3 reasons Steelers QB Dwayne Haskins is getting overhyped
By Tommy Jaggi
Dwayne Haskins is starting to pop back up in conversation as the next potential franchise quarterback for the Steelers. Here’s why he’s getting overhyped.
I have a hard time understanding the infatuation with former Washington Football Team quarterback, Dwyane Haskins. Through the first two years of his NFL career, he has done absolutely nothing worth noting on the football field, yet Steelers fans are talking him up like he’s going to be the next franchise quarterback in Pittsburgh.
Though I don’t want to write off Haskins completely without giving him a fair shot to compete in Pittsburgh, I just don’t think that there is enough to work with for him to be the next man up after Ben Roethlisberger. A while back, I wrote about why Haskins won’t be the answer for the Steelers moving forward, and I stand by that until proven otherwise.
Haskins is largely the same quarterback we saw take the field for Ohio State in 2017 and he hasn’t changed much since being released by Washington in 2020, but here are three reasons why fans continually overhype what Dwayne Haskins will be to this team in the future:
Inflated college production
Dwyane Haskins had remarkable production during his time at Ohio State. But do you know who else did? Pretty much every other quarterback to walk through their doors over the past decade before him. Sure, 54 touchdowns and 9 interceptions looks pretty impressive on paper, but this a bad way to evaluate college talent – especially when said talent is coming from a gimmicky offense like Ohio State’s that allows their receivers to do all the work after the catch.
From 2011 to 213, Braxton Miller had 84 total touchdowns to just 17 interceptions. Yet, Miller had to switch positions before entering the NFL. When J.T. Barrett took over in 2014, the results were even better. Though we knew he lacked elite NFL tools, Barrett had 147 total touchdowns to 30 interceptions over the next four seasons. Even Cardale Jones, who filled in for Barrett at times, pitched in an additional 19 total touchdowns.
College production is just a very small factor in predicting success from college to the NFL, and it’s rarely the most productive quarterbacks who turn out to be the best in the big leagues. Take Haskins’ college production with a grain of salt.