Tag: Kyle Smith

A core set of players have been set for Redskins ahead of 2020 season

The Redskins have identified their core set of players that they plan to take into the 2020 season, according to Kyle Smith.

For any team that is starting fresh and working with some new voices at the very top, there is a checklist that you must go through in order to get the ball rolling again in the offseason.

This is very true of the Washington Redskins, who are virtually starting anew at 90 percent of the major positions in the coaching staff and front office this season. Since Ron Rivera took over, and many of the front office members transitioned into their new roles, we’ve been operating in the dark as far as assuming what the Redskins have been up to. However, when Kyle Smith, the VP of Player Personnel, chatted with the media on Tuesday at the 2020 NFL Combine, we got to get a glimpse at what’s been going on behind closed doors in Ashburn.

Near the top of the list of ‘to-do’s’ for the Redskins was determining a core of players that they plan to build around for the future. It could be 20 players, it could be 40 players; what matters is that the coaches and decision-makers are confident that they have a group of Redskins that they can trust will be there come fall, should all go right. Smith said that he’s confident the team has found that thus far.

“We’ve set our core,” Smith said, via Redskins.com. “We’ve identified who our core players are and what positions we’re going to be attacking in the offseason, whether it be free agency or the draft.”

So who is the core of players? That’s still unknown, but we can at least take an educated guess. Obviously, it involves players like Dwayne Haskins, Terry McLaurin, Derrius Guice, Steven Sims Jr., and other productive offensive players. It also is safe to assume that Landon Collins, Montez Sweat, Daron Payne, Jonathan Allen, and Cole Holcomb made the list as well. But what about players like Cam Sims, or Deshazor Everett, or Aaron Colvin? How does the team view Quinton Dunbar or Brandon Scherff? That much is still up for debate.

We probably won’t ever know the exact list, but as the offseason rolls on and more cuts are made ahead of the 2020 season, we’ll get a clearer idea for sure.

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Kyle Smith breaks down the power structure of Redskins’ new front office

The Redskins have a new power structure since Ron Rivera took over, and it was detailed a bit for us on Tuesday.

One of the most notable changes for the Washington Redskins this offseason had to do with the power structure of the organization and front office. After Bruce Allen was let go at the end of 2019, there was room to step up in the front office, and several people were deserving.

To fill the top spot, team owner Dan Snyder hired Ron Rivera, and vowed to make it a ‘coach-centric’ approach that the Redskins would take into the future. As far as the rest of the pyramid of power, though? That was still in need of shaking out.

When Kyle Smith, the VP of Player Development, took the stage on Tuesday to talk to the media at the 2020 NFL Combine, he said a bit to address the front office dynamic and paint a picture of who answers to whom. We already knew most of it, but a refresher can never hurt.

At the very top, obviously is Snyder, though he has ceded much of his decision making power to Rivera, who is the biggest power-centric figure in the organization. Under Rivera is Smith, who has a lot of say in off-field decisions, as he has a hand in both college and pro player personnel.

Doug Williams, who was a part of player personnel in the past, has been moved to a player development role, where he will focus more on the current players on the roster and how to better help them reach their ceilings. In Williams’ absence, Alex Santos will take over a larger role on the pro personnel side.

“That side kind of runs itself,” Smith said, via NBC Sports Washington. 

More names like Tim Gribble (College), Jack Del Rio (Defensive Coordinator) and Scott Turner (Offensive Coordinator) are sprinkled on down the list, filling out the rest of the pyramid.

Hopefully, this one is more sturdy than the last one was.

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Dwayne Haskins plans to take Redskins WR corps to Florida for offseason workouts

Dwayne Haskins will follow the time-tested Tom Brady path by taking his receivers on a vacation/workout trip this offseason.

One of the biggest things that a young quarterback can do is build trust with his receivers, and there’s no better way to do so than building a relationship with them.

Part of the reason why Dwayne Haskins and Terry McLaurin were so successful together in 2019 was the fact that they were already close by the time they had been drafted by the Redskins, as they played together at Ohio State University. Now, Haskins will look to further his relationship and connection with the rest of the receivers on the team as well, and he has a plan to make that happen this offseason.

