Washington Football Team: Keep Alex Smith off the field
By Hunter Noll
Alex Smith is cleared but the Washington Football Team shouldn’t play him.
The Washington Football Team has not had a ton of success on the field in recent years. And by recent years, we’re talking the last few decades. One of their biggest issues has been the quarterback position. They had a few good years from Mark Brunell and Kirk Cousins. And that Robert Griffin III rookie season was absolutely magical.
Other than that though, there really hasn’t been anything to brag about for Washington when it comes to quarterbacks. They traded for veteran Alex Smith a few years ago. And he was supposed to be the answer for a few seasons. He never put up massive numbers, but he always found a way to win games.
And in his first season, back in 2018, Smith was delivering on those expectations. His numbers were not great. Through the first 10 games of the season, Smith had 2,180 yards and 10 touchdowns compared to five interceptions.
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However, Washington was winning, they were 6-3 and led the NFC East. Then came Week 11 and that horrid injury to Smith. He was out for the year (and longer), and Washington went 1-6 the rest of the way, finishing the season 7-9.
That offseason, they selected Dwayne Haskins with the 15th overall pick in the 2019 NFL Draft. Haskins had an up-and-down rookie year in 2019.
He started the year on the bench and was irresponsibly thrown into a game by Jay Gruden that saw him look ill-prepared. When Haskins finally did become the starter, he looked much better, and only improved as the year went on. By the end of the year, the rookie had strung together some very impressive games. Now he’s set to be the starter in 2020 and for a long time after that. Or is he?
Smith has had a long road to recovery and is actually just about ready to get back out there. It’s incredible considering this is an injury that very easily could have left him without the ability to walk. At one point, amputating his leg was a very real possibility.
Now there are talks of him being ready for 2020, and with it, people saying Smith should compete for the starting job.
But no. Just no. Stop it — for two reasons.
Alex Smith has no business on the field for the Washington Football Team
First of all, Washington can’t put Alex Smith back on the field this early after the injury. It’s just irresponsible. At this time last year, people were literally talking about amputation as a possibility. And we were talking about the incredible amount of surgeries he went through.
Washington needs to be smart about this. The PR for the team is not exactly great at the moment. There was, of course, the fact that they finally decided to do the name change. This, you would think, would be good PR. But all it’s really done is made people that wanted the name to stay angry while making people that have lobbied for it to be changed wonder why it took so long.
And let’s not forget the “culture of sexual harassment and abuse” situation that was apparently running rampant throughout the organization that’s still hanging over the team.
So maybe throwing a 36-year-old quarterback out onto the field with a mangled leg isn’t the right move. If he goes down again, Washington’s going to be hit with think pieces from every direction talking about how irresponsible the move was.
Then there’s Haskins. Haskins looked great at the end of last season. And this offseason, he’s only added to the hype. The 23-year-old has lost weight and trimmed down the body fat. He’s constantly shown off his cannon while giving everyone a glimpse of his improved touch. Haskins has even made clear massive improvements to his footwork.
2020 could be the start of something special for Washington in Haskins. And he has Smith there to guide him and help him make all the right decisions. Don’t stunt his growth by suddenly benching him again.
Maybe try and convince the veteran to take a coaching gig? Look, I completely understand Alex Smith’s point of view on this. Personally, I think he should be happy that he came out of this as well as he did and walk away while that’s still something he can do.
Smith’s a very likable quarterback. One that his players, coaches, the media and the fans all seem to love. No one wants to see anything else terrible happen to him.
But for the quarterback, he probably wants to end things on his terms. He had a fantastic career and definitely never planned on it ending like that. So he wants a chance to play again and leave the game when he wants to leave it. However, Washington can’t put him out there. At least not yet.
It just seems to risky. And stunting the growth of a 23-year-old quarterback with unlimited potential who has made marked improvements in his game to give a 36-year-old coming off one of the most gruesome injuries in a long time a chance to not destroy his leg again just seems counterproductive.
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Washington will want to do whatever they believe helps them compete right now is. And Smith has proven he can win in the NFL. This is Haskins’ team now, though. Don’t delay that any longer. They can put up a competitive team with him at quarterback. Risking further injury to Alex Smith this soon after he recovered because you don’t believe in your 2019 first-round draft pick is just irresponsible for all types of reasons.