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Redskins one of six teams eligible for HBO’s Hard Knocks in 2018

By Ian Cummings

FOXBORO, MA - NOVEMBER 08: A Washington Redskins helmet before the game against the New England Patriots at Gillette Stadium on November 8, 2015 in Foxboro, Massachusetts. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)
FOXBORO, MA - NOVEMBER 08: A Washington Redskins helmet before the game against the New England Patriots at Gillette Stadium on November 8, 2015 in Foxboro, Massachusetts. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images) /
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Come 2018, a new team will be tabbed as the subject of the next chronicle of HBO’s famed Hard Knocks series. And after assessing the criteria, the Redskins are one of six teams who could be chosen.

Hard Knocks is a sports documentary series that has aired since 2001, with a few breaks here and there. Last year, in their twelfth installment, the crew followed the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The Bucs came into the year with high hopes, and many had them dubbed as a playoff team from the start. But their season never picked up speed, and they stumbled to an embarrassing 5-11 finish.

Now, the crew of Hard Knocks will look for a new team to film in 2018, and according to the criteria, the Redskins are one of six teams, including the 49ers, Ravens, Broncos, Browns, and Chargers, that can be forced to take on the show’s mantle.

The criteria states that teams with a new head coach, a playoff berth in the last two seasons, or an appearance on Hard Knocks in the last ten years, can opt to avoid being cast on the show. The Redskins fell dangerously close to meeting the ‘new coach’ criteria, but Jay Gruden is safe for another year. And so they meet the formula’s requirements.

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All six of these teams have tantalizing storylines to follow. The 49ers are an exciting team on the rebuild with John Lynch and Jimmy Garoppolo heading the charge. The Browns feel a need for vengeance after becoming just the second NFL team in history to go 0-16 in 2017. And the Broncos, led by Denver legend John Elway, are facing increased pressure to spark more of their long-forgotten greatness.

The Redskins, too, are a gold mine for stories in 2018. Jay Gruden’s leash is shorter than it’s ever been, and the Kirk Cousins conundrum is the buzz of NFL free agency. The Redskins have been a rather active rumor mill for the entire 21st century, so Hard Knocks would be hard pressed to pass up a chance to get behind closed doors with Bruce Allen and Dan Snyder.

Several coaches and front office executives from other teams have voiced their displeasure with the prospect of being on Hard Knocks, and it’s hard to imagine Bruce Allen cozying up to the idea. It would undoubtedly embolden the team’s market, and help them reach other areas, but it could ultimately just lead to more bad publicity, something Snyder and Allen are no strangers to. But in the end, the show decides who will be graced by the cameras.

Next: Grading the Redskins' coaching staff in 2017

It’s worth noting that the last four teams to be featured on Hard Knocks have gone 24-40, with only one making the playoffs. Two of those four coaches were fired after or during those seasons, and a third (Dirk Koetter) is on a seat even warmer than Jay Gruden’s. If the Redskins are chosen, it will only increase the pressure on Gruden to compete and win. Some may favor this. Some may be against it. But reality was already due to strike in 2018.  A few extra cameras won’t make much of a difference.

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