Kyle Smith Getting Set for Running his First NFL Draft

Redskins VP of Player Personnel Kyle Smith has finally been allowed to spread his wings this offseason with a promotion and the ability to talk. Now his first draft as a top executive.

Kyle Smith has been coordinating the Redskins draft for the last several seasons. However, with the executive branch always looming and ultimately controlling business operations in the past, this year could be considered the first time he's run it without the usual interference. 

He was chosen, smartly, as we predicted he would be, by Ron Rivera to be his right-hand man. 

From December 28th at RedskinsReport.com: "One thing to keep in mind when considering Rivera's candidacy and the fact that the Redskins are going to need someone to run the football operations that is a pure football man, is Rivera's connection to Kyle Smith, the Redskins Director of College Scouting.

"Rivera was the defensive coordinator for the then San Diego Chargers from 2008-2010 after serving as the linebackers coach in 2007.

"Who was the Chargers very successful general manager during that time? A.J. Smith.

"Kyle is A.J.'s son of course and a star on the rise.

"From what I understand, the two have a good relationship and could join forces to work together as part of a remodeled Redskins front office."

Now the two are in charge of the Redskins  and working side-by-side. 

Hopefully, Smith will be made available to the rest of the media in short time as the draft concludes but he did a interview with Larry Michael recently. 

#Redskins vice president of player personnel Kyle Smith recently spoke to Voice of the Redskins Larry Michael. Full video interview is below, but here are some highlights (1/x) https://t.co/1SwBM8mA5z

— Kyle Stackpole (@kylefstackpole) April 20, 2020

The clip/interview starts at about the 7 minute mark. 

"It's just getting better," Smith said when Michael asked him what will constitute a good draft. "At the end of the day, all of these players are going to have a particular skill set that we feel is going to help the Washington Redskins."

Smith has been coordinating the college draft since rising through the ranks and eventually replacing one of his mentors, Scott Campbell. Now he's helping run it and making the decisions along with Rivera on what to do. 

Times have changed and we'll see if that leads to another promotion after this or at some point in the next few months or if Smith's future is a story that just hangs over the head of the franchise.

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Chris Russell is the Publisher of RedskinsReport.com & Sports Illustrated's Washington Redskins channel. He can be heard on 106.7 The FAN in the Washington D.C. area and world-wide on Radio.com. Chris also hosts the "Locked on Redskins" Podcast and can be read via subscription to Warpath Magazine. You can e-mail Chris at russellmania09@Gmail.com or follow him on Twitter at @Russellmania621.