Jaworski rates Chiefs QB at No. 20 among NFL starters

[Tribal Warfare]

Jaworski rates Chiefs QB at No. 20 among NFL starters

The Kansas City Star
Former NFL quarterback-turned-broadcaster Ron Jaworski ranks new Chiefs quarterback Alex Smith No. 20 among the NFL's 32 starting quarterbacks.

That's according to Jaworski's ratings on ESPN's MediaZone site, transcribed from his three-minute daily segments dubbed "Jaws' QB Countdown" on SportsCenter and NFL Live.

Smith, of course, was acquired in a trade from San Francisco this offseason, and has yet to throw a pass in Kansas City (aside from OTAs, that is).

Here are some excerpts from Jaworski's evaluation of Smith:

“A year ago, Smith was coming off his best season in the NFL, having led the 49ers to the NFC Championship. This year, he’s the starting quarterback for the Kansas City Chiefs. It was a great move by (Chiefs coach) Andy Reid to acquire Smith.

“The defining element of Smith’s play is efficiency. He executes the offense the way it’s designed, and he makes very few mistakes. Last season – for the second year in a row – he was exceptional on first down. In 2012 he led the NFL in first-down passing, with a quarterback rating of 119. Much of it came off play-action, or in the case of the 49ers, hard run-action out of base personnel. There was no better play-action quarterback last season than Smith. He had a quarterback rating of over 132.

“Smith has been outstanding out of multiple tight end personnel over the last couple of seasons. No quarterback has thrown the ball more with three tight ends on the field. You don’t see that very often in today’s NFL.

“This play was beautifully designed with all three tight ends to the same side. First, look at the impact of the run-action on the two linebackers and the safety. This was hard run-action. Then you see that Delanie Walker’s vertical route occupied the corner. That left Vernon Davis matched on a safety, a safety that initially reacted to run. He had no chance on Davis’ wheel route.

“One area Smith improved in 2012 was in the pre-snap phase of the game. He was much better at the line of scrimmage checking and audibling.

“It will be interesting to see what Andy Reid does in Kansas City. Don’t be surprised if he turns Smith loose a little bit and features an up-tempo offense with an emphasis on quick throws. Remember, Alex Smith played for Urban Meyer at Utah.”

Other QB's that Jaworski has analyzed so far:

No. 32 Matt Flynn

No. 31 Jake Locker

No. 30 Kevin Kolb

No. 29 Chad Henne

No. 28 Mark Sanchez

No. 27 Christian Ponder

No. 26 Brandon Weeden

No. 25 Michael Vick

No. 24 Ryan Tannehill

No. 23 Carson Palmer

No. 22 Sam Bradford

No. 21 Josh Freeman

[duncan_idaho]

Originally Posted by Marcellus

Yea I can see how a guy playing the best football of his career leading the league in efficiency and YPA is getting carried by the defense.

Makes sense to me. That defense was completing the passes right?

If you take away touchdowns scored by his defense/ST, during the regular season the past two years, Smith's offense scored 548 points by my count. Which comes out to just a shade under 23 PPG. That's good enough for 18th in the NFL in 2012 or 16th in 2011. Not bad, but very middle of the road and not the type of performance you'd expect to accompany a guy who is 19-4 as a starter in that timeframe.

Take away a couple of laugher/blowouts against craptastic teams in each year, and the PPG dip to less than 22.

A QB who is putting up mediocre offensive output yet still winning at that ratio is riding his defense.

And yes, his QB rating is shiny and so are his YPA. It's still impressive, but less so when you apply the context of who Alex Smith really is as a QB. Minimal pass attempts, taking no chances, scrambling early or checking down early instead of hanging in the pocket and throwing heavily off of play-action does wonders for efficiency and YPA.

He's better than Cassel and better than anything the Chiefs have had since Trent Green. But he's still a mediocre starting NFL QB.

[OnTheWarpath15]

Originally Posted by JASONSAUTO

I don't think that was actually said...

I could have missed it though
Posted via Mobile Device

.

Originally Posted by PGM

We have the best coaching and talent in this division pretty easily right now.

[Tombstone RJ]

Originally Posted by JASONSAUTO

I don't think he ever tried to say moeaki was great, just that he had better stats than dressen with much worse qb's. And I don't think an article mentioning one of the broncos proves then a much deeper unit either.
You do realize what "deeper" means, right?
Posted via Mobile Device

Yes, it means better, as in the entire unit as a whole.

