What is Wrong with Alex Smith?

[Voice_of_Reason]

25 minutes ago, Llevron said:

 

If you cant see how much better of a coach Gruden is than Zorn then I dont know what to tell you. 

 

 

I might be the biggest critic of Gruden, and longest tenured critic as well, and even I would say Jay is an infinitely better coach than Zorn. 

[Spaceman Spiff]

4 minutes ago, clskinsfan said:

 

What a slap in the face of the defense. All 4 turnovers were forced by good plays on their part. There were no gimme turnovers today.

 

I agree, but his point still stands.  Smith didn't win this game today, it was more that the Bucs pissed it away. The D came up with great turnovers.  

 

2 minutes ago, dckey said:

I get it, Smith is not an elite qb, and he will not make players better.  But who is he holding back on offense?  who on our offense can make him better?  Who would be an elite player if they had a better qb?  NO ONE, if Reed wasn't injury prone maybe.  We are stuck with Smith, but we really need to get the talent around him way better

 

It's not their job to make him better.   It's the other way around.

[CjSuAvE22]

The second he starts hitting the bombs and getting better at running this offense This theead should be closed and I’m an Alex Smith hater....I hated the trade but we are 6-3 with a damn good defense and he’s managing the offense the best he can so far with lots of open possibility to improve as the season goes slong

[TD_washingtonredskins]

41 minutes ago, tibbidoe said:

I'd like to see what Colt McCoy can do. Colt should know the offense better than Smith, being in since 2014. So maybe we would leave fewer points on the field with him, even while he might not be as good at avoiding TOs as Smith.

 

If we can get more out of the offense, maybe we can get leads and rest starters, instead of having almost every game in doubt into the last 3-4 minutes the game. We gotta get something going. Even if we make it to the playoffs, the D can't be expected to carry us over teams with real offensive ability. We need more from the QB position than Smith seems capable of producing at this point.

 

It isn't like Smith has this amazing timing/chemistry with the WR/TE we have and he's clearly not getting much better week-to-week.

 

FULL DISCLOSURE:

I hated the trade to get him in the first place, as it cost us too much (Fuller/3rd), plus most of the money Cousins should have been signed to a couple of years before.

 

 

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't also curious...but that's really playing with fire. 

[Taylor 36]

5 minutes ago, Birdlives said:

 

 

Granted, but we can’t keep banging our heads against the wall either. Getting lucky is not a business plan. Or at least, not a good one.

It's amazing how some of the same Alex Champions were ****ing about Cousins being mediocre or average, and that just wasn't good enough moving forward.  Now, our QB is less than mediocre and  below average and is holding this team back from being a true contender, and those same people are acting like that doesn't matter and everybody who isn't happy about that has a problem.  Oh, the hypocrisy.

 

It will be entertaining to see when the excuses run out.  Will it be before the end of this season when we lose three or four of our next five games?  Will it be next season when we don't have a soft ass schedule and get blown out most of the season?  I don't know, but I'm getting my popcorn ready for the posts from these folks acting like they never liked or believed in Smith to begin with.  Meanwhile, those of us that care about the success of the team in the long run moving forward, though being vindicated, will still find no comfort for the frustration we have to endure because of this QB.

[Warhead36]

I get that Smith isn't the most dynamic QB, but he's gotta be able to hit wide open receivers downfield. That Davis miss late that would have probably been the game clinching TD was maddening.

 

But even worse was taking a sack on that 2nd and 1. Now granted he ended up getting the 1st down the next play, but you should never take a sack on 2nd and 1.

 

And gosh I am so sick of the double patting of the ball. Commit and throw it, or just take off and run.

 

Honestly we could have just drafted a 3rd/4th round rookie and gotten the exact same play.

[JSSkinz]

Guys, it's not about Alex needing to be elite, here is the bottom 3rd of the QBR rankings, notice the QB's who are ranked around the same area as Alex.  Except for Stafford they are either rookies or QB's who are on their way to being backups.

 

[Llevron]

I do wanna ask - if yall hate the FO and think they are idiots....what exactly is the end goal of losing games instead of winning them? Yall cant actually think that they are gonna draft the next Tom Brady right? 

[JSSkinz]

Just now, Llevron said:

I do wanna ask - if yall hate the FO and think they are idiots....what exactly is the end goal of losing games instead of winning them? Yall cant actually think that they are gonna draft the next Tom Brady right? 

 

They drafted Kirk in the 4th round, it's not easy but there is talent in the lower rounds, sometimes people just don't find it.

[Warhead36]

3 minutes ago, JSSkinz said:

Guys, it's not about Alex needing to be elite, here is the bottom 3rd of the QBR rankings, notice the QB's who are ranked around the same area as Alex.  Except for Stafford they are either rookies or QB's who are on their way to being backups.

