Washington Redskins: Alex Smith can throw the deep ball

There’s a narrative that new Washington Redskins quarterback Alex Smith can’t throw the deep ball. That’s not true at all, however.

For years, the running joke around the NFL was new Washington Redskins‘ quarterback Alex Smith couldn’t throw the deep ball. It wasn’t necessarily that Smith couldn’t throw the deep ball, but that he was too afraid to do so. Smith — undeservedly — earned the reputation as a dink-and-dunk quarterback who’d rather check the ball down than challenge down the field.

Well, that’s not necessarily true. In his early years with the 49ers, when Smith could get a new offensive coordinator on a yearly basis, the narrative was certainly true. Smith couldn’t gain comfort in an offense because it changed every year. Fortunately for the former No. 1 overall pick in the 2005 NFL Draft, he got to Kansas City and played under Andy Reid for the past five years and slowly changed that narrative.

Doug Farrar of Bleacher Report felt Smith took a huge step forward in 2017. Smith, of course, had some pretty good personnel around him. But, outgoing quarterback Kirk Cousins also had DeSean Jackson — arguably the best deep threat of all-time — for the previous two years before 2017 and he wasn’t always overly efficient with the deep ball despite having the reputation of being a better downfield passer than Smith.

Playing five years in Reid’s offense played a big part in Smith’s confidence. His new coach, Jay Gruden, also comes from the same background in the West Coast offense. Much like Reid, Gruden likes the deep ball. He was often frustrated with Cousins and his lack of decisiveness in throwing the ball down the field.

Smith’s passer rating of 126.9 on deep balls (balls that travel 15 yards or more in the air) was second in the NFL behind Matthew Stafford in 2017. That’s impressive. In order for the Redskins to allow Smith to have that type of success in Washington, they’ll need to add a speedy receiver on the outside opposite of Josh Doctson. Doctson himself is a great deep-ball guy but he doesn’t do it with speed.

Washington’s offense has an opportunity to take a step forward with Smith under center. His ability to make off-schedule plays will be an asset. Gruden always wanted more of that from Cousins. Smith can also help Washington’s running game if Gruden will incorporate more RPOs (run-pass options) in the offense. Smith excels in this area going back to his college days at Utah playing for Urban Meyer.

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Make no mistake, Washington will miss Cousins, at least initially. He had been in this offense for the last four years, starting the past 49 games. However, despite what some may tell you, Smith will not be a downgrade in Washington’s downfield passing game and is playing the best football of his career.

Now, the Redskins must surround Smith with talented weapons. Having the faith in this front office to do just that should be more of a concern than Smith’s skill set.