Chiefs not considering benching Alex Smith for Patrick Mahomes this season

[thegame214]

https://www.cbssports.com/nfl/news/c...s-this-season/


Per Jason La Canfora


Despite their recent struggles on offense, the Chiefs are not inclined to make any switch at quarterback, team sources said, though the staff does remain very bullish on first-round pick Patrick Mahomes and his ability to take over as soon as next season. Mahomes continues to impress teammates and coaches with his efforts in practice and how he conducts himself in meetings and around the facility, and there is a strong sense that he could be a franchise quarterback sooner rather than later.

Even with their recent falloff in the passing game and running game, and with Mahomes' athleticism and huge arm, there is no movement to move on from veteran Alex Smith now and the only way he would lose his job would be to injury, sources said. Smith has tailed off from what was an MVP-like first half, with the Chiefs storming to a 5-0 record and being talked about as perhaps the best team in football.

They've gone into a 1-4 swoon since then and face a critical AFC game with the Bills this weekend, with the Chargers suddenly surging in the AFC West and the Raiders still capable of making a run, too. Smith has failed to maintain the big plays downfield that helped the team get off to such a torrid start -- the dink-and-dunk nature of the offense under him was part of the allure of Mahomes in the draft, as his gunslinger approach is the opposite of that -- and rookie running back Kareem Hunt has been bottled up as well.

Smith is coming off his worst game of the season in a loss to the lowly Giants coming out of the bye. He threw multiple interceptions, which is out of character for him. Coach Andy Reid was somewhat critical of his play after that, but Smith continues to get the bulk of starting reps and is entrusted with getting this team to the postseason.

However, numerous other GMs anticipate the Chiefs shopping Smith, who has one year left on his contract, in the offseason. He is signed to a team-friendly deal that is easy to deal, he would have significant value to any contending team that may want to upgrade at quarterback (Jacksonville; Arizona or Denver if they opt not to rebuild) and he is a proven, steady hand who teammates love and who protects the football (almost to a fault). The Chiefs seem poised to turn the offense over to Mahomes and it would be anything but a surprise should Smith leave Kansas City via trade after arriving there from a swap with the 49ers upon Reid's hiring.

[tk13]

Originally Posted by Discuss Thrower

If they need to tool an offense specifically for Smith and then retool it for Mahomes the year later, then they are basically conceding at least two seasons if not more of being postseason contenders.

What in the mother of ****...

They were probably doing that whether Mahomes played this year or not. That's just the nature of drafting a 1st round QB. I don't think a rookie QB has ever even been to a Super Bowl. There have certainly been rookies to get into the playoffs and have success, but they often have elite running attacks and defenses to support them, and they usually get knocked out by a more experienced QB. Even if Mahomes turns out great he'll probably have to take some lumps to get there.

[chiefzilla1501]

Originally Posted by Discuss Thrower

If they need to tool an offense specifically for Smith and then retool it for Mahomes the year later, then they are basically conceding at least two seasons if not more of being postseason contenders.

What in the mother of ****...

I don't see how they're conceding next season. I doubt it's going to be hard for anyone to learn a new offense.

[OKchiefs]

Originally Posted by chiefzilla1501

That's how I see it. I think the Chiefs saw an opportunity to usher Smith out respectfully (with minimal backlash from the team or fans) while giving Mahomes lots of time to develop. Everything in the tea leaves sounded like the Chiefs have known for a very long time that Alex is gone next year. Neither they or anyone here ever expected it to go this badly.

Smith is a piece of trash, he doesn't deserve any respect. The fact that he has the physical capability to be a good quarterback but is too much of a pussy to do anything erases any respect he deserves.

[Discuss Thrower]

Originally Posted by chiefzilla1501

I don't see how they're conceding next season. I doubt it's going to be hard for anyone to learn a new offense.

Bullshit.

[chiefzilla1501]

Originally Posted by Discuss Thrower

Bullshit.

The WCO is a really difficult scheme to learn. I'm sure they'll transition to more of a Spread/Air Raid. If the offensive personnel can run a WCO, they can run another offense. You think it's new for a team to walk into a season with a new scheme?

[BryanBusby]

Originally Posted by Discuss Thrower

If they need to tool an offense specifically for Smith and then retool it for Mahomes the year later, then they are basically conceding at least two seasons if not more of being postseason contenders.

What in the mother of ****...

I don't get where you're even going. Teams are absolutely going to tool their Offense to highlight strength of their starting QB and mask weaknesses. Do you think this is a KC specific thing? Because lol.

['Hamas' Jenkins]

Originally Posted by Discuss Thrower

I don't get that reasoning at all.

There's no ****ing point of Mahomes being the backup and getting familiarized with "Smith's" offense if they're going to scrap that offense in a year's time anyway.

That's because you don't understand what he's talking about.

Getting familiarized with the offense isn't about memorizing plays, it's about learning the terminology and the concepts of the offense. Reid has shown that he will mold the offense to the quarterback. That's why the offense he used with McNabb had far more of a vertical element, and the one he used with Smith was a horizontal one.