A Florida workout vacation.

The Redskins VP of Player Personnel Kyle Smith stated on Tuesday that Haskins has shown great improvement so far in his first NFL offseason, and he’s looking to continue to grow as a player and a teammate. He will try to do this by taking his receiving corps down to Florida to spend some time together and gain more reps. We’ve seen veteran quarterbacks like Tom Brady do this a lot in the past, and it’s seemed to work pretty well.

There is not yet a specific time or a place that this will happen, as far as we know, but it is on the schedule. Come fall camp, we can likely expect to see McLaurin, Steven Sims, Kelvin Harmon, Cam Sims, and Trey Quinn all looking a bit tanner.

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Top Quotes: Redskins’ Kyle Smith speaks with media at 2020 NFL Combine

Redskins VP of Player Personnel, Kyle Smith, met with the media for the first time at the NFL combine.

The Washington Redskins VP of Player Personnel took center stage on Tuesday afternoon at the NFL Combine, speaking with the media for the first time since being moved to a new position in the front office.

Smith was asked about the roster, the upcoming draft, and the most pertinent issues facing the Redskins, including that they plan to do with the No. 2 overall pick, and where they stand on the Trent Williams situation. Here are the most notable quotes from the press conference:

 

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Why 2020 is the Redskins most important offseason in recent memory

With the No. 2 draft pick and major roster decisions to be made, the 2020 offseason will go a long way in determining the Redskins’ future.

For any NFL team that is currently closer to No. 32 in the power rankings than they are to the top spot, the offseason is a pivotal time for the franchise as a whole. It offers a chance to regroup, figure out what went wrong, and map out what you can do to fix it.

Sometimes that means getting a new coach, sometimes that means trying to remake your team through free agency, and sometimes that means putting all of your chips into the NFL Draft looking to build a young and solid core. For the Washington Redskins, it will likely be all three of those things.

It may be hard to see the forest through the trees at times, but what happens over the next two or three months for the Redskins is likely to shape the franchise for many years to come. With a new regime in place throughout the front office and coaching staff, a new tone will hopefully be set at the very core as a once-historic team looks to get back to their winning ways.

On top of just cultural changes, the Redskins have a litany of personnel decisions to make in the imminent future. In the wake of cornerback Quinton Dunbar’s request to be traded or released, the team is now responsible for trying to repair relationships with both him and left tackle Trent Williams, hopefully convincing them to return to the team ahead of 2020. The Redskins also needs to make decisions on free agent lineman Brandon Scherff and Ereck Flowers, as well as coming up with a solution for EDGE Ryan Kerrigan’s contract — there’s no way they’re content to pay him $11.7 million this year.

On top of all of those roster decisions that could potentially shape the starting lineup, you have the NFL Draft. The Redskins have the No. 2 overall pick, and a stark majority of the fanbase and sports media has been clamoring for them to select Ohio State defensive end Chase Young with that pick. While that is still the most likely outcome, the Redskins could still choose to trade away the top pick — and potentially the next pick as well — in order to increase their draft capital and help to fill out their roster with young players who have a lot of upsides. We’ve seen Kyle Smith, the VP of Player Personnel and orchestrator of the Redskins’ draft, come away with two highly-successful drafts in the past two years, and it’s not crazy to think he could do it again in 2020.

This isn’t an article that is predicting what the Redskins will do, or even trying to sway them to lean one way or the other. Rather, it is a piece that wants to underline the magnitude of the decisions that will be made over the next couple of months inside the organization. These are potentially franchise-changing decisions that will go a long way in determining what the future looks like in Washington. It could be a return to greatness for a win-deprived fanbase, or it could be continued mediocrity in the Nation’s Capital.

No pressure.

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Kyle Smith has ‘inside track’ on winning Redskins GM job after NFL Draft

The Redskins are operating without a general manager right now, but Smith is thought to likely earn that role if he delivers a strong draft.

It’s been so interesting to watch the Washington Redskins fill out their coaching office over the past month that sometimes it’s easy to forget that they are still operating without a general manager at the front of it all.

