looking forward to seeing how everything translates to the practice field against the defense in preparation for Week 1 against the Philadelphia Eagles.
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Dwayne is hurting for college football players
One of the biggest topics in the sports community today is the upcoming college football season. We have seen tweets from Trevor Lawrence and others saying they are ready to play. There was a tweet by Joe Burrow that if his final season were cancelled or postponed, he would likely be in a 9 to 5 job instead of the first overall pick. Dwayne sympathizes with that. He knows the blood, sweat, and tears that go into being in a big-time program. The commitment you must give to your studies in the classroom and on the field. He still has friends and teammates from his time at Ohio State University that are facing this very situation and can empathize with them.
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Alan Lepore joins "Washington Football" on SI.com, while still doing outstanding work as an editor/writer at FullPressCoverage.com or @FPC_Redskins. You can follow him on Twitter @AlanLepore or on instagram @leporealan. Alan is a Villanova University MPA Nonprofit Management candidate and is a fundraising/development professional.
