Andy Reid says that Alex Smith could have been saved a troubling early learning curve in the NFL if he could have just coached Smith from the beginning.
At the age of 33, Alex Smith has reached peak performance.
It wasn’t always this way for Smith. While he’s averaged 10 wins per season as the starting quarterback for the Kansas City Chiefs, the first part of his career was a total mess, a revolving door of offensive coordinators, a string of half-learned schemes and a frustration chorus of unmet expectations from fans making demands of the former No. 1 overall pick.
After his first five years in the NFL, Smith hardly looked like a franchise quarterback. He had a career record of 19-31 as a starter with 51 touchdowns and 53 interceptions. He looked overwhelmed and outmatched most of the time, a quarterback who could be tricked into a turnover. In short, he was the opposite of who he is today.
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It turns out that proper coaching and matching scheme are just as important as overall talent in the NFL. Sometimes the brightest burn out under a poor coach. Other times, middling talent can rise to new levels in the right scheme (right, Case Keenum?). Smith’s talent was obvious to all, but it wasn’t until Jim Harbaugh arrived in San Francisco that Smith began to exhibit some consistent success. In Kansas City, he’s taken the next step forward.
When pressed by reporters about Smith’s overall standing in the NFL and whether or not he might be unappreciated, Reid largely skirted the issue on Thursday but did say that Smith would have been much better off if he could have coached Smith from the beginning.
"“I think he’s a phenomenal player. This offense, I wished I would have had him when he was a kid, he could have come up through this offense, I mean it’s kind of built for him and his game. He works hard. He studies like crazy. He’s in early, out late. Now he’s at the point of his career that he can have a say, which is kind of neat to watch. He’s done a nice job.”"
Reid might say that in an ideal world, but it’s not likely that Reid would have actually wanted to replace his quarterback, who was Donovan McNabb, for Smith in those early years. Reid’s words do bring up a great point, however, when trying to consider Smith’s bigger legacy and the way we think of him. If he’s not labeled as a bust early on, perhaps it wouldn’t be so hard for some to give him credit today.