ESPN.com: Washington QB Alex Smith cleared by his surgical team for full football activity

[KillBill26]

2 hours ago, wit33 said:

 

If the team makes the playoffs was the trade worth it for Alex Smith? 

If you looked at it like this: if you gave up $20 mil in cap space per year for 3 years, and a 3rd rounder, would you be happy with a return of 1 playoff appearance (presuming an early exit, they would most likely be dogs even at home).  Most ppl would say no.  ( I am also just going off his first 3 years, he could continue to play and have more success and make for a different case.)

 

But I was a defender of the trade at the time, and would make the same deal if given the opportunity again in a similar situation (just hope the guy doesn't have a life threatening injury next time around).  

 

For the simple reasons 1. While I loved fuller, we have had decent luck with young defensive backs in recent years.  2.  You have a chance to go from no qb to above avg qb at a modest price tag, you take it every time.  It was a safe assumption that he could give you 5 solid years.  I had faith in him (had none with mcnabb at the time of that trade for comparisons sake).  And you have to admit, AS has a knack for winning games.  It is amazing when you look at his record and think about how rather unspectacular his play has been.  But that is such an amazing and valuable trait.  It's what winners do.  

 

So long story short, even though the return has been short compared to the assets surrendered in the trade, I don't blame the skins for making the deal, I'd do it again, I feel AS is/ has been underrated, and I have hope he can have success here in 2021 and beyond.

Edited December 12, 2020 by KillBill26
Me no have good grammar.

[Skinsinparadise]

44 minutes ago, carex said:

 

we still needed a QB for the future.  If Snyder is why we got Haskins and Haskins was available in the first where we picked with Alex Smith as our QB we would have picked him.  The QBs we got because of the injury are Sanchez, Johnson, Keenum and maybe Allen

 

Maybe but part of me doubts they'd have drafted Haskins basically at the start of a 4-5 year contract for Alex.  

[carex]

3 hours ago, Skinsinparadise said:

 

Maybe but part of me doubts they'd have drafted Haskins basically at the start of a 4-5 year contract for Alex.  

 

this is one of Bruce Allen's voidable year contracts, that was always designed to be ended after year three

[Est.1974]

4 hours ago, carex said:

 

this is one of Bruce Allen's voidable year contracts, that was always designed to be ended after year three

agree, it was definitely an opt out after 2020 deal. Looking like Smith will get one more year out of it if he has a desire to play in 2021.

[ILikeBilly]

Has anyone mentioned that if Alex doesn't get hurt, Gruden might still be our coach.  We were 6-3 and probably win the division the year Alex was hurt.  The next year, we are stable at QB and at the worst probably have an 8-8 year. Third year we draft Haskins to sit on the bench and learn from A!ex the starter.  This year - Gruden is coach, Alex is ???? and Haskins might be our starter.  Scary stuff....

Edited December 12, 2020 by ILikeBilly

[Voice_of_Reason]

15 minutes ago, ILikeBilly said:

Has anyone mentioned that if Alex doesn't get hurt, Gruden might still be our coach.  We were 6-3 and probably win the division the year Alex was hurt.  The next year, we are stable at QB and at the worst probably have an 8-8 year. Third year we draft Haskins to sit on the bench and learn from A!ex the starter.  This year - Gruden is coach, Alex is ???? and Haskins might be our starter.  Scary stuff....

I really don't want to get into the Gruden thing.  There's no question history would be somewhat different if Smith didn't get hurt.  That said, even if Alex didn't get hurt, Gruden was a bottom 10 coach, if not bottom 5 coach in the league.  And Allen was a bottom 1 GM/Exec.  That's a lot for one guy to overcome.  I'm not sure they win their division or make the playoffs.  They were 6-4 on their way to 6-4, and they were being BLOWN OUT by any team that had a semblance of an offense.  The absolutely awful Falcons hung something like 40 points on them.  They might have snuck in at 9-7.  They might have collapsed.  The 2016 team was probably the best team of the Gruden era, and they completely folded down the stretch.  Is Alex better than Kirk?  Maybe.  Is he more clutch.  Again, maybe.  Smith's career also has some real duds in them in big spots also, so saying definitively the 2018 team would have done anything except for finish ~8-8 would be defying history.  Now, I'll grant you, they would have been better with Smith than with Colt, butt fumble or whatshisname.  That's for sure.  

