ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith went viral on Friday for a questionable assessment of top NFL QB prospect Dwayne Haskins, a Heisman Trophy finalist who led the Buckeyes to a win in the Rose Bowl. According to Smith, the projected first quarterback off the board is “more of a runner” than a passer, despite the fact that Haskins broke a long list of passing records in 2018 and only rushed for double-digit yardage in three games this season.
Haskins demolished Drew Brees’ single-season Big Ten record of 39 touchdown passes, and became just the fifth quarterback in FBS history to throw for 50 touchdowns in a season. In our consensus big board, which tracks mock drafts from experts around the internet, Haskins has an average draft position of 5.2, and it’s expected that teams could be trading up just to have the chance to make him their franchise quarterback.
Haskins took the criticism in stride, and responded to Smith with a LeBron meme on Twitter.
Smith later explained that he wasn’t considering statistics, but instead going purely off his own “eye-test.”
