Dwayne Haskins Jr. defeated Joe Borough for the quarterback at Ohio State. This is how awesome it is.
He beat Michigan in emergency relief from injured JT Barrett. That’s how it was composed.
He defeated Penn State in a White Out match. This is how strong it is.
Hitting the drum for an injured teammate, he defended Nick Bossa’s decision to turn professional early. This is how supported it is.
He defeated the stereotype that Ohio State wasn’t a quarterback school, helping lead Justin Fields and CJ Stroud to Columbus. This is the extent of its impact.
Urban Mayer on the death of Dwayne Haskins:Former Ohio State football coach saddened by death
Dwayne Haskins:Ohio State football mourns the death of former Buckeyes quarterback
Then he was gone before you knew it, dropping out of school early and beating it up in the NFL to become OSU’s highest-grossing quarterback (15th overall for Washington) since Art Schlichter finished fourth in 1982.
And now he left this world too soon. The 24-year-old Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback died Saturday when he was hit by a dump truck as he tried to cross the fairways on I-595 near Fort Lauderdale for “unknown reasons,” according to the Florida Highway Patrol.
from where we start? What about Haskins’ legacy in Ohio?
Many choose to remember Haskins as the quarterback who beat Burrow in the midfield starting assignment in 2018. And if we’re honest, many of those still believe Urban Meyer made the wrong decision, given Burrow’s success at LSU, where he won the 2015 Heisman Cup. 2019, and with the Cincinnati Bengals, who led them to the Super Bowl.
I’m not here to focus on Mayer’s decision – this is a tribute article, not a court – but Haskins deserved to win the job. Controversy otherwise is a revision history. Haskins finished third in the 2018 Heisman Trophy vote after throwing 50 touchdowns, a whopping 4,831 yards record and completed 70% of his passes. The Buckeyes finished 13-1, including a Rose Bowl win, mostly because of the Haskins arm. Ohio State’s running stumbled that season and her defense wasn’t stellar. Set 28 school records.
Dwayne Haskins:Joe Burrow, and others remember Haskins, who died at age 24, with social media honors
In the long run, the “Haskins-Burrow decision” will be referred to the debate in the living room. Haskins’ influence on Ohio State’s reputation is more enduring, especially among recruits and one important transfer in Fields. Until Haskins had his huge season, the Buckeyes were known in NFL circles as the Ew quarterback, meaning the OSU QBs weren’t high on any team’s draft board. This is the case when your feet make more noise than your arms.
With Ryan Day’s help, Dwayne Haskins has taken Ohio’s QB game to another level
Then came Haskins, who with help from Ryan Day took the Ohio State quarterback to a new level. Fields followed, becoming another first-round pick. She could become another stroud.
It’s easy to forget the impact Haskins made during his only season in the Horseshoe. Here’s a reminder, sample comments from 2018 by former Ohio State players who were amazed at what Haskins was doing.
“He has that flaunting about him, that confidence and looks that are so integral to being a great person.” – Joe Jermaine.
Until Haskins came along, Jermaine was arguably Ohio State’s best quarterback, right there with Schlechter. Germaine owned the school record for passing yards for one season (3330). Haskins blew it up with 4831.
Jermaine was mostly impressed by Haskins’ accuracy, but also his ability to capture difficult yards as a runner.
“To get to your highest ceiling you also have to be a threat to keep the defense honest. Can you pull the ball down and short the distance down? It shows he can,” Jermaine said.
Two examples: Ohio State trailed Michigan 20-14 with 6:07 remaining in the third quarter of the 2017 game when Haskins replaced Barrett, whose knee was locked after a photographer hit her on the sideline. Haskins led the Buckeyes to three points in a 31-20 win, and his 22-yard run to the UM 1-yard line set the starting signal for JK Dobbins.
“I’ve rarely seen that part of it,” Mayer said on Saturday, recalling one of Haskins’ biggest moments with the Buckeyes. “We knew he could throw the ball, but he defended (at 22 yards) and dropped his towel and got some extra yards.”
The following year, Haskins ran 15 times for 59 yards and three touchdowns, including the 5-yard winner in overtime as Ohio State rallied against Maryland, 52-51.
Former Ohio State quarterback Rex Kern watched that game with great admiration.
“I jumped out of my seat and thought, ‘What is this guy doing (managing him a lot)?'” Kern said then. “That really opens things up for our racer backs.”
Then there was this one from former OSU quarterback Kirk Herbstreet, who was amazed at how quickly Haskins got off the ball.
“What I’ve seen this year is as good as anything Ohio has ever seen,” Herbstreet said. “When he has time to put his feet up, and with that quick release, he hits the ball like a slingshot, and at a point.”
If you need proof that Haskins was the right quarterback at the right time for Ohio State in 2018, it’s hard to argue with the players who played the position.
Later in the 2018 season, Herbstreit addressed the way Haskins became more of a leader on the field and in the locker room.
“Early in the year he was a consistent player, but against Maryland and Michigan he was more in control,” Herbstreet said. “There was more emotion coming out. He is fighting for Ohio.”
Haskins also fought for his teammates and had their backs, tweeting in support of Bossa when the defensive line, who has missed most of the season due to an abdominal injury, chose to leave OSU early to enter the NFL draft.
“We’re going to keep this up, bro, you’ve got,” Haskins wrote on Twitter.
It may be true that all the positives didn’t always carry over to Haskins’ NFL career, which began in Washington and ended in Pittsburgh. But as a college player, he deserves to be remembered as the quarterback who changed the concept of the position at Ohio State. He was the first graduating quarterback from U and will miss.
Roll@dispatch.com
inside
‘We’ve lost a king’: Ohio State football mourns Haskins, XC
