Redskins Rumors: Tua Buzz 'Smoke' Amid Dan Snyder's Chase Young Infatuation

The Washington Redskins reportedly told Tua Tagovailoa during their meeting at last month's NFL combine that they want to take him at No. 2 overall in order to create a quarterback competition with 2019 15th overall pick Dwayne Haskins, according to Safid Deen of the Sun-Sentinel at the time. 

That was characterized as "smoke" in a new report Wednesday. 

"I don't think [Washington owner] Dan [Snyder] would want that," an anonymous source familiar with the organization's thinking told Sports Illustrated's Kalyn Kahler. "He wants to give Haskins the opportunity and I think Dan is infatuated with [Ohio State defensive end] Chase Young."

Kahler added: "When Washington selected Haskins last year, many in league circles viewed it as a pick orchestrated by Snyder, and this source says that characterization is not overblown."

If Snyder had that much leverage in who the team took at No. 15 in last year's draft, there's reason to believe he will again get who he wants come April 23.

Haskins landed in D.C. after finishing third in the 2018 Heisman Trophy voting behind winner Kyler Murray and Tagovailoa. The Ohio State product threw for 4,831 yards, 50 touchdowns and eight interceptions as a sophomore before entering the draft.

Haskins' rookie campaign was checkered as he shared starting duties with veteran Case Keenum until being named the starter for the remainder of the season on Nov. 11 by interim head coach Bill Callahan.

Head coach Jay Gruden was fired on Oct. 7 after the team got off to an 0-5 start, and there had been reports that Gruden and his coaching staff didn't want to draft Haskins in the first place:

Haskins called that "fake news" in a since-deleted tweet (h/t Redskins Wire).

With Ron Rivera hired as the team's new head coach on New Year's Eve, it's plausible that he would want his own quarterback—a la Kliff Kingsbury drafting Murray first overall in 2019 despite the franchise drafting Josh Rosen at No. 10 overall in 2018—but Rivera seems keen on giving Haskins a real chance.

"We have a very good young player," Rivera said at the combine, per ESPN's John Keim. "The more I learn about him, it puts us in a pretty good spot. I'm excited about him. One thing I have seen is his commitment. He's been around a lot. I walk by the weight room, there he is. I walk by the locker room, there he is. That's a sign of a young man learning that he needs to be around."

However, Rivera also said that "everything is an option" in regards to visiting with Tagovailoa.

"We're going to have one voice and one voice alone, and that's going to be the coach's," Rivera said, per Kahler, but Snyder's track record since buying the franchise in 1999 would suggest otherwise.

"I don’t buy that," the anonymous source told Kahler of Snyder's comment. "It makes for a nice offseason to just say, Hey, this is coach-centric and all that ... I know that it is still Dan's team. I know what he wanted to do with Haskins and I know what he wants to do with Young so I don't see that changing. I would be shocked if they did anything different at quarterback."

And that may not be the worst thing for the Redskins, as Young set the Ohio State all-time record for sacks in a single season with 16.5. The 2019 Heisman finalist did so in just 12 games. He served a two-game suspension for violating NCAA rules by accepting a loan from a family friend in the past.

Young is considered widely as the best overall prospect in the draft, even while LSU quarterback Joe Burrow seems a foregone conclusion to go No. 1 overall to Cincinnati. Bleacher Report's Matt Miller noted in his latest mock draft that Young "compares very well" to Cleveland Browns defensive end Myles Garrett, who went No. 1 overall in 2017.