Getty Stephen A. Smith attends ESPN the Party at WestWorld of Scottsdale.
Stephen A. Smith has had his share of questionable Dwayne Haskins takes in the past. We all recall when the ESPN analyst called the former Ohio State Buckeye “more of a runner than a thrower” when coming out of college. This despite the fact that Haskins owns a 5.04-second forty and rushed for just 108 yards during his final season in Columbus, OH.
Smith, later on, apologized for his take, deeming himself an “ignorant fool.” Unfortunately, this would not be the last time that Haskins would go on to make Smith look foolish.
His words, not mine.
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Stephen A. Smith: ‘I Was Totally Wrong’ on Giants-Haskins Take
Smith may be in the midst of a vacation over this holiday season. Yet, news of the Washington Football Team releasing quarterback Dwayne Haskins on Monday could not go unacknowledged by the First Take co-host. Especially considering the harshness Smith spewed towards the New York Giants’ direction following the conclusion of the 2019 NFL Draft’s first round.
“I was totally WRONG about Dwayne Haskins,” Smith admitted via Twitter. “Thinking the Giants were foolish to pass up on him in favor of Daniel Jones, I look like a damn fool.”
“You know how bad you have to be as a player — and person — to be a 1st-round pick and still get released inside of two years?” Smith questioned. “This has bad attitude written all over it. Not being mature enough. Not working hard enough. Why else would Washington let him go right now? Inside of 2 years, Haskins entire football career is now officially in grave jeopardy.”
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Did Dave Gettleman & the Giants Get it Right?
In Smith’s defense, he’s far from the only analyst/evaluator to vastly miss on Haskins’ projection to the NFL. While many Giants fans are thanking the higher-ups that they dodged the bullet of having Haskins as their quarterback, the majority of the football world bagged on GM Dave Gettleman for his decision to opt for Daniel Jones on draft day.
Haskins was the hometown kid, a Highland Park, NJ native who grew up a huge Giants fan. He starred for a powerhouse program in Ohio State, smashing all-time school and Big Ten passing records. His 50 touchdown passes in 2019 remain the most by a quarterback in a single season in conference history.
Jones, on the other hand, led a program in Duke, more known for their abilities on the hardwood than the gridiron. His production was solid, yet not staggering, tossing just two more touchdown passes (52) in his entire Duke career than Haskins had accounted for in his lone season as Ohio State’s starter.
While Jones did possess questionable traits coming out of school (and still does), the biggest reason for the negative connotation surrounding Big Blue’s decision to use the No. 6 overall pick on him is quite simple, most didn’t know any better.
We were told by the media that Haskins was a future franchise quarterback. Every time we turned on the T.V. it was Haskins, not Jones, staking claim to a victory in a primetime game. Haskins had the accolades, he had the numbers.
Could you still claim the Giants reached for Jones where they selected him? Certainly. The draft is a game of juggling value and projections. Yet, while New York may have been able to slide down a few picks and still snag Jones, they opted to stay put and select the quarterback they, not others, felt was the best player to replace franchise-great Eli Manning.
Is Jones the definite answer at quarterback for Big Blue? That still remains up for debate. However, what is no longer up for debate is the fact that the Giants made the correct call to pass on Haskins.
While Jones must show improvement moving forward, he still has the opportunity to do so. Head coach Joe Judge has seemingly committed to the second-year pro as his guy for the future and Jones is, by all accounts, beloved in the Giants’ locker room. On the other hand, Haskins’ maturity level proved to be the downfall of a once-promising career and as Stephen A. put it, his career looks to be in “grave jeopardy” at just 23-years-old.
Let this be a reminder that draft picks are not everything and to take a step back before jumping to a conclusion on a highly-debated draft-day decision.
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