 

 

Those #s prove what I've been saying: Smith is a bottom 5 starting QB in this league(not counting rookies or guys only starting because of injuries).

[Llevron]

8 minutes ago, Taylor 36 said:

It's amazing how some of the same Alex Champions were ****ing about Cousins being mediocre or average, and that just wasn't good enough moving forward.  Now, our QB is less than mediocre and  below average and is holding this team back from being a true contender, and those same people are acting like that doesn't matter and everybody who isn't happy about that has a problem.  Oh, the hypocrisy.

 

I mean, we are 6-3. We were never 6-3 with Cousins. You keep missing that. 

 

We were also not rooting for cousins to lose just to be right. At least not openly lol

1 minute ago, JSSkinz said:

 

They drafted Kirk in the 4th round, it's not easy but there is talent in the lower rounds, sometimes people just don't find it.

 

They did or Shanahan did?

 

They also drafted one of the biggest busts in history a few days before that. 

[Taylor 36]

12 minutes ago, clskinsfan said:

 

What a slap in the face of the defense. All 4 turnovers were forced by good plays on their part. There were no gimme turnovers today.

Did the defense create some good TO's, sure, but even with those four TO's, our QB didn't do enough to put this game out of reach for the Bucs, the team with a historically bad defense. Because our O did nothing, the Bucs still had a chance, and our defense did not play like a top tier defense for most of the game. If you want to act like those double-digit missed tackles by our defensive players and the the bad snap and dropped passes by the Bucs' offensinve players, like the one in the end zone, didn't happen and didn't change the entire dynamic of the game, that's on you. If it wasn't for the miscues of the Bucs' offense, they would have won that game. Too many wide open guys running in the middle and in the secondary.  Is some of that on coaching?  You bet.  But the tackling and missed assignments aren't on the coaches. If that is a slap in the defense's face, so be it, but they need to make tackles and they need to stop giving 15 yard cushions to the WR's. 

[Wyvern]

30 minutes ago, clskinsfan said:

Funny. I got called out this week for being a "QB records guy". IE: Claiming Smith is a good Qb because of his career record.  At what point do you need to give at least a little credit to the QB? The guy isnt exciting. BUT the guy wins. AND HE ALWAYS HAS. Would I like him to throw more TD's? Yep. But he has 10 TD's and 3 INT's on the season. And he is 6-3. Winning this game with 2 OL who were sitting on their couches last week. Say whatever you want about me and Smith. The guy is a winner. You dont post a career 94-65-1 record if you arent.

 

And this is a negative?

What I see is someone who relied on the defense and opponents' miscues for the team eke out a bunch of very ugly wins.  He's done next to almost nothing to earn those wins, and certainly not enough to justify giving so much up to make him the Skins franchise QB.

[tibbidoe]

11 minutes ago, TD_washingtonredskins said:

 

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't also curious...but that's really playing with fire. 

 

But, is it really? How long can we expect the defense to be almost the only chance we have to win a game? Even with how they've played, we can't keep up with teams like NO/ATL if/when we get to the playoffs. We need more points and need to be willing to mix things up to get them.

[Burgold]

9 minutes ago, Taylor 36 said:

It's amazing how some of the same Alex Champions were ****ing about Cousins being mediocre or average, and that just wasn't good enough moving forward.  Now, our QB is less than mediocre and  below average and is holding this team back from being a true contender, and those same people are acting like that doesn't matter and everybody who isn't happy about that has a problem.  Oh, the hypocrisy.

Except we weren’t 6-3 withCousins. Most of the time we couldn’t sniff .500 with him. And Cousins had much better talent during most of his years for. 

 

The folks who who are happy are the ones looking at the win loss record. They’re the ones who are happy if the D wins it or the running game wins it. Heck, we don’t even mind if the other team loses it and we win by accident. 

 

I will be happy to complain if we lose. I’m not complaining about a win. The Redskins haven’t won nearly enough over the last 20 years for me to take wins for granted. 

[dckey]

14 minutes ago, Spaceman Spiff said:

 

 

It's not their job to make him better.   It's the other way around.

This is the problem, not all QBs make players better. If this is the type of qb you thought you were going to get than you are delusional.  Alex has always been a manager of great talent around him.  If you don't have that talent then he is bottom ten in the NFL.  I think the team thought they had elite talent around him before injuries, but to count on players that had injury history was a major mistake by the front office

[Llevron]

Aiight so just help me here. The plan is to start McCoy and either hes the dude and we beat the Saints/Eagles/Vikes in the playoffs cause of him OR we lose out, end up at 6-10, and roll the dice with Bruce and Jay (who we think are idiots) and draft a QB of the future and start him next year. Right? I get that correct?

