In Scot We Trust?
By Richard Rogers
“In Scot We Trust” has been a familiar catchphrase since Scot McCloughan arrived in Washington in 2015. Finally, the Washington Redskins have a TRUE football mind in charge of the player personnel. McCloughan has pedigree, having worked for the Green Bay Packers, San Francisco 49ers, and Seattle Seahawks, all organizations that have won multiple championships or been right there in January. No, Scot did not singlehandedly build those rosters, but he was part of winning cultures and championship franchises. One can deduce that Scot knows something about winning football.
Let’s pause for some historical perspective. The Washington Redskins have been an abject failure of a franchise since Dan Snyder assumed ownership of the team. Yes, there have been some “flashes”, but this team was never built for sustained winning. When Joe Gibbs returned to coach the team in 2004, he was able to coach the team to the playoffs two of his four seasons as head coach, but count me among those that believed it was fool’s gold. Thanks to Vinny Cerrato, the roster was constructed of some young talent mixed in with aging veterans. There were very few draft picks left to restock the cupboard, thanks to draft picks dealt away for the likes of TJ Duckett. Yes, there were some bright spots in Clinton Portis, Chris Cooley, Chris Samuels, and the late great Sean Taylor, but there was no steady infusion of young talent through the draft. In 2008, Vinny Cerrato put together perhaps the worst draft in NFL history by selecting 10 players, and all of them were out of the league by 2013. Not ONE of our 10 draft choices in 2008 are on this roster or even in the NFL. Let that sink in. Shanahan tried with mixed success to rebuild this roster. He did draft some key pieces that are paying dividends. Jordan Reed, Kirk Cousins, Trent Williams, and Ryan Kerrigan have arrived, but this roster still had a ton of holes.
Bruce Allen essentially fired himself as GM in 2014, and made way for Scot McCloughan who quickly made his philosophy very clear. He wanted to build through the draft, be limited in free agency and sign tough “football players”. His debut pick was Brandon Scherff, the nasty guard out of Iowa, and all indicators are that he will be a perennial pro-bowler. He’s hit on Jamison Crowder and seemingly found a late round gem in Kyshoen Jarrett who unfortunately may not reach his potential due to a severe injury last season. There’s potential in Preston Smith, Kendall Fuller, Matt Ioannidis and Su’a Cravens. But the jury is still out on Josh Doctson, the prized first round draft pick in 2016, as well as Matt Jones. Speaking of Matt Jones, Scot McCloughan was very complimentary of the young running back out of Florida. He essentially crowned Jones the starter in the off-season leading up to the 2016 season. There was no competition, and it was basically Matt Jones and everybody else. How’d that turn out? The Redskins turned to undrafted free agent Robert Kelley out of Tulane by mid-season to carry the load. I’d call that a third-round “whiff”.
Prior to Scot McCloughan, I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard callers on sports talk radio call in and beg for Dan Snyder to hire a GM of McCloughan’s expertise. We have him now, so where are we? Scot is entering his third season as GM, and this is a “money year”. From my perspective, he needs to hit on more players on the defensive side of the ball. Yes, I am thrilled that we value the draft and have an infusion of youth on this team particularly on offense. But the older, low priced, scrap heap free agents who have been signed on defense have not been good. In fact, I don’t think Scot gets enough scrutiny for his free agent fails. I know, they don’t cost much, but for a man with such an eye for young talent in the draft, you would think he could be better with scouting free agent talent. I just wish he wasn’t as dismissive of free agency. It’s a viable supplement to building a team. The Redskins boast of having 15 million dollars in cap money to carry over into the 2017 season, but have a defense that was 28th in the league in stopping the run. We haven’t had a good free safety in 10 years or a force along the defensive line since….I don’t know when.
Do I trust Scot McCloughan? Yes, I do, but that doesn’t mean I can’t question his logic. This is a big offseason for him. He has the biggest decision of the Snyder era in his hands in whether or not to retain Kirk Cousins. Jay Gruden is going into year four of a five year deal, and some are already warming his seat. Scot has asked for patience and for us to trust the process. Here’s a message for Scot. People trust what they see. When the Redskins defense can push running backs into the backfield, consistently get pressure on the quarterback, and see players with grit and “dawg”, trust will flow like a fountain.
It’s your move Scot.