Redskins big picture Ingredients for Improvement after 0-3 start
By Ian Cummings
No. 2 – Promote Kyle Smith to general manager in the offseason
The season will play out as it may. The Redskins will get a glimpse at what Kevin O’Connell and Dwayne Haskins can do when they’re in lock step. If they impress, then the Redskins would give O’Connell the full-time job, and work through the ensuing coaching changes.
In this period, O’Connell and Co. would have a lot of decisions to make. Greg Manusky needs to be relieved of his duties as defensive coordinator, but his ouster would reportedly cause Jim Tomsula to walk as well. Perhaps Manusky would agree to a move back to outside linebackers coach, and allow the team to search for a coach who’s more comfortable in the scheming world.
That search won’t be easy; it never is. But this offseason, the Redskins will have another valuable mind to provide insight. Kyle Smith, the team’s college scouting director who’s turned around the team’s draft performance since the dismissal of Scot McCloughan, will have been promoted to general manager.
None of Smith’s draft classes have yielded nationally recognized players, but under his watch, the Redskins have acquired talent at an impressive rate. Since 2017, when he originally took on the role of scouting director, the Redskins have drafted 28 players. All but two remain with the team in some capacity, and ten of them are starters. Four rookies this year (Montez Sweat, Terry McLaurin, Cole Holcomb, Jimmy Moreland) have taken on consistent starting roles, and a fifth, Dwayne Haskins, is waiting for his shot.
Smith is another young executive, and his early returns suggest that he has a bright future ahead of him as a talent evaluator and acquirer. The Redskins should lock him up in that role early, and promote him to general manager once the season is over. The team’s ownership needs to step back and give more autonomy to their football staff, and one way to help with that is to diversify and reward exceptional performance.
Of course, stepping back has never been easy for the duo of Bruce Allen and Dan Snyder. And that’s why the No. 1 Ingredient for Improvement is most important.