Comparing Donovan McNabb, Alex Smith and Patrick Mahomes

Alex Smith

Prior to Reid & Smith, the Kansas City Chiefs’ organization had spent most of the last decade in the middle or bottom of league rankings. Their previous two seasons had seen the firing of two head coaches after consecutive abysmal campaigns. To most Chiefs’ fans, all seemed lost. Most had accepted the fact that the team would likely never be consistently competitive. What else would be realistic to believe. The nine years following the spectacular 2003 regular season saw the team go 55-89. There was not much to cheer for. But, luckily for Chiefs fans and Smith, Andy Reid was coming to town.

One of the first moves Reid’s regime made was to trade two second-round picks for often maligned San Francisco 49ers quarterback, Alex Smith. The best way to describe Smith’s overall career is volatile. In college, he had great success in the Ute’s spread style offense. He finished fourth in the 2004 Heisman voting, was selected as the 2004 Mountain West Conference Player of the Year, and lead the Utes to victory in the Fiesta Bowl. He was ultimately drafted number one overall by the 49ers and was seen as a rising star.

Unfortunately for Smith, the 49ers would present a tumultuous beginning to his career. Over the next seven seasons, Smith played under three different head coaches and seven different offensive coordinators. This is usually a terrible situation for any quarterback, let alone a young one. Not surprisingly, Smith did not achieve much success early in his career. But, time and losses brought with it Jim Harbaugh, and Smith’s fortunes seemed to be improving.

Again, unfortunately this was not the case. After leading the 49ers to the NFC Championship game the year before, Smith got injured and was ultimately benched during the 2012 season. In Smith-like fashion however, he handled the situation with great professionalism and was eventually rewarded by being traded to the Chiefs.

With this move, Smith became an integral part of a model of consistency. Over the next 5 years, Reid and the Chiefs would maintain the core of their coaching and player personnel. With this consistency came the the longest stretch of success in Smith’s career. The team went on to win over 66 percent of its games, made the playoffs 80 percent of the time, and Smith himself made the pro-bowl three out of five years, something he had not done once as a 49er.

While the Chiefs did not win the coveted Lombardi trophy during Smith’s tenure, it was still one to remember. His career success, as well as the Chiefs’ fortunes, skyrocketed as a result of the “Reid Effect.” With this in mind, let’s take a look at arguably the most talented quarterback Reid has had the opportunity to coach.