 

I don't think Gruden would have been able to get out of his own way, on the defensive side of the ball especially, and I don't think Allen would have let sustained success occur either.  

 

Would we have ended up in exactly the same spot?  No.  But I think the Gruden/Allen regime was going to come to an end in 2-3 years regardless of whether Smith got hurt simply because both of them were terrible at their jobs. And eventually, the excuses run out.  

[carex]

1 hour ago, ILikeBilly said:

Has anyone mentioned that if Alex doesn't get hurt, Gruden might still be our coach.  We were 6-3 and probably win the division the year Alex was hurt.  The next year, we are stable at QB and at the worst probably have an 8-8 year. Third year we draft Haskins to sit on the bench and learn from A!ex the starter.  This year - Gruden is coach, Alex is ???? and Haskins might be our starter.  Scary stuff....

 

This is the third year.  Alex was injured two years ago as of  Nov 18.  You added TWO years to this time frame.  I guess time sure flies when you're thinking about life threatening body horror

Edited December 12, 2020 by carex

[Est.1974]

Gruden would have probably been caught up more in the off field scandal as well I think. He would be long gone by one means or another.

 

Back on Smith, very interesting situation brewing for next year. He’s got a 19mil contracted salary there for the taking. Quite a lot to leave on the table.

[Voice_of_Reason]

7 minutes ago, UK SKINS FAN 74 said:

Gruden would have probably been caught up more in the off field scandal as well I think. He would be long gone by one means or another.

 

Back on Smith, very interesting situation brewing for next year. He’s got a 19mil contracted salary there for the taking. Quite a lot to leave on the table.

He's got all the money he needs for this lifetime and the next. 

 

It's really going to come down to whether he is basically ensured he's the opening day starter and if his family (particularly his wife) is down with him playing another year.

 

If he's not ensured the starting job, I don't think he comes back to be a backup.  He's really sharp, and could go into coaching, FO, or broadcasting the day he retires.  I doubt he would find it worth it to come back to be a backup if he thinks he can still play.  

 

If he can start, I think he'll come back.

[Cooleyfan1993]

@Voice_of_Reason you don’t think the 2018 team would’ve finished better than 8-8 if Alex smith hadn’t gotten injured? 
 

the losses we had when he was hurt were 

-Dallas on thanksgiving 

-Philly on MNF

-giants, who scored 40+ points on us 

-Titans 

-Philly to end the regular season 

 

surely smith wouldn’t have gotten us in such a deep hole against the giants like Sanchez did. Smith probably gets us a W. In Dallas on thanksgiving, we lost by 6 points, so it was a close game. With smith starting, we were 1-0 against them,   I think smith would’ve gotten us a W. Philly MNF against Foles, i think with smith that’s a W also.

 

titans, probably a loss. But that game was pretty close too even with josh Johnson starting 

 

Philly to end the season, probably a W instead of a shutout. 

[Skinsinparadise]

I think we'd have ended at 9-7 at best in 2018.  The Tampa game was a total fluke game and Alex was pretty bad in it.  I was there in person baking in the sun and I can recall that game painfully.  Tampa had a bad defense then but we still couldn't move the ball against them.  Fortunately Tampa kept imploding with turnovers in the red zone and missed multiple field goals.

