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Earlier this week, the Miami Dolphins signed veteran quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick to a two-year deal worth $11-million plus incentives. Fitzpatrick joins a quarterback room that consists of Luke Falk and Jake Rudock. This isn’t ideal for Miami, considering Fitzpatrick is 36-years old, and the other two players have combined for only five passes in their NFL careers.
And although it seems inevitable that Kyler Murray will be drafted first-overall by the Arizona Cardinals, it is anyone’s guess as to where the next quarterback will be selected. However; one thing is crystal clear. And that is if the Dolphins hope to find their franchise signal caller in this year’s class, they attention should begin to shift focus to Ohio State’s Dwayne Haskins.
Here’s a film breakdown on Ohio State quarterback, Dwayne Haskins.
BIO
Height: 6’3
Weight: 231-pounds
Hometown: Potomac, Maryland
Throws: Right
40 time: 5.04
Games watched: [ @ Penn State,@ Purdue, vs Michigan, vs Northwestern]
PROS
One of the most impressive things about Dwayne Haskins, is how mature he is with his understanding of the game of football. We all saw the reports from the combine, regarding his football I.Q and how well he worked the blackboard. He’s an impressive young man. But even more impressive than what he can do off the field, is what he can do on.
Here, we see Dwayne Haskins look off the safety, before throwing an absolute dime down the right sideline for the easy touchdown.
haskins uses his eyes to move the safety, hits him the pump fake, and throws a dime down the right sideline for the TD pic.twitter.com/bMN3V4raFV
— josh houtz (@houtz) March 20, 2019
Here is another example of his accuracy, which also shows off his ability to bait the safety with his eyes. Haskins throws a near perfect ball where only his wide receiver could make the catch.
another look pic.twitter.com/d4zE6QPjTA
— josh houtz (@houtz) March 20, 2019
When you talk about Dwayne Haskins, one of the first things scouts rave about, is his ability to move around in the pocket seamlessly.
Here’s an example of what Haskins can do within the constraints of the pocket.
haskins moves around the pocket extremely well for a guy that only started one season in college. here he feels the outside pressure, steps up into the pocket, and throws a strike to the WR. great catch and run for the TD pic.twitter.com/FxScDqAL6K
— josh houtz (@houtz) March 20, 2019
And another example of how fluid he moves around in the pocket.
haskins moves around well in the pocket, which allows him buy time to make this throw. pic.twitter.com/3pegDlzgOR
— josh houtz (@houtz) March 20, 2019
and another...
— josh houtz (@houtz) March 20, 2019
In this play, Haskins stands tall in the pocket, before throwing a missile between several defenders for the first down.
here’s a nice throw as haskins as he climbs the pocket and throws a missile for the first down. pic.twitter.com/xP7sCbxbRJ
— josh houtz (@houtz) March 20, 2019
As I stated earlier, one of the best things about Dwayne Haskins is his ability to throw the football accurately in all three phases; short, intermediate and deep routes.
In this play, we get an idea of what type of anticipation Haskins possesses. And although you would have liked to see him square his shoulders towards his intended target. he puts the ball where only his WR can make the catch.
here you can see haskins anticipation and ability to read a defense, as he waits patiently for the WR to find the soft spot in the zones pic.twitter.com/UvNIxHmDYJ
— josh houtz (@houtz) March 20, 2019
Here is an example of his anticipation and accuracy, as Haskins hits the running back in stride on the wheel route. This route concept is something all Dolphins fans should expect to see more of in Chad O’Shea’s offense.
we know how important the HBs are in a NE-style offense, specifically in the passing game. haskins throws a perfect ball on the wheel route pic.twitter.com/JPuASi21jc
— josh houtz (@houtz) March 20, 2019
In this play, we see his ability to put the ball where only his receiver can make the catch. This throw is a lot more impressive when you think about how wide the hashes are in college football.
hell of a throw here from the opposite hash. haskins puts the ball on his back shoulder to protect him from the safety. pic.twitter.com/80Pe86eGo1
— josh houtz (@houtz) March 20, 2019
Purdue was a bad outing for the Heisman Trophy nominee, as he struggled to find any sort of consistency throughout the game. But on 4th and 5, with the game out of reach, Haskins throws a strike on the quick slant for six.
instant replay pic.twitter.com/TUChEyuDIm
— josh houtz (@houtz) March 20, 2019
Now that I showcased Haskins short accuracy, let’s take a look at some of his more impressive intermediate/deep throws.
Here, you see just how pretty of a ball Haskins can throw.
it doesn’t get much prettier than this. pic.twitter.com/5mHk7EoAyh
— josh houtz (@houtz) March 20, 2019
In this play, Haskins shows off his ability to accurately throw the deep ball. This is big-time throw.
this is an NFL throw from haskins pic.twitter.com/1fsVfo9IXL
— josh houtz (@houtz) March 20, 2019
These are things that you just can’t teach.
dwayne haskins is a playmaker. pic.twitter.com/8kgJ1jKKrt
— josh houtz (@houtz) March 20, 2019
CONS
For a one-year starter, I was hard pressed to find a lot of bad in Haskins game. Yes, his poise in the pocket when things breakdown could be better. But overall, he’s definitely a first-round talent and will likely be a top-10 draft pick in April’s draft.
Let’s take a look at some of his imperfections; from the four games I watched intensely
In this play, Haskins has a wide receiver running wide open downfield. And despite a clean pocket, he sails the ball 10-yards over his intended target. This is a throw that most NFL quarterbacks make with relative ease.
I like that haskins is going for the jugular, but there’s no pressure whatsoever and he overthrows the WR by a good 8 yards. pic.twitter.com/vD3iJZ6tEj
— josh houtz (@houtz) March 20, 2019
Here’s another example of a poorly thrown ball, despite the receiver having a step or two on the defender. These are not routine throws, but you would like to see a better result from one of the nation’s top quarterbacks.
haskins impressed many teams with his football IQ at the combine and he does a lot of stuff pre-snap to get the offense in the right position. unfortunately, he underthrows the WR in the corner of the end one. pic.twitter.com/edfPBedbNR
— josh houtz (@houtz) March 20, 2019
The game is essentially over, so the result didn’t affect the win/loss column. But this is a poorly thrown ball that gives the receiver no chance to make a play. Poor, off-target pass.
there’s no way the buckeyes could come back, but this is a very bad throw for one of the top QBs in this class. pic.twitter.com/A7rYrTn5ak
— josh houtz (@houtz) March 20, 2019
CONCLUSION
In the end, Dwayne Haskins will likely be drafted before the Dolphins are on the clock at 13. Which means if Chris Grier and Co. believe he is their guy, Miami will have to trade up to acquire the top-QB prospect. This doesn’t bode well for those that want a quarterback in 2020. But for a team that has struggled to find a play-making quarterback since Dan Marino was drafted in 1983, you do whatever it takes to get your guy.
Haskins was only a one-year starter at Ohio State, but what he showed in that one season is that he possesses all the traits needed to be a franchise quarterback in the NFL. He checks every box from a physical standpoint and can accurately make all the throws required to be a successful QB in the NFL.
We might never know how much the Dolphins covet the Ohio State quarterback. But one thing is for certain, whatever team decides to draft Dwayne Haskins, will get one of the more physically-gifted quarterbacks in recent memory.
This article was written by Josh Houtz. Follow me on TWITTER