Washington Redskins coach Ron Rivera expects newly acquired Kyle Allen to provide 2019 first-round pick Dwayne Haskins with a strong challenge for the starting quarterback job next season.
And Rivera should know.
He coached Allen for two seasons with the Carolina Panthers, where the University of Houston product was a backup to Cam Newton. Allen, 24, started 12 games last season after Newton sustained what turned out to be a season-ending foot injury.
When Carolina signed Teddy Bridgewater and former XFL star P.J. Walker in free agency last month, the Redskins sent a fifth-round pick to the Panthers to bring Allen to the nation’s capital.
“I think it will be a good competition. I really do,” Rivera said of the Haskins and Allen. “You know (Allen) was in the room with a very strong personality in Cam Newton, and Kyle handled himself tremendously. He’s the right kind of person for that room, and that’s what I felt really strongly about and that’s why we were able to make the deal with Carolina to bring him in.
“He’s got that real good sense about him, that being part of something is better than being an individual.”
Allen completed 303 of 489 passes for 3,322 yards with 17 touchdowns and 16 interceptions in 13 games (12 starts) in 2019.
Haskins, who was the 15th overall pick of the 2019 NFL Draft, completed 119 of 203 passes for 1,365 yards with seven touchdowns and seven interceptions in nine games (seven starts) last season.
“I just know what kind of person (Allen) is and just feel that he’s the kind of guy that’s going to go into this, he’s not threatened by anything,” Rivera said when asked about the quarterback competition. “What he’s really concerned about is doing the best job he can, and if he ends up starting and being the guy, great, he’ll be fired up about it.
–Field Level Media