Reid is always going to use West Coast terminology and verbiage in his offense, but elements of the offense, including route combinations, will be molded to fit Mahomes once he is the starter, but that alteration is not going to reerun his growth, nor will it require any sort of a learning curve.

For example, this first 52 page of this 67 page PDF is about terminology of the WCO:

http://www.playbookexchange.net/play...-WestCoast.pdf


This, roughly, is the kind of stuff he is learning this year.

[BryanBusby]

Originally Posted by chiefzilla1501

I don't see how they're conceding next season. I doubt it's going to be hard for anyone to learn a new offense.

Where the hell are people are getting the idea that they will be learning a whole new Offense?

[chiefzilla1501]

Originally Posted by BryanBusby

Where the hell are people are getting the idea that they will be learning a whole new Offense?

yeah, "new offense" is used pretty loosely. It's not like we're changing coordinators. Certainly not as hard to learn as Discuss is thinking it will be.

[BryanBusby]

Originally Posted by chiefzilla1501

yeah, "new offense" is used pretty loosely. It's not like we're changing coordinators. Certainly not as hard to learn as Discuss is thinking it will be.

More or less Andy will have Pat pick out some plays from his base book he likes to run and some he hates. He'll scrap the ones Pat hates and take the ones he likes and add variants of them to flesh out more of a Mahomes system.

The bigger changes will be more about personnel. The idea discuss thinks 2 full years of Chiefs Football was all for nothing over this is hilarious.

['Hamas' Jenkins]

Originally Posted by BryanBusby

More or less Andy will have Pat pick out some plays from his base book he likes to run and some he hates. He'll scrap the ones Pat hates and take the ones he likes and add variants of them to flesh out more of a Mahomes system.

The bigger changes will be more about personnel. The idea discuss thinks 2 full years of Chiefs Football was all for nothing over this is hilarious.

Discuss is miserable and wants everyone else to be miserable. Once you understand that, you'll understand his posting style.

[Coach]

Originally Posted by 'Hamas' Jenkins

That's because you don't understand what he's talking about.

Getting familiarized with the offense isn't about memorizing plays, it's about learning the terminology and the concepts of the offense. Reid has shown that he will mold the offense to the quarterback. That's why the offense he used with McNabb had far more of a vertical element, and the one he used with Smith was a horizontal one.

Reid is always going to use West Coast terminology and verbiage in his offense, but elements of the offense, including route combinations, will be molded to fit Mahomes once he is the starter, but that alteration is not going to reerun his growth, nor will it require any sort of a learning curve.

For example, this first 52 page of this 67 page PDF is about terminology of the WCO:

http://www.playbookexchange.net/play...-WestCoast.pdf


This, roughly, is the kind of stuff he is learning this year.

The WCO is a complex terminology, for sure. So while I do understand the reasoning for Mahomes to not play this year due to the complexness of the WCO, the flip side of the argument is, wouldn't the learning curve somewhat speed up if he were to apply it to a real live game situation instead of learning it on the classroom with no on-the-job learning experience?

If the Chiefs were 8-3 instead of 6-5, even with Smith's struggles right now, I can see the reasoning of not putting him into it because of the 8-3 record. The end result would still most likely be bounced out of the playoffs in a Wild Card round. But unfortunately, they are not 8-3 and with Smith's struggles on top of that, it just makes it frustrating to watch, considering most of everybody knows that the end result will most likely either be one and done, or possibly (if they keep losing) missing the playoffs.

So why not give the kid a chance? There is similar precedent, the 2004 NYG team where they were 5-2, but Kurt Warner was struggling and was benched in favor of Eli Manning. They did miss the playoffs that year, but it paid dividends down the road.

[Coogs]

Originally Posted by 'Hamas' Jenkins

That's because you don't understand what he's talking about.

Getting familiarized with the offense isn't about memorizing plays, it's about learning the terminology and the concepts of the offense. Reid has shown that he will mold the offense to the quarterback. That's why the offense he used with McNabb had far more of a vertical element, and the one he used with Smith was a horizontal one.

Reid is always going to use West Coast terminology and verbiage in his offense, but elements of the offense, including route combinations, will be molded to fit Mahomes once he is the starter, but that alteration is not going to reerun his growth, nor will it require any sort of a learning curve.

For example, this first 52 page of this 67 page PDF is about terminology of the WCO:

http://www.playbookexchange.net/play...-WestCoast.pdf


This, roughly, is the kind of stuff he is learning this year.

Wentz is doing it.

[Coogs]

Hell, if it is that hard, why tell him the play in the headset and have him repeat it. Give him one of those forearm band playlist things, and tell him "page 3, play 5" and let him read it to the team. If he knows the keywords... which he should by now... that shouldn't be a problem.

[mcaj22]

Originally Posted by Discuss Thrower

If they need to tool an offense specifically for Smith and then retool it for Mahomes the year later, then they are basically conceding at least two seasons if not more of being postseason contenders.

What in the mother of ****...

Houston changed their entire offense on the fly with Watson during the season then had to change it back for that statue Tom Savage. It can be done.