At one time, many believed Kyle Smith would be the next general manager of the Washington NFL franchise. Initially hired in 2010 as a scouting intern, Smith steadily moved up the ladder over the next 10 years.
The son of former Chargers general manager AJ Smith, Kyle Smith went from intern to scout, to director of college personnel to vice president of player personnel.
Then, in 2021, Smith and Washington parted ways. When Ron Rivera took over as head coach in 2020, Smith was one of the few he kept, promoting him to vice president of player personnel and the pair worked together closely that offseason. In the 2020 NFL draft, Washington selected Chase Young, Antonio Gibson, Saahdiq Charles, Khaleke Hudson, Kamren Curl and James Smith-Williams. Not a bad haul.
However, Rivera restructured his front office, choosing to hire former Lions GM Martin Mayhew as his new general manager and former Panthers GM Marty Hurney in a senior executive role.
Smith was hired by the Atlanta Falcons as the vice president of player personnel. He held that for two years, and this week, Smith received a new promotion: Assistant general manager.
Many fans were upset when Rivera moved on from Smith, believing Smith had a big hand in drafting some of Washington’s young talent over the years.
Smith, 38, will be an NFL general manager. He’s been groomed for the position for years and had plenty of on-the-job training during his days in Washington’s dysfunctional front office.
Fans will always wonder if Rivera should have kept Smith. It’s not as if Mayhew has done a bad job. The new regime has also drafted some good young players, but Smith became popular with fans because he wasn’t Bruce Allen. This was during a time when fans pleaded annually for Allen’s firing.
Congratulations to Kyle Smith.
Story originally appeared on Commanders Wire