The Washington Football Team shocked the football world on Wednesday morning. Benching former first-round pick Dwayne Haskins and naming Kyle Allen the starter is not something that many saw coming so soon into his career. Only collecting 11 starts, Haskins has accumulated 2,164 passing yards to go along with 11 touchdowns and six interceptions. Looking at the former Ohio State quarterback through the lense of such a small sample size, it’s fair to say that he’s off to an inconsistent start in his career.

Through four games this season, Haskins has accumulated 939 passing yards to go along with four touchdowns and three interceptions. The biggest challenge for him thus far has come on intermediate and deep throws down the field where he’s only completed 22% (5-of-23) of passes beyond 15 yards. The average across the NFL has hovered around 45%, showing that the former Buckeye thrower has struggled mightily in that area.

Much can be attributed to the lack of weapons. Outside of Terry McLaurin, the team has one of the worst wide receiver corps in the league and the protection up front isn’t that much better, especially with the durability struggles of Brandon Scherff. There’s no arguing that Haskins is off to a slow start, but it’s extremely hard to get a fair assessment of him with his current surroundings and it’s also important to remember that he was only a one-year starter at Ohio State.

With what seems like a top-10 selection incoming, the tough question looms, should the team elect to move on if Haskins continues to struggle? Washington may find themselves in a similar situation as the Arizona Cardinals during the 2019 draft, but not necessarily with the top pick, but in contention to draft another signal-caller.

Even though Haskins was believed to be a Dan Snyder selection, the team must firmly evaluate if they feel as if there are any throwers at the top of the draft that puts the team in a better situation than Haskins moving forward. If so, you do what’s in the best interest of the organization and take the prospect at the most important position on the roster. If there’s still belief in Haskins and his ability to improve moving forward, then you start surrounding him with an adequate supporting cast in order to get a fair assessment of his overall talent.

Let’s rewind for a second and ask the question that some brought about prior to the 2020 draft. Was Chase Young the correct pick? That’s not questioning Young’s talent and his effect on the team, but if the plan was to give Haskins such a minimal opportunity to prove his worth, why not entertain the possibility of selecting a quarterback?

https://twitter.com/juliedonaldson_/status/1313830999155933186?s=20

It’s a fair question to ask as the team had their pick of the litter after the Bengals selected Joe Burrow with the No. 1 overall pick. Hindsight is always 20/20 and no one on the outside of the organization could’ve predicted the team providing such a short leash for Haskins, but on the inside, why was the premise dismissed? It seems as if the team decided in four games that he wasn’t “the guy” moving forward. Could that assessment could’ve been made last season?

It’s now a fair question to ask as the team seems to be prepared to allow Haskins to sit and learn behind Allen—a quarterback that knows that system as he’s spent time with Scott Turner in Carolina, but the limitations are evident.

What makes the situation with Haskins strange though is that he not only was demoted, but to the No. 3 QB and will be inactive on game day moving forward as Alex Smith assumes the backup role. While Young looks like a superstar edge rusher, getting the spot under-center correct seems much more important and in this case one has to wonder what kept the Washington Football Team from entertaining the idea of selecting Tua Tagovailoa or Justin Herbert at No. 2 overall. Given how well Herbert, in particular, performed just days before Haskins' benching, Washington fans may be wondering if their team's rebuild is now elongated because they decided to pass on a quarterback at No. 2 overall.