A New Start! Ron Rivera, Dan Snyder, The Front Office, and Anything Team Related (other than name change)

[LD0506]

Well I'll admit to a certain amount of bias, I LOVED the Rivera hire, see him as a genuinely good guy, open and accessible to the players and media, devotes time to concerns beyond football, a well-rounded mature adult. This is a stark contrast to others we've had, so it is a huge + in my estimation. IMO this sets a "tone", a measure of expectations and accountability from the top down. This to me is how you change a culture, by being the change you need, not more of the "do as I say, not as I do" horse**** we've suffered under for decades.

 

As far as the building of the roster, etc., Ron has been extremely opaque, he doesn't seem to worry too much about what the fans or media or any other gadflies want, again, a good thing. Focus on your job, let the results speak for themself. I don't claim to know exactly where they're going with it yet, I was hoping to see them more active in FA but hey, I ain't on his staff. All I can go on now is some measure of faith/benefit of the doubt until proven otherwise. Logically he has to have a plan, they have to have a plan since he built his staff and doesn't have to stumble along with leftovers. JDR strikes me as a speak your mind kinda guy too, two tough, outspoken hardheads at the top? there's a plan alright. 

 

In some ways the plague might actually work to our advantage. It has torn the nagging same ole Skins narrative away and allowed RR & Co. to get on without that noise, the same way that TheDan isn't in anyone's crosshairs. This is an opportunity for a TOTAL reset in a way that might not have been possible six months ago. 

[Riggo#44]

 

[JSSkinz]

 

[veteranskinsfan]

Just read article quoting Peter King saying he believes Allen will start first game at quarterback since there will be less time for Haskins to prepare for the season.

[kingdaddy]

On 4/3/2020 at 6:45 AM, London Kev said:

I've started from a position of liking and respecting Ron Rivera, and so far he hasn't done anything to change this. He appears to be in charge, has a no-nonsense attitude, and seems to be building depth in FA so that we can hopefully go weighted BPA in the draft.

 

Although I've been mostly underwhelmed by the quality of the signings so far, from what I've read they seem to be good guys who will want to prove themselves. If I put on my homer glasses, this can be viewed as a positive.

 

After some contemplation, I now think that the signing of Kyle Allen was a smart move by Rivera. He knows the system, which may be important considering that pre-season could be disrupted, and he is probably a perfect rival for Haskins.

 

As alluded to in the OP, it's too early to make any definitive judgements. But so far.... not bad, which is an improvement over previous regimes.

There is more and more praise coming out about this trade from the media...talk is that Kyle Allen will be the starter to start the season until DH proves he can handle and learn the new system. Pretty impressive that the staff went with Allen over Cam Newton, it shows that they want to give DH a learning curve and break him in the right way rather than throwing him out there in a new system. I equate this to a baseball team not bringing a guy up from the minors until he gets 1500 - 2000 at bats in the minors. Allen likely brings a more humble attitude to the organization that isn't as threatening to DH. RR and this staff have a clue about how to go about this, or so it seems right now.

[Commander Wolffe]

Maybe.

 

What if Kyle Allen's familiarity with the system allows Haskins to get even more live reps to get up to speed. We don't need to prepare as much for two Qbs learning a new system. This could also mean an extended look at Haskins during preseason games. I think Kyle will have to be a clear and significant upgrade over Haskins for him to start. They know what they have in Kyle.

[Malapropismic Depository]

My concern - if we have good drafts under Kyle Smith, and in order to keep him from prancing to another team, we need give him a promotion to GM, will that be acceptable to Rivera ?

Because it may feel like a bit of a loss of authority on player decisions for him, if I'm not mistaken.

[NYSkins21]

26 minutes ago, Malapropismic Depository said:

My concern - if we have good drafts under Kyle Smith, and in order to keep him from prancing to another team, we need give him a promotion to GM, will that be acceptable to Rivera ?

Because it may feel like a bit of a loss of authority on player decisions for him, if I'm not mistaken.

RR has stated multiple times that hes not looking for GM duties. Just someone that he works with. Which is why they havent filled the position yet. Kyle has been auditioning for months now. I wouldnt be surprised if hes named GM before the season starts. RR most likely knows what he has in him already. Just wants to see how he handles himself in the draft.

 

That's my guess anyway?

[skinzplay]

I'm very excited about the Rivera era, and I hope that the change of franchise will reinvigorate him the way it did Reid when he got to KC. I also like that Smith is a highly respected FO mind, something we haven't had for a while. That he and Rivera mesh and develop a great relationship will reap immeasurable benefits for our sustained success. Our defense is gonna be nasty, and I wonder what that will mean, in both the short and medium term, for how long Del Rio will be with the team. You have to think that he'll be in demand if he does what he's done everywhere he's coached.....and I expect him to be a winner for us. I can't help but think that Detroit, Cincy, or Atlanta will come calling sooner rather than later. The chance to continue coaching Young, Sweat and the Bama boys will hopefully keep him with us longer.

[JSSkinz]

 

[Skinsinparadise]

Going from one of the least classy organizations in the league to having one of the classiest coaches in the NFL and a real football guy in charge of personnel -- should be night and day of a difference.