 

If I recall it was one of the most lopsided statisitical games in NFL history to end in a loss for the dominant team statistically.  The one IMO impressive win under Alex in 2018 was against GB but Rodgers was injured and wasn't himself in that game.  Alex IMO wasn't that hot in 2018 and maybe more on point the defense struggled against good offenses.  They were well on their way to losing the Texans game which would have made Alex 6-4 and like I said the tampa game was a total fluke.  They easily could have been 5-5.  They got smoked by Atlanta and NO.  And the Colts who played a similar type of grinding type of game beat them at home -- the Colts IMO were a better version of what the WFT tried to be that season. 

 

I think 2020 Alex > 2018 Alex.  WFT 2020 defense > 2018 defense

 

As to below that's the power of preparing hard for games and supposedly its something Dwayne wasn't doing.  Cooley thinks this should be a good test for Alex.  His point more or less was this defense might foil Alex/WFT.  He thinks the way SF plays defense, Alex won't be able to just major in short passes.  He think you got to loosen their defense up by testing them down the field and make plays outside the pocket.  He thinks if Alex just stays in the pockt and relies on the short passing game -- SF might throttle that game plan successfully. 

 

 

 

 

Edited December 13, 2020 by Skinsinparadise

[Voice_of_Reason]

@Skinsinparadise I also think this offense fits Smith a lot better than the Gruden offense. And that’s not a knock on Gruden’s system. This one just seems to fit Alex like a glove.  

And pretty obviously:

Ron > Jay

JDR > Manusky

McLaurin > any offensive skill position player on the 2018 team.

Current DL > 2018 version.  
 

In short, this team is more talented and better coached (by miles) than the 2018 version.  
 

There’s only 1 spot on 2018 where the 2018 team was absolutely better than the 2020 team and that’s LT.  

[Malapropismic Depository]

So the calf muscle is from the same leg that had the operations.

But what I'm wondering, is whether it's one of the actual muscles that he had transplanted from a quad or somewhere else

[joeken24]

26 minutes ago, Malapropismic Depository said:

So the calf muscle is from the same leg that had the operations.

But what I'm wondering, is whether it's one of the actual muscles that he had transplanted from a quad or somewhere else

Interesting. Hopefully, he's ok. But as the season goes on with colder games (higher barometric pressure/harder surfaces) it'll be interesting to see Alex's journey.

Hope the best for him.  

 

[skinny21]

2 hours ago, joeken24 said:

Interesting. Hopefully, he's ok. But as the season goes on with colder games (higher barometric pressure/harder surfaces) it'll be interesting to see Alex's journey.

Hope the best for him.  

 

Or sloppier fields... good point

[TheShredder]

2 hours ago, Malapropismic Depository said:

So the calf muscle is from the same leg that had the operations.

But what I'm wondering, is whether it's one of the actual muscles that he had transplanted from a quad or somewhere else

Well muscle fibers come in two categories, fast twitch or slow twitch, however muscle is muscle.  It doesn't matter where it comes from if it takes, it takes.  He strained his calf.  Which is a tear of some degree in the fibers.  Two-four weeks to heal completely.  The fact he was tight and having issues to start the game and it affected his throws is why he didn't return.  If he practices and it's not worse they might play him, otherwise they'll sit him for the final 2. 

[Malapropismic Depository]

27 minutes ago, TheShredder said:

Well muscle fibers come in two categories, fast twitch or slow twitch, however muscle is muscle.  It doesn't matter where it comes from if it takes, it takes.  He strained his calf.  Which is a tear of some degree in the fibers.  Two-four weeks to heal completely.  The fact he was tight and having issues to start the game and it affected his throws is why he didn't return.  If he practices and it's not worse they might play him, otherwise they'll sit him for the final 2. 

 

So are you saying that no matter what ; he is almost definitely out for at least 2 weeks, and there's no chance he starts on Sunday ?

When Coach said that he held Alex out for the remainder of the game Sunday, only "out of abundance of caution", that gave me a strong impression based on that, that he should be ready by next Sunday.

Edited December 14, 2020 by Malapropismic Depository

[Est.1974]

Rivera sure likes the term abundance of caution....

