Washington’s quarterback competition doesn’t look like a competition

ASHBURN — Dwayne Haskins is no stranger to quarterback competitions. In his lone year as a starter at Ohio State, Haskins beat out Joe Burrow, the future No. 1 overall pick who transferred to LSU following the battle. To begin his rookie year, Haskins competed against Case Keenum and Colt McCoy. And throughout the offseason, Washington’s coaching staff had signaled that the 23-year-old better be ready to duke it out with Kyle Allen and perhaps even Alex Smith.

But on the first day of padded practices — the day when live contact was finally permitted — the competition, well, didn’t look like much of one.

Haskins took all of the first-team reps Tuesday ahead of the team’s three other quarterbacks. The second-year signal-caller was the first under center for individual reps, 7-on-7 drills and when the offense went against the defense in 11-on-11 periods.

Last year, coach Jay Gruden rotated his quarterbacks with each unit, even mid-practice. Keenum would work with the 1s, then later in the morning, McCoy and Haskins would get their shot.

Coach Ron Rivera, though, appears to be going a different route — preferring to keep his first-team mostly intact, at least for the day. That means Haskins received all the reps, but it also extends to other positions like free safety as Troy Apke played with the starters opposite Landon Collins. Wide receiver and running back appeared to be the only positions that rotated from snap to snap.

The approach raises questions: Is Haskins that much ahead of Allen? Or will we see something entirely different in the coming days?

“Very few positions are set in our mind right now,” Rivera said. “We’ve gone through 12 workouts with these guys. We’ve had an opportunity to watch these guys. There’s a couple spots we feel very, very comfortable with, so we’re probably not going to rotate through that, but others, we’re trying to find the right combinations. … We’re going to try and continue to experiment.”

Of those 12 workouts, it is not clear how many of those in which Haskins took the majority — or all — of the first-team snaps. Last week, receiver Terry McLaurin indicated Allen received some first-team reps, though Rivera told a local radio station recently that Haskins would have started the team’s first preseason game if it had not be canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Performance-wise,  Haskins looked sharper than Allen on Tuesday. Allen took off and ran down the field rather than throw on several plays. On others, he resorted to check downs and had some accuracy issues, including a play when defensive tackle Daron Payne batted down an Allen pass at the line of scrimmage.

Haskins wasn’t perfect by any means — Matt Ioannidis also batted a pass down at the line — but he seemed to have more of a feel for his receivers. Haskins hit multiple intermediate throws to McLaurin and Steven Sims throughout the morning. Rivera said Haskins played well, adding that determining factor for the position will be the quarterback’s decision-making.

The wild card in all of this is Smith. The 36-year-old, who returned to practice Sunday for the first time in 21 months from his horrific injury, sat out the 11-on-11 portion of practice. But he did continue to make strides, taking 7-on-7 snaps (even doing so ahead of Allen.)

Rivera said he was closely watching Smith to see his progress. The coach honed in on the three-time Pro Bowler’s footwork, monitoring whether Smith could still make the movements required of a quarterback. He also watched the way Smith went through his progressions.

The takeaway? Smith looked like an “ol’ wily veteran,” Rivera said. He was impressed with one pass to Cam Sims, in particular, in which Smith hit the wide receiver in the left flat, but not before looking to the middle of the field to move the defense and turn his body quickly to make the throw.

“I saw the good movement that we’re looking (for) initially,” Rivera said.

Still, Smith’s presence didn’t keep Haskins from doing his job. Even when Haskins wasn’t taking snaps, he was by the line of scrimmage, closely observing the play and hearing the calls. After practice, Haskins spent extra time on the field, working on throws with a coach.

Sims said he sees “a lot of growth” in Haskins.

“Just energy out there, leadership,” the slot receiver said. “Once he throws a shallow route, somebody makes a play, gets a first down, he comes up and congratulates you every time. He’s settling into his role very well.”