whether to buy time or as a weapon. The Redskins likely
won’t field that overwhelming type of line this season; Trent
Williams is often too injured to play up to his vast potential,
Morgan Moses was a penalty waiting to happen in 2018,
the club and Brandon Scherff were haggling over a contract
extension as this was written and two rookies were vying
for the starting spot at left guard.
That is not the type of environment into which you
want to inject a rookie.
The Buckeyes passing plan is night and day versus what
Gruden, senior offensive assistant Matt Cavanaugh and of-
fensive coordinator Kevin O’Connell implement in their
West Coast offense. Calling a play in a couple of words suf-
ficed in Columbus; the same play might involve Haskins
rattling off two or three times as many words in D.C.
“It’s all new to him in terms of transferring what I say
or what Coach O’Connell says to the huddle,” Gruden told
CBSSports.com. “There might be one key word that he
messes up, which is critical.”
If there’s one thing that still rankles about Gruden’s
operation, it’s the number of times the offense takes a des-
peration timeout because they can’t get the play called in
quickly enough. That won’t get better in the early days of
a rookie’s career.
“What we have to do is break down and get inside of
his mind and let him understand the West Coast offense,understanding defenses, coverages, all those things that are
so much different than the college game,” director of college
scouting Kyle Smith told the team’s website. “He’s going toWashington Redskins coach Jay Gruden may have
been chuckling, but he wasn’t joking during May’s OTAs
that if the team didn’t make the playoffs in 2019 he would
no longer have a job.
He was talking about the interest HBO Sports and NFL
Films had expressed in making Gruden’s team the focus of
“Hard Knocks.” The program delves into what it takes for
a player to beat astronomical odds and make an NFL roster.
It was his attempt to deflect attention to his brother Jon and
the dysfunction he coaches known as the Oakland Raiders.
It’s not hard to be cavalier about your career when
you’re in the sixth year of a contract guaranteeing you
$20 million.
I like Gruden. A lot of the problems early as head
coach – time management, too many challenges that
seemed obvious would not be overturned – he’s rectified.
Replacing a mouthy malcontent like D.J. Swearinger with
a Landon Collins will sap some of the disrespectful vitriol
from the locker room that plagued him last season.
I want him to stay, and he’s right. That only happens if
the Redskins make postseason.
And they won’t make postseason with Dwayne Hask-
ins starting at quarterback from Day 1.
This team needs an experienced signal-caller behind
center, even if he’s not as physically gifted as the young
draft pick. I’m not talking about Colt McCoy.
People forget that Case Keenum is just a year removed
from the kind of season Gruden needs for a job-saving
splash. With the Vikings in 2017, Keenum completed 67
percent of his passes, for 3,547 yards, 22 touchdowns and
a mere 7 interceptions in taking Minnesota to the NFC
title game. Last year in Denver, yes, there was a dropoff in
overall production and rating, but Keenum still threw for
3,980 yards and 18 TDs, though his interceptions were
alarming at 15.
Even if Washington’s Alex Smith stayed healthy last
year and played to his averages in the 10 games he ap-
peared, he would have thrown for 3,488 yards, 16 touch-
downs and 11 interceptions. Keenum can do better than
that, especially if the receiving corps is reinvigorated with
youth and health. I’m not sure Haskins can.
He was a shotgun quarterback at Ohio State; for the
most part, he’ll be an under-the-center quarterback in
Washington.
He played behind one of the strongest offensive lines
in college football. Both senior starters were drafted, and
a rising-senior starter is a lock to be chosen in 2020. Hask-
ins was rarely required to make plays with his feet,
AUGUST 6, 2019 Warpath 23get the chance to do that.”
Haskins will have a better chance of doing it well if
Gruden is his coach, if he spends some time watching
Keenum from the sidelines and if he runs the scout team
against what should be a very good defense.“This team needs an experienced signal-caller behind center,
even if he’s not as physically gifted as the young draft pick.
I’m not talking about Colt McCoy.”
Jim DucibellaGruden’s future depends on passer
FROM WHERE I’M SITTING
LEARNING CURVE
The Redskins would be better off starting veteran quar-
terback Case Keenum and giving rookie Dwayne Haskins
time to learn the system.Check us out
on Facebook
facebook.com/BandGHour/
Follow latest news
On Twitter all day
At @Warpath_News
WARPATH FANS
- GET SOCIAL
!
WARPATH FANS - GET SOCIAL
!