 

Mild calf strain is a good outcome. Smith was having a tough day anyway.

 

For me, I think it has been a reality check on the probable fragility of Smith. That extra caution will always be required. Will that be a factor on his return next season?

 

Smith may be hesitant to face the rigours of another year in this game. Don’t know.

 

Thankfully he’s alright. We need him back to close out the season. 

Next season? Not so sure now. 

 

 

[TheShredder]

3 hours ago, Malapropismic Depository said:

 

So are you saying that no matter what ; he is almost definitely out for at least 2 weeks, and there's no chance he starts on Sunday ?

When Coach said that he held Alex out for the remainder of the game Sunday, only "out of abundance of caution", that gave me a strong impression based on that, that he should be ready by next Sunday.

3 hours ago, TheShredder said:

If he practices and it's not worse they might play him, otherwise they'll sit him for the final 2. 

 

Edited December 14, 2020 by TheShredder

[HigSkin]

John Keim on the Junkies this morning said he thought he saw something on the first play of the game where that leg got hit and then Scherff fell on him.  He thinks it might have happened then.  That could explain his early struggles if it happen that soon in the game.

 

 

Edited December 14, 2020 by HigSkin

[Skinsinparadise]

14 minutes ago, HigSkin said:

John Keim on the Junkies this morning said he thought he saw something on the first play of the game where that leg got hit and then Scherff fell on him.  He thinks it might have happened then.  That could explain his early struggles if it happen that soon in the game.

 

 

 

It would make me feel better about his game yesterday which was big time off.   Hopefully he's OK.  I got my doubts Haskins can take us to the playoffs.   With Alex, I think we can. 

 

 

 

3 hours ago, UK SKINS FAN 74 said:

Rivera sure likes the term abundance of caution....

 

Mild calf strain is a good outcome. Smith was having a tough day anyway.

 

For me, I think it has been a reality check on the probable fragility of Smith. That extra caution will always be required. Will that be a factor on his return next season?

 

Smith may be hesitant to face the rigours of another year in this game. Don’t know.

 

Thankfully he’s alright. We need him back to close out the season. 

Next season? Not so sure now. 

 

 

 

Alex has been hardcore noncommittal about returning next season.  He hasn't even hinted that he's coming back.  He may come back but yesterday's game brought home we need to have the future QB hopefully in place. 

[DJHJR86]

Smith is dead last in QBR and 30th in passer rating.  We need a quarterback next year no matter what.  

[Renegade7]

It's a bad idea expecting Alex to play 16 games next year.

[Est.1974]

43 minutes ago, Renegade7 said:

It's a bad idea expecting Alex to play 16 games next year.

that’s where I’m at, i agree.

[Voice_of_Reason]

2 hours ago, DJHJR86 said:

Smith is dead last in QBR and 30th in passer rating.  We need a quarterback next year no matter what.  

Yeah, but part of that is because of his absolutely awful performance in relief against the Rams.  

 

He actually had really good numbers from that point on, until this week.

 

I think he either came into the game with some issue, or he got it really, really early.  Because I knew something wasn't right when he bounce-passed a ball to McLaurin on an out route to his left.  He's almost 100% on that throw, and it wasn't even close, it was probably 12 yards short.  And it's a lot harder to throw a ball to the outside with pace than throw a deep ball with loft.  He got the ball out there to Foster, (who should have kept running and caught the damn thing), but you always see arm issue crop up when a QB is trying to drive a ball into a tight window.  Which is he was doing with that throw to McLaurin.

 

Hopefully it's just a sprain and he can get it loosened up, but if he can't, he can't play.  Because it's really clear he can't plant and throw off of it, which effects his accuracy, and the one thing he's got going for him is accuracy and timing.  

 

If he can't go, then I assume we see Dwayne.  And Dwayne better be ready to go.  At least he'll get all the reps this week and they'll have a plan for him.