Rather, under Dan Snyder’s new ‘coach centric’ approach, it’s been Ron Rivera who is doing most of the decision making when it comes to franchise personnel, while Kyle Smith, who was promoted to the VP of Player Personnel earlier this year, is heading up the scouting process for free agency and the NFL Draft.

However, things likely won’t operate this way forever. According to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, there are two strong candidates for the Redskins’ general manager position, and Smith is definitely in the running.

Nothing is likely to happen until after the NFL Draft in April, so Washington has time to assess their options. According to JP Finlay, with NBC Sports Washington, Smith can basically win the job if he delivers on another strong draft.

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Ron Rivera praises Kyle Smith and Redskins scouting department for draft success

The Redskins have hit big in the draft recently, and Ron Rivera says that Kyle Smith and the scouting department deserve all credit.

After the much-needed front office change at the end of 2019, the Washington Redskins are currently operating without a general manager.

They don’t seem to be any worse for the ware, with Kyle Smith, the VP of Player Personnel, heading up the pyramid power chart in the front office. Smith, who was in charge of running the past two NFL Drafts for the Redskins, as well as leading the scouting charge at this year’s Senior Bowl, seems to have his finger on the right pulse and has led some in the building to say that the team “is in good hands,” according to The Athletic.

His work on the draft has also led new head coach Ron Rivera to take notice, and feel comfortable with where things are heading in Washington.

“The thing that really stood out in my mind is just how many of those players have played as starters and competed in meaningful snaps,” Rivera said during an interview Thursday with “The Team” 980 radio station. “It was a big number. You see the big number, and you see how much those guys have played as they did you feel positive about what those (scouts) have done in terms of scouting players, picking players, and those players (becoming) what they anticipated them being.”

It’s hard to argue with the results. ESPN ranked the Redskins as the No. 1 most productive rookie class in 2019, headlined by Terry McLaurin, Dwayne Haskins, and Montez Sweat. Now, going forward, they are set up for another slam dunk in the draft with the No. 2 overall pick, where Smith can either choose to take Ohio State’s Chase Young or trade the pick for a heaping haul.

The team has been relatively quiet when it comes to hiring a GM down the road, but there was mention that they would wait until April’s draft is in the rearview mirror. That gives Smith a couple more months to prove that he’s the man for the job, and a solid draft in a couple months will seal the deal.

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Breaking down the Redskins power dynamic heading into 2020

With Bruce Allen out of the picture, the pyramid of power has shifted greatly in Washington, with Ron Rivera calling the shots.

Incremental change is what the Washington Redskins needed after a fourth-consecutive season without a playoff berth, and incremental change is what they got.

Bruce Allen is gone. Ron Rivera is in. Larry Hess is gone. Ryan Vermillion and Larry Wilk are in. Eric Schaffer is gone. Doug Williams is in a new role. Any which way you look at it, the power dynamic in Washington has changed, and according to NBC Sports Washington, this is now how it looks.

Dan Snyder — Team Owner
Aug 29, 2019; Landover, MD, USA; Washington Redskins owner Daniel Snyder on the field before the game against the Baltimore Ravens at FedExField. Mandatory Credit: Brad Mills-USA TODAY Sports

Of course, as the owner of the team, Snyder remains at the top of the power pyramid. Though he may endlessly say that head coach Ron Rivera is the only voice that matters in the organization, it is still his final stamp of approval that is needed on every major decision that happens. As long as Snyder is the owner of the team, it will be his word that goes.

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Redskins promote Kyle Smith to vice president of player personnel

The Redskins made another big front office move.

The Washington Redskins continue the massive shakeup to the front office.

Monday, the team announced Kyle Smith will move up the ladder to vice president of player personnel.

Owner Dan Snyder issued a statement: “Kyle Smith has put in the work over the last 10 seasons and has proven to be a skilled talent evaluator.”

Smith originally joined the team in 2011 as an area scout after an internship — now he’ll help oversee college and pro personnel changes for the team.

Smith’s move is the latest in a long line of shuffling since the Redskins fired Bruce Allen and handed over control to new head coach Ron Rivera. Moving Doug Williams out of this slot and to player development was one of the other notable moves in the shakeup.

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