 

 

[Riggo#44]

58 minutes ago, Skinsinparadise said:

Going from one of the least classy organizations in the league to having one of the classiest coaches in the NFL and a real football guy in charge of personnel -- should be night and day of a difference.

 

 

 

 

What's really telling is the lack of a silver-tounged sycophant. Allen and Cerrato were the same, incompetent asses who knew how to play Snyder. But in addition--long term mainstays like Eric Scaffer are gone too. It's almost a total reset. We've never seen this.

[Burgundy Yoda]

I'm feeling really good about the Ron Rivera hire, just the way how he conducts business gives me a feeling that he'll put us on the right path.

 

Side note here, but I think there's a good chance that once NFL teams are able to practice, the Buffalo Bills could be a team we conduct joint practices with. Last year the Panthers did it because of the Ron Rivera and Sean McDermott coaching connection. Buffalo has a ton of talent and is on the upswing, I think it would be pretty cool. 

 

Article on the joint practices: https://www.panthers.com/news/2019-training-camp-observations-panthers-bills-tuesday-joint-practice

[HTTRDynasty]

 

[joeken24]

I'm hoping this organization is turning the corner. I believe it is turning from a media narrative standpoint. Even the junkies seem to be less of a debbie downer.  I think the fan base may take some time. But for me, if the team is competitive and still takes a few loses early on, I'll be ok knowing it is a process. Listening to Allen gives me hope. Notice how he admitted that it was chaos last year. Wow.

https://www.redskins.com/video/jonathan-allen-we-added-a-bunch-of-young-talent-to-the-team

[FrFan]

 

[JSSkinz]

I want that shirt but its sold out everywhere.

[Skinsinparadise]

 

It wasn’t that these scouts and executives questioned Smith’s ability; he has been seen around the league as a rising front-office star for at least the past two years. But they believed Rivera needed someone more experienced to handle free agency and make trades.

In recent weeks, though, those suggestions have subsided as Rivera has said repeatedly that he is comfortable with Smith, praising the offseason plan Smith presented after his promotion and the way he worked through free agency, ran pre-draft meetings and set the team’s draft board. There is a growing sense around the Redskins’ front office that Rivera might soon give Smith the title of general manager, a person with knowledge of the situation recently said.

 

Rivera has said he doesn’t want to be the final authority on decisions but rather have his front-office executives come to a consensus. Some organizations have similar arrangements, but they require everyone to work well together and be united in a philosophy. In other Redskins regimes over the past 20 years, Snyder often has been an obligatory and sometimes meddlesome part of this process. But Snyder has not meddled, Rivera has said, limiting his presence to once-daily check-ins just to know what’s going on. Aside from a congratulatory phone call he made to first-round pick Chase Young on Thursday night, Snyder took a backseat the entire weekend.

 

Perhaps it was easy for Rivera and Smith to agree during a draft in which the team’s first choice was as obvious as Young, the Ohio State pass rusher widely believed to be the best player available. But Rivera seemed happy with the way Smith, the son of former Chargers general manager A.J. Smith, methodically followed the draft board, using the results of their many planning meetings to guide choices when each selection approached.

Because the board so closely matched the way the draft fell and prioritized the players the Redskins liked at each pick, they found it simple to choose the one they wanted, Rivera said.

 

“I thought the communication between Kyle and I as he was setting the final board was exactly what you look for, because then as you go through the process you should see things quite close to one another,” he said. “And again, it’s because we worked through the process. We didn’t go through this and not be prepared for that conversation. I thought we talked ourselves through a lot.”

The more Rivera talked through his first Redskins draft, the more excited his voice grew. He said he loved the versatility of third-round pick Antonio Gibson, a positionless player out of Memphis who can line up at wide receiver or running back. He seemed pleased with the research Smith and his staff had done on LSU tackle Saahdiq Charles and raved about the potential of Liberty wide receiver Antonio Gandy-Golden, both fourth-round selections. He pondered the free agents he and Smith had strategically signed as well as the players Smith had helped pick over the previous three drafts, and he said something strangely optimistic for someone taking over a team that went 3-13 last season.

“I think the turnaround can be a little bit quicker than expected — at least I expected,” Rivera said.

 

At one point Saturday evening, Smith thought about the weeks of meetings with a new boss and a new coaching staff, sorting out the wishes of people he had never worked with, all while communicating solely by phone and video conference. If he had worried about his future with the team, it didn’t show as he talked confidently with Rivera as if the two were old friends.

 

https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2020/04/26/ron-rivera-kyle-smith-have-found-common-ground-redskins-revamped-front-office/?utm_campaign=wp_redskins&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter

[FrFan]

 

[TSO]

A lot to like thus far, though the sample size is extremely small. 
 

Still concerned about having a coach with ultimate power as that fails far too often to feel confident in structurally, but I’m happy with the way they handled FA. In particular, the fact that they didn’t “chase” losing out on Cooper by spending big on others undeserving of it. One of the (many) big concerns with having a coach in total control is the short-sighted, desperation type moves where they just have to fill this or that position at any cost. So that was refreshing to see. They didn’t just go and dump significant cap space on a lesser guy because of the miss. 
 

