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Ron Rivera Presser: Dwayne Haskins is the starter, he's lived up to everything we've talked about since January

Ron Rivera speaks to the media after today's practice

Ron Rivera opened up his presser by naming Dwayne Haskins Jr. the starting QB for the Washington Football Team. If you have been following training camp, and the entire offseason, you know this was just a formality, and the question was when, not if it was going to happen. Rivera said Haskins has lived up to everything they talked about in January.

Head Coach Ron Rivera spoke with the media about the decision to name Dwayne Haskins the starting quarterback and more.

Posted by Washington Football Team on Wednesday, September 2, 2020

Dwayne Haskins Jr. is the starter:

Cam Newton:

Backup QB:

Team President Jason Wright:

“Just the fact that he’s an impressive young man. If you look at his history and who he is—you know a guy that went to Northwestern, walked on and a free agent in the NFL. That type of desire, that type of drive to play as long as he did and then go back and get his MBA, to me that just speaks of an impressive person. And then, when you sit down and talk to him, he’s equally as impressive.

To me, it’s an amazing thing that here’s a guy that went to Northwestern, played in the league as long as he did, got himself into the league just from pure effort and desire and then goes and gets his MBA—I think that’s a great story. I think that’s a great thing for our franchise because as far as our players are concerned, here’s a guy that can show them: ‘Hey, this is doable.

You don’t just have to be a football player for X amount of years and then you’re done. You can prepare yourself for later in life.’ That’s what Jason’s done and that’s why I think he’s perfect for us. He’s an excellent example for our players.”

OT David Sharpe trade:

Thomas Davis Jr.'s leadership:

“It’s very important. But you also have a guy that’s had success so the guys can say, ‘Wow, this guy is pretty amazing.’ One of the guys that we had when I was in Carolina that had a specific role was we had [S] Roman Harper the year we went to the Super Bowl in 2015. The dude was phenomenal the way he did things. He knew his role. One day he played 30 plays and another game he played five plays, but he knew his role and he was there.

That’s what Thomas understands. This is a guy that it’s really about his messaging and helping me things across. He’s the perfect guy for it. Believe me, he wouldn’t be here if I didn’t think he was the perfect guy for it. He is going to help us along the way and he is going to play some football for us. But, I think what he’s going to bring to the table is a little bit more than just being out on the field. It’s the impact he makes in the locker room, the impact he makes in the huddle, the impact that he makes off the field.

Those guys are invaluable because they can sit there and they can tell guys. I promise you some point in time, Kyle Allen has told Dwayne: ‘Hey, you know what coach is going to be there behind you.’ I watch them do that when Cam was the guy, I watched him do that when I was the guy. I know that he’s probably helped Dwayne that way.

[LB] Jared Norris, another guy that’s a special teams guy, has probably told a couple of those young guys: ‘You go out there and bust your hump, Coach is going to recognize that. He’s going to see that. There’s value to that.’ You’ve got to have a few of those guys. I think having those types of guys, that do give you that type of effort, that’s pretty exciting.”