NFL Draft 2019 Video: QB Dwayne Haskins, Ohio State Vs Minnesota

Dwayne Haskins has been a force in the NFL Draft quarterback debate. Because there is yet to be a clear QB1 in this draft class, Haskins has been a hot topic in NFL circles around the league. A four star recruit coming out of high school, the red-shirt sophomore has been vital to Ohio State’s offense so far this season. He has an acceptable frame, standing at 6’2″ and weighing in at 215 pounds.

Just like Oregon’s Justin Herbert, it’s unclear whether Haskins will declare for the NFL Draft. He will have two more seasons after this one that he will be eligible to play.

In this article, we will be looking at his tape from his performance against the Minnesota Golden Gophers. Minnesota has been much improved this season from last, as they are currently in head coach PJ Fleck’s second season at the helm. He is building something special at Minnesota, and the defense is growing. The video is provided by our friends at SkyDesigns. Subscribe to their YouTube account for the latest sports videos!

Film Breakdown: QB Dwayne Haskins Vs Minnesota, October 13th, 2018

This is a big game for Ohio State. Two weeks removed from their close call with Penn State, Haskins needs to continue to prove to critics that he can play consistently. Minnesota, the improving team that they are, wants to upset one of the best teams in the country.

Drive One (0:15)

Off of a turnover and still tied at 0, Ohio State looks to respond to a drive that hit their defense hard with a big play.

Play 1- Good rhythm throw to start the game to Austin Mack. Knew he had cover two tampa across the board and attacked the soft spot of the zone. Nice arm strength. When the ball hit Mack, it sounded like a pitch landing in the catchers glove.

Play 2- Designed roll out on this play. Kept his feet and made a good throw to the sideline and hit Terry McLaurin for a nice gain. Haskins made some sort of weird jump when releasing the ball, and still threw off of his back foot. Got the ball there on time and with accuracy, but still looked strange.

Play 3- Really easy throw to the tight end, Rashod Berry, rolling toward Berry and not more than five yards away. Not much to take away from that play.

Play 4- Now here’s a big play. Haskins hits KJ Hill for a huge play that picked up 42 yards. Now if you look at this play, you will see that he throws this ball from the left hash marks all the way to the right sideline of the field 40 yards down the field. It’s a throw that covered almost 60 yards through the air. I don’t believe the defensive backs thought he could throw it that far and blew the coverage. The throw was good, it was slightly short, but the coverage was so far blown that it didn’t matter. If that throw had been about three yards farther out, Haskins would have hit Hill in stride for the touchdown.

Drive Two (1:34)

Down 7-3, Ohio State needs to respond with a touchdown.

Play 5- Technically, this jet sweep is a forward pass. Not much to take from here.

Play 6- I really like the tempo that he plays at. It’s smooth as he gets the snap, transitions into the play action, and then releases the ball. He holds the play action for the appropriate time and releases quickly. Nice throw too.

Play 7- TOUCHDOWN. Haskins makes a very nice throw, keeps his rhythm and is given all day to make the throw. He uncorks it and again, attempts to show off his arm strength and deep ball accuracy. There is a slight negative here, and that’s Terry McLaurin had the coverage beat by two steps. The throw was sightly under-thrown again, and allowed the defensive back to get back into the play to contest the football. I’m thinking that when he tries to throw into coverage, he’s going to overthrow somebody. The throw itself isn’t just under-thrown, but slightly behind him too forcing the receiver to adjust to the football.

Drive Three (2:32)

Down 14-10, Ohio State is starting to feel the pressure of getting into a dog fight. They need to score again, this time using some clock to give the defense a rest.

Play 8- Haskins is protected nicely here, but he doesn’t find any options open down the field. He tucks and runs, slides and draws the late hit. The athleticism is there, although certainly not top of the line. His mobility compares to Jameis Winston.

Play 9- Does a nice job with finding Parris Campbell off of the play action. It’s amazing to see how fluid Haskins is through the action and into the throw.

Play 10- Haskins makes another good throw, but isn’t able to get the first down on 3rd and 11. Tried to give Campbell a chance after the catch but was unable to get him into a good position. Campbell should have taken that route to the sticks.

Play 11- 4th and 3. Man, Haskins can whip that football. He gets KJ Hill on the out route for the first down with a hell of a throw that had some power behind it.

Play 12- Hit KJ Hill on a curl route. Good timing and anticipation from Haskins who just looks like a master of his craft with some of these throws.

Play 13- What a throw by Haskins here. He fits it to his tight end into a tight window, and almost gets the first down. Good throw by Haskins.

Drive Four (3:53)

After failing to score, still down 14-10 with 6 minutes to go in the half, the Buckeyes need to make something happen here. The last thing they want is to be down at the half.

Play 14- Makes a good throw to Hill on the sideline. Very smooth off of the play action, per usual. He makes that weird jump throw. It’s effective while he is rolling out, it still looks odd to me.

Play 15- Haskins makes another really good throw here. Fits it into traffic, and picks up a first down. Very nice play.

Play 16- Another short and easy throw from Haskins, but again on point.

Play 17- TOUCHDOWN. This play is more on Hill then it is on Haskins. Hill gets open on the Seattle concept, and Haskins slightly overthrew him and put the ball behind him. Hill adjusted to it and snatched the ball with one hand and made it look easy. Normally, this play isn’t a touchdown and is instead an incomplete pass.

Drive Five (4:56)

Up 17-14 with 1:21 left of the half and no time-outs, Ohio State goes into two-minute offense.

