Ron Rivera explains why Dwayne Haskins misses throws high originally appeared on NBC Sports Washington
Through the first two games of the 2020 season one recurring issue has emerged for Washington Football quarterback Dwayne Haskins - missing his receivers high.
That same problem appeared at times in training camp, and last season too. Go back and watch Haskins' sensational tape from the 2018 season at Ohio State, and notice that when he missed, he missed high.
For Washington fans, the big question becomes how to fix it. And for Ron Rivera, it's all about slowing down.
"He speeds up," Rivera said on Monday to explain Haskins' proclivity for missing his pass catchers on the high side.
Washington's coach specifically talked about one play in the third quarter where tight end Logan Thomas had a bit of separation in coverage in the end zone, but Haskins throw sailed beyond the reach of Thomas.
"He gets so fired up, he sees it so quickly, he speeds up and doesn’t go through his normal plant and drive into it," Rivera said of Haskins' miss. "He’s so quick, he’s got his weight back a little bit and he just lets it go as opposed to ‘Hey, I’m there, I'm tall and I can drive step.’ He sees it, ‘it’s there, I got it,’ and bam - he’s a little bit high."
It makes sense.
Haskins explained after the Arizona game that early on the Cardinals deployed different pass coverages than he expected based on film study, and that it required the Washington offense to reset their aerial attack. In turn, the Washington offense struggled early - for the second week in a row - and Haskins pressed a bit on some opportunities.
So - again - what's the fix?
"Maintain your composure, go through your motion and deliver a good ball. You see that as he gets more comfortable in the second half but early on it cost him on a couple throws," Rivera said.
Overall the coach did not seem too worried about Haskins' play in Arizona. Keep in mind that game was just his ninth NFL start and it came in a year with no offseason work or preseason games while learning a new offense.
"He made good decisions it’s just a matter of delivering the ball where it needs to be."
