What should Washington do with Alex Smith?
August 5, 2020
by Steve Thomas
The fact that Alex Smith is now very close to being fully back from his devastating, life-threatening injury suffered in the Redskins’ game against the Houston Texans on November 18, 2018, is almost a miracle. The year and a half of surgeries and rehab he’s gone through would have been enough to make almost everyone else stop thinking about playing professional football again. To his immense credit, he’s progressed from his deathbed all the way to being cleared by his medical team for football activities. Washington’s medical staff hasn’t cleared him yet, so he’s on the Active Physically Unable to Perform list for now, but it seems likely that he will eventually be cleared to play. If and when that happens, the million dollar question will then transition to be what the team can and should do with him. That’s an important issue, so let’s dive in.
First, as a refresher, Smith’s numbers in 2018 up until his injury were good, but not great, mostly around his career averages, but below his average by a couple of measures: 205 receptions in 328 attempts, 62.5% completion percentage, 2,180 yards, 10 touchdowns, 5 interceptions, 1.5% interception percentage, a quarterback rating of 85.7, and most importantly a 6 – 3 record. These stats were down more or less across the board from his final year in Kansas City, but that was to be expected given the Chiefs were a much better team than Washington in every area, from talent to coaching. The point is that those of you who remember Smith’s time here in DC as “awful”, because we hear from you, are ignoring the facts: Smith was decent at a minimum, and good by some measures. His major drawbacks were that he didn’t utilize his wide receivers much and he averaged just 6.6 yards per attempt, which was 28th in the NFL in 2018 for quarterbacks with more than 250 attempts in the season. So, yeah, Smith didn’t go downfield much, but he was a great team leader, protected the football, and was fairly efficient.
After the injury, Washington, of course, had to dumpster dive for the rest of the year and then move on in the draft, drafting Dwayne Haskins to be the team’s franchise quarterback of the future. The chaos with the team last season – well documented by The Hog Sty and elsewhere, and most notably headlined by the firing of former head coach Jay Gruden, tons of injuries, and an overall lack of talent – didn’t lend itself well to Haskins’ development. In fact, I’d say if you wanted to give a clinic on how to ruin a rookie quarterback, the 2019 Redskins’ handling of Haskins would be a good supporting case study. How this relates to Smith is that Haskins unfortunately was not able to really grab ahold of the job and eliminate any controversy about who would start this year. It’s not totally his fault, because very few would have been able to succeed under the conditions in DC last year, but that’s where we stand right now.
The point is, assuming Smith is eventually cleared to play, Smith would be in legitimate contention in a truly open competition for the starter’s job. To add to that, if new head coach Ron Rivera really wants the team to make a big jump immediately even despite the uniquely terrible offseason and lack of preseason, I could at least see the possibility that Smith could get the nod over Haskins because of Smith’s experience. It’s possible that in the short-term future, Washington might be better off with the veteran Smith at the helm. Don’t laugh, it’s not a totally crazy thought.
However, the future is Haskins, not Smith, and the smart thing for the team to do is to make that absolutely clear to both players. Haskins needs every rep he can possibly get, and he needs to build chemistry with his stable of young receivers. Benching Haskins in favor of Smith for the possibility of a few more wins in a season that’s unlikely to produce a contender would be a monumentally stupid thing to do. In my view, that would do more harm than good in the form of stunting Haskins’ development. My recommendation to Rivera is to be honest with Smith and make it abundantly clear from the get-go that barring injury Haskins is the starter here. Smith is an honorable, team-oriented guy and has never made a fuss in his career despite being in similar situations in both San Francisco and Kansas City. To me, the only competition in 2020 should be between Smith and Kyle Allen for the backup role.
The best thing for everyone might be to try to find a quarterback-deficient trade partner and make a swap, perhaps with a team that has suffered an injury to its existing starter. Smith’s contract is still pretty onerous, so the Redskins Washington Football Team Washington couldn’t reasonably expect much of a return for him. However, if it would give Smith the chance to play again, it seems like the least the team could do considering everything he’s been through. That might be a pipe dream, but if the opportunity presents itself, the team should do it.
What’s the bottom line on this issue? Alex Smith deserves all possible respect for the determination and resilience he showed to go from literally having his life in danger to getting close to playing shape, but letting him back on the field as the starting quarterback isn’t the right move for the team.