If it’s as it seems on the surface and they decided, after the Cooper miss, to save some cap space and have it roll over so that they can go hard next season (and the Cooper offer suggests they’re not just forcibly cheap and that they will go after someone they love without the excessive fear of having to "overpay" that is inevitable in FA)... man, I absolutely love that. That’s sound resource management and something we simply haven’t had. 

 

The Trent Williams' trade is a downer, but that's not on anyone other than Bruce right now (in terms of totally catastrophic resource management, of which he's extremely proficient at executing). It's absolutely maddening that we didn't trade him quickly in the first place when his value was at its highest (and none of this is hindsight, quite a few of us understood this simple concept right away) and allowed his value to plummet to where it ended up at (which does include Trent's own foolishness), but I think Ron and Kyle got what they could at this point. It's just an entirely unfortunate situation for a player of Trent's caliber. Outside of the economics of it all, there is an emotional toll here as well. The whole thing was so damn ugly and it's really sad to see a player like Trent, who really was great to the fans while he played here and really did put his body on the line for the team, end his career here with such bitterness and resentment from fans. Yes, he earned a significant amount of it... but it's just sad to see. 

 

As for the draft, I think it followed my view of FA in that they seemingly didn't "chase" (reach for) any perceived needs and let the board dictate who they took, which is huge in my book. I actually love it when I see fans losing their minds about not taking x player here because we need help at y position. And there was a lot of that kind of talk this draft, so although there's not much to say about these players until they play, I think the evidence is there to be pleased that they implemented a sound philosophy.

 

I'm hoping the talk about Kyle Smith being promoted to GM is true and that it actually means something in terms of organizational structure. At this point, it'd be weird if it was just a title with no real consequence considering he wasn't just given it in the first place. That's the final step for me to really be on cloud 9 about all that's happened thus far (which, again, is very little in the grand scheme of things)... but even if it doesn't occur I'm still pleased overall with how they've done, though the structural concern remains in the back of my head.      

[HigSkin]

Kevin Sheehan on ESPN 980 this morning said Les Carpenter reported RR is looking at promoting Kyle to GM soon and Dan Snyder was completely hands off through the draft.  I don't see it on his twitter feed.

 

If true, good new on both fronts!

[LD0506]

Quote

 The Williams trade from Washington's perspective was a tax that Ron Rivera was forced to pay for the sins of the Bruce Allen regime. Considering how hopeless (and exhausting) the situation looked on Friday, acquiring a third-round pick in 2021 and a fifth-rounder this year from San Francisco was a reasonable haul.

Gregg Rosenthal on NFL.com

 

I liked this way of expressing it, glad to see it out in the media.

 

Rivera's inheritance was a dumpster fire, he's got a lot of cleaning up to do and IMO has started that job well. It might be worthwhile to remember that going forward, they have a lot more to deal with than a typical regime change would.

[Riggo#44]

My biggest take away from FA and the Draft: COORDINATION!

 

Allen and Snyder just ran things they way they wanted to, especially in free agency, without regard to fit, what the coaches wanted. They pulled in players who didn't fit--and the coaches had no idea how to use correctly (Norman and Collins specifically). They put together a coaching staff made up of parts that didn't fit. The Alex Smith trade was telling--Allen just made it, told Doug Williams not to answer his phone, Gruden was completely unaware. I'm not even going to start on Trent Williams. If stories are true and he turned down Cleveland's number 1? Holy. ****. What a dip****. The only time Allen ever popped his head out of his hidey-hole was to take credit--mostly for other people's work. He then shifted blame for everything onto others.

 

It's clear Rivera and Smith are on the same page--even having joint press conferences. They clearly had a well-coordinated plan, an idea, and they followed it. I wasn't initially thrilled about our draft--I thought they reached for Gibson, and the Ismael pick seemed like a whiff. Loved the Gandy-Golden and Charles picks. We needed a big target and a potential replacement for Trent, that wasn't a reach. They didn't get one of the TEs (the Moss signing alleviated this), the Curl pick didn't thrill me. A little more study though, it's looking better--I'm excited to see what Gibson does.

 

I dunno, we'll see, but it feels different.

[NoCalMike]

People were saying the Redskins were going with the 49ers model by drafting Chase Young, but I felt that pick was more about the fact that the best prospect in the entire draft was available and you can't pass up on him under any circumstance besides a ridiculous trade offer, which was not offered.  The rest of the draft to me suggests more going the Chiefs model in adding as many young, speedy & quick playmakers around a young QB that will ease his development and allow for the playbook to be opened. 

[CommandB11]

12 minutes ago, NoCalMike said:

People were saying the Redskins were going with the 49ers model by drafting Chase Young, but I felt that pick was more about the fact that the best prospect in the entire draft was available and you can't pass up on him under any circumstance besides a ridiculous trade offer, which was not offered.  The rest of the draft to me suggests more going the Chiefs model in adding as many young, speedy & quick playmakers around a young QB that will ease his development and allow for the playbook to be opened. 

Im feeling a bit of both. Speed speed speed on offense and a nasty front 7 on defense.