Play 18- Looked at the deep in route over the short out, and took the short out to Parris Campbell. Plant was slightly awkward as Haskins adjusted to throw the ball short and angled the nose of the ball down.

Play 19- Does a nice job to look off the coverage before dumping it to JK Dobbins out of the back field. Understands that the ball needs to get out-of-bounds to stop the clock. Good decision from Haskins on this play.

Play 20- Takes the short pass to CJ Saunders. Good, accurate and quick ball.

Play 21- Haskins makes another good decision and throws the ball to Dobbins out of the backfield. Gets him in stride going out-of-bounds.

Drive Six (5:46)

Up 17-14 at the beginning of the 3rd quarter, Ohio State wants to take complete command of this game, and wants a touchdown to go up by two possessions.

Play 22- Has good pocket awareness. Doesn’t see what he wants to downfield as the pocket compresses, and finds his escape route to pick up 7 yards on first down. First time we have really seen him pressured this entire game.

Play 23- Good short throw to KJ Hill who turned it into an explosive play. Haskins is so good at throwing the short routes, I still wish I could see him in a little bit more of a spread system to get a better feel for what he brings to the table. He made a good decision seeing that Hill was lined up on a defensive end, (45) Carter Coughlin.

Play 24- I’m not sure what Haskins was trying to do here nor what he was feeling. Minnesota brought a four man rush, and he left the pocket with no real pressure. Then, he drifted away looking for a receiver oblivious to the linemen about to crash on him from behind. Very strange play to watch, didn’t seem to be completely focused on this play.

Play 25- Haskins got pressure from the right end, and left the pocket too early. Then, on 3rd and 19, he decides to run. It’s the first time I’ve seen him take his eyes off the play downfield too early, so I’m sure it was for a reason, he didn’t like the coverage so he got what he could before going out-of-bounds.

Drive Seven (6:48)

The Buckeyes defense has held, and it’s still an uncomfortable 17-14 lead. Haskins is now expected to drive down the field.

Play 26- Very nice throw on the deep out to Parris Campbell. Haskins stood in the pocket, read through his progressions and delivered a strike in front of Campbell.

Play 27- I love his play action. I know it’s not the first time I have written that tonight, but it is so smooth and so clean. He even leans into this one to sell it better before pulling the ball and delivering a good strike to Campbell in through traffic.

Drive Eight (7:13)

Up 20-14 very late in the 3rd quarter, it’s now time to put some finishing touches on this game.

Play 28- I love seeing a quarterback who is more than a passer. Haskins looks the defense off to the right before throwing the screen back to Mike Weber on the left. Delivers a nice touch ball that’s easy to corral and take up-field.

Play 29- What a throw off of his back foot to Austin Mack over the middle of the field for a first down on 3rd and 13. The defensive tackle was pushing the guard into his throwing lane that prevented him from stepping into the throw but he adjusted beautifully.

Play 30- Haskins makes a good short throw to KJ Hill on the drag route, and allows him to get into space. This play really is on Hill, but the good accurate throw from Haskins certainly helped push this play along.

Play 31- Again, Haskins sells the play action so well. Finds the tight end Luke Farrell on the sideline for a very nice pick-up on the play. Haskins hit Farrell in stride and didn’t force him to adjust to the football.

Play 32- Really nice throw by Haskins on the move. Linebacker (21) Kamal Martin tried to jump the throw to knock it down but missed completely and Haskins fit the ball to Campbell into a tight window again.

Play 33- Haskins finds Parris Campbell on the bottom of the levels play. Delivers a nice football again, although it’s required with the simplicity of the throw.

Drive Nine (8:38)

The Buckeyes have a two possession lead, 23-14, but definitely want to put this game away with 9 minutes to go. Starting the drive from their own 12 yard line.

Play 34- Haskins can sling the football. Delivers a beautiful ball to KJ Hill on the deep in route, right before he get’s leveled by (46) Winston DeLattiboudere from his blind side. No, Haskins didn’t feel him coming, but got the ball out on time.

Play 35- Haskins rolls out on the bootleg, and again knocks the ball perfectly over the middle to Farrell. He is so effective on the roll.

Play 36- TOUCHDOWN. Haskins threads the needle to KJ Hill, this time hitting him in stride for the touchdown. He knew he had cover two, and he delivered a perfect ball to Hill in stride exactly where it needed to be. THAT was an NFL throw.

Analysis

Strengths

Dwayne Haskins has good arm strength that carries a good velocity and can attack any point of the field. He is effective moving out of the pocket and throwing on the move. Very fluid off of the play action and into a quick release. Posture and form in the pocket is ideal. Haskins has very good form when throwing the football from the pocket. Very accurate in the short to intermediate passing game. Has a very quick release that helps tremendously in the short passing game. Very good decision maker and protects the football. Seems to be very knowledgeable of defenses and can make good pre-snap reads. Understands windows and can feel them opening. Can throw off of his back foot accurately and on point with the velocity he needs.

Weaknesses

Dwayne Haskins’ deep ball accuracy isn’t where it should be. He tends to under or over throw receivers and forces them to adjust to the football. The Ohio State scheme is designed to get receivers into space and give the quarterback an easy throw. Haskins shows command of those throws, but the scheme may be limiting his potential and success. Seems to be limited in what he can do with his progressions, may not have progressions in this offense. Most of his throws seem to be made off of pre-snap reads.

Statline- 33 of 44 for 412 yards, 3 TD’s, 176.2 efficiency rating.

Adjusted Statline- 32 of 44 for 376 yards, 2 TD’s, 159.5 efficiency rating