Andy Reid: “There’s no gray area” at starting quarterback
By Matt Conner
Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid says there’s “no gray area” when it comes to who starts at quarterback. It’s Alex Smith and no one else.
The playoff loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers, the one in which the Kansas City Chiefs failed to win despite holding Ben Roethlisberger without a touchdown, didn’t matter. Neither did the price paid for the Chiefs to move up to No. 10 overall in the 2017 NFL Draft to acquire Patrick Mahomes. For that matter, Mahomes’s impressive preseason performance hasn’t moved the meter either. Nothing is apparently going to move the Chiefs away from Alex Smith as their starting quarterback. Andy Reid, the team’s head coach, reminded the media of that fact on Monday.
Reid on Mahomes' chances of winning starting job this year: "It's Alex's job. That's what it is. There's no gray area with that."
— RIP Terez A. Paylor (@TerezPaylor) August 21, 2017
It’s the same thing Reid and company have been saying since the end of last season. From team owner Clark Hunt to general manager John Dorsey to head coach Andy Reid, the Chiefs have been crystal clear from the beginning that Smith was the starting quarterback for 2017. No acquisition or preseason performance or recent loss was ever going to change that, fan excitement be damned.
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While it can be argued that Mahomes deserves a chance to start immediately and gain real-game experience versus sitting on the bench for an entire year, wasting his youth on a lost season, the reality is that Reid and company clearly believe otherwise. For those who’d like to call foul on that notion, just remember that your job is not on the line here. For those whose livelihood depends on their approach, they clearly believe Mahomes needs to sit.
Smith has earned the support on the back of his performance and career record. Smith has never thrown more than 8 interceptions in a single season, and he’s also averaged 11 wins per year for the Chiefs. He’s led them to the playoffs 3 of the last four seasons, their first division title in six years and the biggest comeback in franchise history last year against the San Diego Chargers. The Chiefs also enjoyed their first playoff win in 22 years with their victory over the Houston Texans in 2015.
Still Reid is likely going to keep some amount of Chiefs fans frustrated by leaving their exciting young quarterback on the bench. Yet Reid’s been around long enough to know that being reactive instead of proactive is no way to win. This is Alex Smith’s team and Reid has made that clear as day, even for those who want to keep things foggy.