Before there's any real talk about Dwayne Haskins challenging Mason Rudolph for second spot on the depth chart, let alone being the future replacement of Ben Roethlisberger, the Steelers have to see what the third-year, former Ohio State quarterback can do with his new opportunity.
Going from a promising 15th overall pick in the 2019 NFL Draft to a released quarterback with a 3-10 record in just two years puts a serious dent in a profile.
Haskins still has the cannon arm that he showed off throwing 50 touchdowns in his sophomore year with the Buckeyes, but his 12 touchdown passes and 14 interceptions in the NFL show he's got a bunch of growing to do in the pros.
Despite averaging more interceptions than games started, Haskins does possess the basic tools needed to be an NFL quarterback. Standing at 6 feet 4, 230 pounds., he's got the size to see over the line, stand in the pocket and take hits from defenders. He lacks any sense of elusiveness, but he packs an arm that can fire a ball on a line down the field.
Haskins is at his best when everything is lined up in front of him and the opposing defense's alignment isn't a disguise that fools him. Like most young NFL quarterbacks he has a tendency to stick with his initial diagnosis of defenses and struggles to adjust when he's surprised after the snap.
But adjusting to that is something that comes with time and experience. Before the Steelers see if he can take that step, they need to know that he has the arm to make the throws down the field when what he sees is correct. He does show he can make those throws on tape over his first two seasons.
Watch this touchdown pass he threw against the Browns last season and how he read the field. The Browns came out with a single high safety in the middle of the field. Usually that's a sign the defense will play Cover 1 in man coverage or Cover 3 in zone coverage with the two outside corners covering the deep outside thirds of the field and the safety covering the deep middle third.
That's exactly what happened, and Washington had a receiver streaking into the weak spot of the zone, the seam. Unless one of the deep defenders jump the route, the seam is the best way to attack a Cover 3 defense with a deep pass as the outside corner cannot give up outside leverage and the inside safety would have to abandon the middle of the field to protect it.
Haskins recognized the play the whole way, made the throw and scored the touchdown:
Good timing and placement on the throw made that happen.
But over his first two years, Haskins has shown that attacking the seam against a Cover 3 defense is one of his preferred reads to make. It's not a bad thing, but when you start to show tendencies, defenses will pick up on them.
Here's another seam pass, but this time against a Cover 1 man defense. You can see Darnell Savage as the Packers' deep single high safety, but this time each of the cornerbacks run with the receivers in man coverage. You can also see from the snap of the ball, Haskins' head was pointed at his target, Terry McLaurin, the entire way.
Savage did break on the ball, but Haskins fired a zipping pass to McLaurin's back shoulder that was out of his reach and the former Ohio State receiver made a spectacular grab for the touchdown:
That's a play where you see Haskins' arm strength save the day.
But it can't always be that way if the way in the NFL. There are too many talented defenders who will make plays on passes when quarterbacks stare down their receivers. Even beyond staring down receivers, defenses will notice tendencies on film and jump on them for opportunities.
It's when defenses did that to Haskins that he would struggle the most. Once his primary reads are taken away, Haskins not only struggles to cycle through his options, but also loses confidence in his throws. When that confidence goes, the zip in his passes disappears and defenders have a better jump on his passes.
Later in that same game against the Packers was a perfect example of that happening. Watch how Haskins starts the play staring off to his right, waiting for McLaurin's in route to cut behind the slot cornerback and be open. This time, Savage jumped all over it and cut him off. Haskins rotated to another option down the field, but Adrian Amos broke on the ball to intercept it:
That's where problems start to compile for Haskins.
Even with his big arm, Haskins hasn't had much success with the deep ball. According to Pro Football Focus, Haskins has thrown 47 career passes targeting 20 yards or further, completing only nine for 262 yards, zero touchdowns and four interceptions. He's the only NFL quarterback to attempt at least 18 passes over 20 yards without a touchdown in either 2019 or 2020.
The problems got worse as 2020 continued, and his mistakes compounded. His interceptions became more egregiously poor decisions. Watch how, on this simple second down, Haskins opted to not take an underneath out route that was open short of the sticks. Instead he threw a deep ball in the middle of three defenders that got intercepted:
Haskins looked like he didn't trust his own eyes.
Then he wouldn't even throw passes to the open receivers he was staring down. He was sacked 49 times over his first two seasons, being sacked on 9.9 percent of his dropbacks. Some of those were because Washington's offensive line would let through a lot of pressure, but other times it's because he stood in the pocket and was unsure of where to go with the ball.
Watch this play where the Giants rushed five and Washington's line picked them up. Haskins had the time and space to step up in the pocket while the passing concept downfield worked as planned. McLaurin was the flanker receiver running a post behind another receiver who drew the attention of the Giants' secondary.
McLaurin's post ended up being wide open, but Haskins wasn't sure enough to make the pass and got sacked:
That's what happens when a quarterback starts seeing ghosts.
But now Haskins has the chance to exorcise the demons of his past with a fresh start in Pittsburgh. He will get a chance to learn behind a franchise quarterback like Roethlisberger without the expectations of reviving a struggling franchise. He'll also get to compete with Rudolph, a quarterback with a winning record as a starter at 5-4 with 15 touchdown passes and 10 interceptions.
Working with new Steelers quarterback coach Mike Sullivan could also give him the kind of attention on sharpening his fundamental footwork, mental processing, arm motion, and confidence. That's a long list of challenges, but if Haskins wants to make it in the NFL, he might've stumbled into the best place to work on facing them with the least amount of pressure to be a ready starter preparing for a new opponent week after week.
