Alex Smith says goodbye to San Francisco and hello to Kansas City after a monumental trade between the two teams that afforded San Francisco a second-round draft pick in 2013 and a conditional third-round pick in the 2014 draft.
Now, if you’re looking for an article that covers the trade details, you’ll have to check out Phil Clark’s latest: Breaking down the Alex Smith Trade.
In this piece we’re going to discuss whether or not Smith can potentially be an asset to the Kansas City Chiefs or an eventual liability.
To do this, let’s first talk about who the real player is. I’m really shocked at the overly abundant “Alex Smith Haters” out there. I’ve read sites that have described him as a “career clip board holder”, a washed up quarterback, a no talent bust…you name it.
But ya know what’s funny? NONE of that is true.
The NFL has a funny way of making us forget EVERYTHING as each year passes: Every important detail, every situation and every inclusive occurrence that directly affects a player.
- Career Clip Board Holder? Terrible “analysis”. When I think of a career clip board holder I think of Jason Garret when he was a backup to Troy Aikman.
- A washed up QB? Perhaps in San Fran, but not career wise—not yet.
- A no talent bust? Again, totally inaccurate. We all forget how Smith’s career unfolded.
We forget Smith went through four different head coaches and SIX offensive coordinators in seven years……SIX!
We forget the total lack of talent at WR Smith did work with until 2010, and please do not argue that Arnaz Battle, Bryan Gilmore, Johnny Morton and an old Isaac Bruce was more than enough talent to work with.
We forget that it was only his rookie season that was actually disastrous. From that point on (minus his injury shortened 2007 season) the man completed no worse than 58.0% of his passes and threw 78 TDs and only 48 INTs.
Before a concussion shut Smith down last season, he had already passed for 1,731 yards (70.0% CMPR) with 13 TDs and 5 INTs.
Again, how easy it is to forget.
So what now? In reality, the Kansas City Chiefs only have two explosive weapons to offer Smith at the moment, a beat up O-Line that significantly needs upgrading, and of course, yet another new system to learn.
Well, that’s the current situation and as we all know a lot can happen between now and September. But the Kansas City Chiefs also offer two additional aspects that Smith can certainly work with: A starting job and Andy Reid.
Smith will more than likely “compete” for his job, but c’mon, we all know Matt Cassel is as good as gone and Brady Quinn is a perpetual backup.
A huge plus for Smith.
Andy Reid is the NFL QB guru. Reid knows how to develop just about any QB and bring out the very best in the player—the same way OC Greg Roman did for Smith in 2011 in San Fran.
Another huge plus for Smith.
And yes, there is Dwayne Bowe and Jamaal Charles. The only worry here is what the Chiefs do with the two of them.
Charles can both run and catch, but he’s far more useful carrying the ball than being a pass-catching focal point out of the backfield.
Dwayne Bowe has a huge level of talent, but his on and off again personality needs to settle in and grow up if he is ever to allow it to shine—whether he gets a new contract or a “safe” extension may have a lot to do with that.
We may not see the Kansas City Chiefs drastically turn around the same way San Fran did in 2010 (6-10) to 2011 (13-3), but we should see improvement none-the-less which will begin to give Chiefs’ fans something to be happy about.
As for Alex Smith, I believe we’ll see why Andy Reid grabbed Smith at some point in the season and perhaps THEN people will begin to give the man some credit.
He may not be another Drew Brees or Aaron Rodgers but there’s a certain QB out of Delaware that was never quite as good as these two men either. He was, however, good enough to believe in himself and eventually win a Super Bowl.
Alex Smith has the potential to accomplish the same results.
