It’s been a wild Wednesday morning in Washington, with roster moves taking place and a prominent player getting sent packing all the way to the end of the bench. Let’s try to unpack some things that have left us with a host of questions.
Here’s what we know:
- Dwayne Haskins was benched for Kyle Allen
- Alex Smith was promoted to QB2, ahead of Haskins (QB3)
- The move was ‘performance-based’ according to Ron Rivera, meaning the team felt that Allen gives them a better chance to win going forward, where they might be able to make a run at the NFC East.
- One of the QBs in Washington has tested positive for COVID-antibodies.
- Haskins is coming off the best game of his career.
Here are a few questions that have yet to be answered:
- Was this move really performance-based? If so, why was Haskins moved all the way to QB3?
- Did the move have anything to do with the COVID news in the locker room?
- What was the final straw for Rivera, and what didn’t he see from Haskins on Sunday that he wanted to?
- Is Haskins’ time in Washington now over?
To sit here and pretend that we can accurately answer all of these questions is far-fetched, but the move from QB1 to QB 3 seems a bit precarious, and the news coming alongside Rivera’s announcement that one of the QBs in the QB room has at one point dealt with COVID-19 smells fishy. Could the two be linked? There is no evidence to suggest that. Could something have happened between Haskins and Rivera that demoted the former? Again, we need more information to accurately answer.
Despite all of this, the fact that we have so many questions about the move is the most notable of all. Many see Rivera as an extremely smart and calculated individual; one who thinks methodically through every move and tends to make the right call when the time is right.
To us, the time didn’t seem right for this call. In a day or two, we might learn more about why it happened, but for now, we are just left with a lot of questions.
