In addition to playing football at Eureka High School in Eureka, Missouri, Haskins participated in basketball and track and field. Haskins placed second in the high jump at the 2017 MSHSAA Class 5 State Championship, clearing 6' 7".[1] As a senior, he led the basketball team in blocks and steals while averaging 8.1 points per game.[2] As a junior on the football team, Haskins had 242 carries, 1,509 yards, and 19 rushing touchdowns to go along with 2 receiving touchdowns and one passing touchdown. He added 12 sacks and a fumble recovery as a defensive end.[3] As a senior, he had 255 carries, 2,197 yards, and 31 rushing touchdowns with 2 receiving touchdowns. He also contributed on defense with 9 sacks and two fumble recoveries, one of which he returned for a 50-yard touchdown.[4]
Haskins was lightly recruited by Power Five football programs. He ran a 4.74 second 40-yard dash in high school, and his speed could be a reason for his under-rating. Said Haskins' high school assistant coach Tyler Wasson, "There was a 1-AA team that would e-mail us, 'Well, he doesn't fit our system. He's not fast enough.'" When Michigan was recruiting Haskins, he was the nation's 82nd best running back and well outside the top 1,000 recruits in the class.[5] Haskins committed to Michigan on October 29, 2017, as a three-star running back.[6] He ended the recruitment cycle as the no. 975 overall recruit after he signed with Michigan.[5]
College career
In his redshirt freshman year, Haskins agreed to move to defense to play linebacker. In 2019, with the graduation of Karan Higdon and the suspension of Chris Evans, Haskins moved back to running back to improve the depth at the position. Haskins had his breakout game on October 12, 2019, when he carried 12 times for 125 yards with his first collegiate touchdown against Illinois. In his first collegiate start on October 26, 2019, against Notre Dame, Haskins had 20 carries for 149 yards, including a 49-yard long rush.[7] He finished the 2019 season with 121 carries for 622 yards and four touchdowns. Haskins claimed that spending time at linebacker gave him a better vision of the running lanes and helped him see what opposing defenses were trying to do.[8]
On November 27, 2021, in a victory against Ohio State, Haskins recorded five rushing touchdowns.[9] Haskins finished the regular season with 1,232 rushing yards on 244 carries (an average of 5.0 yards per carry) and tied for second in program history at the time, with 18 single-season rushing touchdowns (tying Anthony Thomas and Chris Perry).[10]
He was selected as a first-team All-Big Ten running back, and named a second-team All-American by the AFCA.[11] After two rushing touchdowns in the 2021 Big Ten Championship, Haskins set the single-season program record at the time, with 20 rushing touchdowns, surpassing the previous record of 19 set by Ron Johnson in 1968.[12] His former teammate Blake Corum would surpass Haskins two seasons later, rushing for 27 touchdowns in 2023. At that time and point, Haskins carried the ball 443 times, from 2019 to 2021, without a single fumble – the most in college football over the span.[13]
Haskins was selected by the Tennessee Titans in the fourth round, 131st overall, of the 2022 NFL draft.[17] On December 29, while helping fill in for injured Derrick Henry, Haskins rushed 12 times for 40 yards and caught two of three targets for 13 yards during a 27–13 Week 17 loss to the Dallas Cowboys.[18]
On August 28, 2023, Haskins was placed on injured reserve.[19] The next day, he was placed on the Commissioner Exempt List due to Haskins' June 2023 arrest for a domestic dispute.[20][21] He was waived on August 27, 2024.[22]
On June 30, 2023, Haskins and his ex-girlfriend were both arrested by Davidson County police due to an alleged domestic violence exchange.[25] He was officially charged with aggravated assault by strangulation and released later the same day after posting a $10,000 bond.[26]