Ron Rivera told his players Dwayne Haskins will be Washington’s starting quarterback for Week 1 against the Philadelphia Eagles, then he reflected on a similar declaration he made almost a decade ago.
Rivera was entering his first season as an NFL head coach with the Carolina Panthers, who months after hiring him drafted Cam Newton first overall. After enjoying several years of success with Newton, including a trip to the Super Bowl, Rivera hopes he is embarking on a similar path with Haskins as his starter.
“I made a commitment 10 years ago to another young quarterback and just told him, ‘Hey, you know what, I’m choosing you because I believe in you,’” Rivera said Wednesday after practice.
“That’s really how I feel about Dwayne. He’s lived up to his part of our conversation in January. Because of that, I’m living up to mine. He deserves the opportunity. He’s going to get my support. Hopefully we can ride it as long as I rode it with Cam.”
It’s not a surprising development but a confirmation the 2019 first-round pick did enough to earn the job under Rivera’s new regime. Haskins got the nod over Kyle Allen, whom Rivera knew well from his time with Carolina, and veteran Alex Smith, who is less than two years removed from breaking his right leg.
Rivera noticed Haskins getting ahead of the learning curve in training camp after no in-person offseason workouts disrupted the 23-year-old’s opportunity to learn new offensive coordinator Scott Turner’s system. Haskins said Monday he wanted to show the work he put in and he’s “just trying to do my best and master the offense as much as I can on a daily basis.”
It’s working.
“The way we approach the quarterback position, the way we go about our quarterback position, he’s bought in 100 percent,” said Turner, who was offensive quality control coach for the Panthers during Newton’s first two seasons.
“(Haskins has) made a lot of good plays. He’s gotten better every day at practice. I told him today: ‘Now the real work starts. Now you’ve got to gear up. We’ve got to bring it every week, and you’ve got to play better so you’re playing your best football at the end of the season.’”
Rivera joked he declared Haskins the starter now so he wouldn’t have to keep answering the question, but it’s also a statement by Washington’s first-year coach to his team with time running out before the Sept. 13 regular-season opener against Philadelphia.
“You know exactly who our starter is, but more importantly our players know who our starter is,” Rivera said. “I’ve been very pleased with his effort and his attitude and the way he approached everything.”
