Washington Football Team has a starting quarterback for the 2020 NFL season. The team’s head coach Ron Rivera announced on Wednesday that second-year signal-caller Dwayne Haskins will be under center for the first snap in Week 1.
This isn’t such a surprise, considering that Rivera favored Haskins to practice with the starters. The team also has Kyle Allen, who started for Carolina Panthers in 2019, and veteran Alex Smith as options. Allen didn’t manage to show he’s capable of leading the team in training camp while Smith is still recovering from a devastating leg injury in 2018.
“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 told reporters. “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.”
Dwayne Haskins had the opportunity to start seven games in 2019, but struggled to make a transition from college football to pros. Haskins finished the year by completing 58.61 percent of his passes for only 1,365 yards and seven touchdowns. He also added seven interceptions.
Despite this, Rivera believes Haskins can lead Washington to a winning season.
“He deserves the opportunity,” he added. “He’s going to get my support. Hopefully we can ride it as long as I rode it with Cam. You want to be able to have that guy and have that guy in place.”