[JSSkinz]

9 minutes ago, Llevron said:

 

They did or Shanahan did?

 

They also drafted one of the biggest busts in history a few days before that. 

 

I'm not sure we know the answer to the first question, Shanny seems to take ownership of all the positives that happened but none of the negative.

 

As for your 2nd point, you're right but you can't do that job without taking chances, being scared of making a mistake doesn't mean you go into the fetal position.

 

Our rookie scouting department seems to be our strength, I believe Kyle can find us a QB.

[Spaceman Spiff]

3 minutes ago, dckey said:

This is the problem, not all QBs make players better. If this is the type of qb you thought you were going to get than you are delusional.  Alex has always been a manager of great talent around him.  If you don't have that talent then he is bottom ten in the NFL.  I think the team thought they had elite talent around him before injuries, but to count on players that had injury history was a major mistake by the front office

 

Correct, and so he is what he is, a 20-25th ranked QB. 

 

If this team thought they had elite talent around him, they're liars.  Jordan Reed is arguably the only elite one and he's having a terrible year.  Captain Checkdown can't even fill up the stat sheet for the player he should be able to connect with the most.

[Llevron]

4 minutes ago, JSSkinz said:

I'm not sure we know the answer to the first question, Shanny seems to take ownership of all the positives that happened but none of the negative.

 

As for your 2nd point, you're right but you can't do that job without taking chances, being scared of making a mistake doesn't mean you go into the fetal position.

 

Our rookie scouting department seems to be our strength, I believe Kyle can find us a QB.

 

I admire the way you refuse to give up a point regardless of what it is lol

[zCommander]

3 minutes ago, Llevron said:

Aiight so just help me here. The plan is to start McCoy and either hes the dude and we beat the Saints/Eagles/Vikes in the playoffs cause of him OR we lose out, end up at 6-10, and roll the dice with Bruce and Jay (who we think are idiots) and draft a QB of the future and start him next year. Right? I get that correct?

 

Where did you find this plan at?  You are just picking at the few posters (minority of them). The frustration Alex gives you makes you think, what if Colt, just to see. But that is not probably a good idea when you are still in contention to win the Div and a playoff berth. So you are not correct. 

 

I will take a win any day, but reserve the right, as a fan, make comments on Alex and his performance, or lack there of or any other player(s) or coaches or the FO personal. That doesn't make anyone less of a Redskins fan as far as I am concerned. 

[dckey]

Just now, Spaceman Spiff said:

 

Correct, and so he is what he is, a 20-25th ranked QB. 

 

If this team thought they had elite talent around him, they're liars.  Jordan Reed is arguably the only elite one and he's having a terrible year.  Captain Checkdown can't even fill up the stat sheet for the player he should be able to connect with the most.

I don't blame Smith as much as I think they are liars!!!!  You can't surround a QB like Smith with sub par skill players and think he is going to be good.  I posted this in another thread not 1 player outside of Bibbs runs a sub 4.5.  We are the only team that is this slow on offense

[Alexa]

Smith still sucks. He just does zero for me. On most days a competent NFL QB won't play as poorly as Fitzpatrick did today and that is really why we won. That pass to Davis, just awful

[Skinsinparadise]

The offense weapon wise was much worse last year. No Richardson at all. Reed out a lot. They didn't have Adrian Peterson. The defense was atrocious and for much of the season they had the toughest schedule in the NFL.

 

This year, injuries now as bad as last year. But you got Reed. Peterson and a top defense. And one if the easiest schedules in the NFL.

 

U put Alex Smith with last years team, bad running game, bad defense, he would probably be 3-5 at best.

 

This team rises and falls first with the defense, then the running game. Both units are good this year, both units were atrocious last year. 

 

I dont think Alex is this hopeless cause as some think. But I am underwhelmed by him as a QB thus far. Judging by what some beat guys have said about what they are hearing from coaches they are underwhelmed too.

[Renegade7]

30 minutes ago, dckey said:

I get it, Smith is not an elite qb, and he will not make players better.  But who is he holding back on offense?  who on our offense can make him better?  Who would be an elite player if they had a better qb?  NO ONE, if Reed wasn't injury prone maybe.  We are stuck with Smith, but we really need to get the talent around him way better

Reed hasn't missed a game this year and should be his Travis Kelce.  Saying we need more talent is obvious, but he's missing too many targets to help us maximize what we have.  Missing Vernon on that play is exactly what many of us are talking about, fine we aren't the Saints, but a lot of our ineptness is him not ouaing the ball down field or just down right missing.  Hes not playing at a pro now level, why I'm not falling for the he needs more talent thing anymore, not 9 games in.