Haskins' Agent Launches An Unnecessary Grenade

Dwayne Haskins' agent was sending a strong message on the same day that it was perceived by many that Ron Rivera was sending his own warning.

Amazing this is the narrative coming out of DC. A young QB (10 starts total over 2 seasons) who is in a brand new system, with no off-season in said new system, a young OL, limited weapons on offense and only 3 games into the NFL season. Yet “he” is the one that must play well. https://t.co/6lAD0WGa2p
— David Mulugheta (@DavidMulugheta) October 4, 2020

Maybe an agent fighting for his client is not that big of a deal to you but he could have done it very differently. And privately.

Rivera had admitted to speaking to Haskins last week and making it beyond clear what was expected of the young quarterback. If Rivera was the sourcing behind Rapoport' s story - he did it the right way first. By talking to Haskins first.

Some (myself included) have an issue with Rivera and the organization abandoning (to some degree) the original plan to develop a young, fragile team. For what? To engage in a true pursuit of an NFC East title and home playoff game that simply doesn't mean a whole lot in the big picture.

The organization will say all the right things but the mantra is clearly different since they realized that Dallas' defense is awful, the Giants as a whole are worse and the Eagles are more than beatable.

What you have to hope for is this: If the Washington Football Team benches Haskins for the remainder of a game, an upcoming contest or the rest of the season - it's because they saw way too many bad plays and decisions.

Not because they suddenly thought that the NFC East was winnable and that is going to overrule the original plan.

How do we tell what they're doing? It will be difficult but possible to determine.

Right now, I don't believe Rivera has enough data and evidence to turn the page. He's getting there. Haskins play has forced the issue to exist.

When Mulugheta says that Ian Rapoport's Sunday morning story of Haskins being on a short rope is an unfair narrative, he's basically saying what many of you have pointed out.

It's hard, if not impossible to evaluate a quarterback with so little talent around him, in such quick fashion.

He's right to some degree. Four games (now) is too soon. However, Haskins was never promised 16 games. Nor should he have been.

It doesn't take coaching staff's and personnel people 16 games to make an evaluation.

That might be unfair, but there's a lot of things that are not even or perfect.

Would you want Troy Apke or Wes Martin to automatically get 16 games? No. NFL organizations often move on quicker, especially if the player is not your guy.

Mulugheta knows this. Rivera and his staff moved on from Sean Davis and Adrian Peterson before any games. They whacked Derrius Guice and Cody Latimer before the legal process played out.

Decisions are often made quickly in the league because of various circumstances.

You're not always guaranteed time and a fair shot.

Mulugheta is an agent. His first job is to fight for and advocate for his client. He's not at practice. He's not in the film room and certainly is not privy to personal communication between Rivera and Haskins or any other coach.

From my perspective, Mulugheta is just barking to bark. He's not evaluating the situation fairly and in an unbiased manner.

If Rivera does bench Haskins, he's not doing it because of a bias or an agenda.

He's doing it for one of two reasons. A consistent poor performance and bad decisions.

Or because Rivera and his staff thought Kyle Allen and/or Alex Smith gave him and other players a better chance to try and win a division title.

I would have no problem with the first option. The second one, I clearly have my doubts but to find out for sure - you would have to pull the plug on Haskins and that might be the right move when it's all said and done.

Chris Russell is the Publisher of this site, a part of SI.com. He can be heard on 106.7 The FAN in the Washington D.C. area and world-wide on Radio.com. Chris also hosts the "Locked on Washington Football Team" Podcast and can be read via subscription to Warpath Magazine. You can e-mail Chris at russellmania09@Gmail.com or follow him on Twitter at @Russellmania621

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