It’s Time to Let Go
By Steve Thomas
Outside of our first chance to see the class of 2017 perform at the rookie camp this past week, the big news in the world of the Washington Redskins was a surprise telephone interview of Scot McCloughan by Grant Paulsen and Danny Rouhier of 106.7 The Fan (listen here: http://washington.cbslocal.com/2017/05/09/exclusive-interview-former-redskins-gm-scot-mccloughan/). It seemed from the way that McCloughan was introduced as though this call might have actually been unplanned; regardless, he spent over 20 minutes talking about a wide variety of subjects, including the recent draft, his relationship with Redskins owner Daniel Snyder, the scouting abilities of head coach Jay Gruden, the ongoing Kirk Cousins saga, and more. It was an interesting listen, to say the least. We had a very good discussion it on our most recent episode of The Hog Sty (listen here: http://www.thehogsty.com/2017/05/14/rookie-camp-weekend/). I certainly think it would be worthwhile for you to check out both the original Grant and Danny interview and our analysis on the show. But I’m not going to rehash the ins and outs of the interview here. You can find that in many other media outlets. Upon reflection, the most important that thought that occurred to me was this: it’s time to let Scot McCloughan go.
Fans are still justifiably up in arms about Scot’s departure, particularly in light of the odd circumstances of the public statements of familial health issues, followed by unsourced rumors of alcohol abuse, then more rumors about discord within the front office, all without much public comment by Bruce Allen. I get it: the Redskins, and Allen in particular, handled this situation poorly, and if you listened to Scot’s interview with Grant and Danny, you know that Scot displayed nothing but class and graciousness in the face of many reasons not to.
Scot was supposed to be the savior who brought this team from a perennial loser into a new age of Redskins championships. I was all in, too – my very first column on this website was titled, “Hope Springs Eternal”, with the “hope” part being McCloughan’s hiring (read it here: http://www.thehogsty.com/2015/03/12/hope-springs-eternal/). But here’s the thing: unless you’re willing to abandon the team and divert your NFL rooting interests to some other franchise, you have no choice but to just look to the future.
In light of that, I’d like to remind everyone that while Scot most certainly carries himself in a way that screams “FOOTBALL” and seemed to usher in a new-found focus on performance on the field, with less nonsense and drama as in years past, his time as the principal who selected the players was actually a mixed bag. In fact, his free agent signings were probably more bad that good. Guys like Stephen Paea, Dashon Golston, and Chris Culliver were all given healthy contracts and were supposed to be solid starters for the next several seasons, but all ended up as disappointments. One could argue that the Bruce Allen draft in 2014 was just as good, if not better, than McCloughan’s 2015 and 2016 drafts. Think about this: in 2014, Allen found quality starters Morgan Moses, Spencer Long, and Bashaud Breeland, plus a guy in Trent Murphy who at a minimum still has the chance to rise up to that level. I’ll even reluctantly mention Ryan Grant, not that I personally think much of his performance as an NFL wide receiver, but the coaching staff seems to love him, and they are far more knowledgeable than I am.
In contrast, Scot’s 2015 draft uncovered Brandon Scherff and Jamison Crowder, with the juror still being out on on Arie Kouandjio and Martrell Spaight. One could argue that the entire class of 2016 is still a question mark, with first round pick Josh Doctson essentially missing the season, Su’a Cravens being moved from linebacker to safety (aside: why the heck didn’t the coaches just put him at safety from the beginning. What a waste of a year. But I digress), third round pick Kendall Fuller leaving much to be desired, and the rest not really showing anything. Yes, it’s way to early to write off 2016, and probably 2015 as well. Not to mention, even though the class of 2017 group hasn’t taken the field yet, it looks like a great group at first glance. One could argue that Scot’s influence was on both the 2014 and 2017 drafts, but the plain truth is that Bruce and his staff made those picks.
I’m not here to convince anyone that Allen is some sort of personnel Svengali. He’s not. The point is, though, that at the very least the Redskins have done just fine in the draft recently with Bruce at the helm. I think Scot’s time with the team is starting to get a bit romanticized as a result of the public’s disgust with the way the front office, and Allen in particular, handled his firing. Scot was a great person to have on the side of the burgundy and gold, and he was treated poorly, but it wasn’t all sunshine and roses.
The team has a head coach who appears to have learned from his disastrous first year, has acquired a number of young starters, and is starting to fill the holes on both sides of the ball. Hopefully good things are on the horizon, at least if that pesky quarterback situation can be resolved (don’t get me started; I’ve already written way too much on that subject, all of which is available on our website). The point is that, while I’m sorry to see him go, I actually think the Redskins might be just fine and continue to improve without him. Most importantly, there’s nothing any of us can do about the entire front office mess other than continue to root for our team.
So do yourselves a favor: let Scot go. It’s not too different from a breakup with a long-term significant other – it was a tough situation and hurt for awhile, but in the long run, you ended up getting over it and moving on. Let this upturn in Redskins play continue to build. No good will come of continuing to hate Allen and wishing for the return of a guy who’s clearly moving on and doing okay. No matter what any of us say, Scot isn’t going to walk back through the doors of Redskins Park, and Bruce Allen isn’t going to walk out any time soon.
Everything will be fine, I promise. Let it go.