LANDOVER, MARYLAND - DECEMBER 20: Quarterback Dwayne Haskins #7 of the Washington Football Team walks off the field following their 20-15 loss to the Seattle Seahawks at FedExField on December 20, 2020 in Landover, Maryland. (Photo by Patrick Smith/Getty Images)Dwayne Haskins’ stint with the Washington Football Team didn’t play out the way he hoped. However, the former Ohio State quarterback received a second chance this week to revitalize his career.
On Thursday afternoon, Haskins signed a deal with the Pittsburgh Steelers. Perhaps a change of scenery will do wonders for his career.
Haskins may have ruffled some feathers in the nation’s capital, but one of his former teammates went out of his way to give him advice for the next chapter of his career. Alex Smith, who took over as the starting quarterback for Washington late in the season, made it clear that he’s rooting for Haskins.
All the physical tools are in place for Haskins to succeed in the NFL. The issue at hand is that he hasn’t found a way to minimize the distractions around him. That’s something that Smith wants to see the young signal-caller work on.
“The first thing I hope with Dwayne – and I’ve told him this – is you don’t have a chance until you’ve eliminated a lot of the distractions going on in your life,” Smith said, via NBC Washington. “It’s hard as a young player, as a young draft pick, certainly as a quarterback thrust with a lot of weight and expectations.”
Smith believes it’ll be nearly impossible for Haskins to reach his full potential until he eliminates all the outside noise.
“You have to be able to eliminate all that other stuff, because none of that matters if you can’t go out there and play at a high level. You’ll never be able to develop into the player, into your potential if you don’t eliminate all that stuff as well. So my hope for Dwayne is to do that.”
This advice from Alex Smith could be what helps Haskins turn his career around – assuming he listens to him.
Dwayne Haskins, 23, has plenty of time left to prove that he can be a legitimate starter in the pros. But first, he’ll have to prove that he has learned from his past.
