Mike Tomlin praises Dwayne Haskins over 'smooth' outing in preseason

The Pittsburgh Steelers boast one of the best defensive units in the National Football League. Nonetheless, their offense has held them back over the past couple of campaigns, and Ben Roethlisberger’s conditioning continues to be a big question mark.

While no one can deny that Big Ben is one of the best quarterbacks in modern history, he’s not getting any younger, and that’s why the team needs to address that situation and focus on their future at that position.

And, even though it’s still pretty early to tell, it seems like they’ve liked what they’ve seen from Dwayne Haskins, who was pretty impressive in his preseason debut against the Philadelphia Eagles.

Mike Tomlin Says Dwayne Haskins Was ‘In Command’ Vs. The Eagles

“I thought he was in command tonight,” Steelers coach Mike Tomlin told Joe Rutter of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. “He did a great job communicating with people, going through his progressions. There was a third-down play, third-and-8 maybe, and I saw him go through three or four reads and throw the ball over the middle of the field and converted for us. That was a snapshot of the night he had.”

Haskins Says The Steelers Asked Him To Be ‘Smooth’

Haskins completed 16 of 22 passes for 161 yards and 1 touchdown, adding 2 carries for -5 yards. He took care of the football and didn’t force things in the offense, which is exactly what quarterback coach Mike Sullivan told him when he asked him to be ‘smooth like a jazz player’:

“Pretty much be smooth, and that is what I was trying to do,” Haskins said. “Be smooth, allow plays to come to me, trust what I saw and let my eyes and feet tell me where to go with the ball.”

Haskins drew mixed reviews since his days in college and he didn’t do much to silence his critics during his stint with the Washington Football Team but he’s clearly got the physical tools and upside. So, if he continues to ball out, who knows? He might as well carry Big Ben’s torch once he’s done.