Here's his original post on the subject:

Originally Posted by RunKC

QB-Donks by far
RB-Chiefs by far
TE-Chiefs
WR-Donks by far, but Bowe is good tho
OL-Push...you damn well bet that Manning makes them look good with his quick decisions
DL-Donks..Chiefs weakest unit, but Donks don't really have anyone special there anyway
LB-Chiefs by far...Von is best, but we have 3 pro bowlers. Better as a group.
DB-Chiefs-Not by much, but Champ is descending and I'd take Berry and Flowers over DRC and Moore any day of the week and it's not close.

Sorry, but the Broncos are better at the TE position with Tamme and Dreesen, and the young guys like Green and Thomas.

Here's what he said when I pointed out that Dreesen is nice depth:

Originally Posted by RunKC

The same Joel Dressen that had less receiving yards than Moeaki, our 3rd TE? Even though he had 8 more catches than him too? He sounds pretty awesome to me.

You sure do know football!

So RunTard uses our second best TE to somehow prove how great TE Moeaki is? Who the **** cares if Moeaki is better than our second best TE?

Williamson's article does not point out Moeaki as being a anything special but it does say Tamme is one of the top 40 talents in the AFCW.

[OnTheWarpath15]

Originally Posted by duncan_idaho

If you take away touchdowns scored by his defense/ST, during the regular season the past two years, Smith's offense scored 548 points by my count. Which comes out to just a shade under 23 PPG. That's good enough for 18th in the NFL in 2012 or 16th in 2011. Not bad, but very middle of the road and not the type of performance you'd expect to accompany a guy who is 19-4 as a starter in that timeframe.

Take away a couple of laugher/blowouts against craptastic teams in each year, and the PPG dip to less than 22.

A QB who is putting up mediocre offensive output yet still winning at that ratio is riding his defense.

And yes, his QB rating is shiny and so are his YPA. It's still impressive, but less so when you apply the context of who Alex Smith really is as a QB. Minimal pass attempts, taking no chances, scrambling early or checking down early instead of hanging in the pocket and throwing heavily off of play-action does wonders for efficiency and YPA.

He's better than Cassel and better than anything the Chiefs have had since Trent Green. But he's still a mediocre starting NFL QB.

Outstanding post. Rep.

EDIT: Or not. "You must spread some reputation around before giving it to Duncan Idaho again."

[mcaj22]

Originally Posted by duncan_idaho

If you take away touchdowns scored by his defense/ST, during the regular season the past two years, Smith's offense scored 548 points by my count. Which comes out to just a shade under 23 PPG. That's good enough for 18th in the NFL in 2012 or 16th in 2011. Not bad, but very middle of the road and not the type of performance you'd expect to accompany a guy who is 19-4 as a starter in that timeframe.

Take away a couple of laugher/blowouts against craptastic teams in each year, and the PPG dip to less than 22.

A QB who is putting up mediocre offensive output yet still winning at that ratio is riding his defense.

And yes, his QB rating is shiny and so are his YPA. It's still impressive, but less so when you apply the context of who Alex Smith really is as a QB. Minimal pass attempts, taking no chances, scrambling early or checking down early instead of hanging in the pocket and throwing heavily off of play-action does wonders for efficiency and YPA.

He's better than Cassel and better than anything the Chiefs have had since Trent Green. But he's still a mediocre starting NFL QB.

Like I said this whole time, it's a top 3 defense that has to carry Alex Smith to success. It's not Alex Smith that has to have a good breakout year in a Chiefs uniform. It's the Chiefs defense that needs to play very, very well for any chance at a winning record this season.

[whoman69]

IMO Andy Reid and the FO have made decisions that will make them mediocre for years to come

[houstonwhodat]

Originally Posted by -King-

Eh, he's young. He's working on improving his attitude issues this off season. But even with those issues, he's still one of the most productive QBs in NFL history through their first two years. If he improves, he'll be a legit top 3 QB.

Scam Newton sucks ass.

[Rams Fan]

Originally Posted by houstonwhodat

Scam Newton sucks ass.

Drew Brees is Chris Long's bitch.

[Rams Fan]

Originally Posted by milkman

The injury just provides the opportunity that he would not have been given otherwise.

Wouldn't he have been given the opportunity prior to Harbaugh's first season then? Smith was on a 1 year contract and wasn't apart of the previous regime that led to him being drafted.

[Marcellus]

Originally Posted by duncan_idaho

If you take away touchdowns scored by his defense/ST, during the regular season the past two years, Smith's offense scored 548 points by my count. Which comes out to just a shade under 23 PPG. That's good enough for 18th in the NFL in 2012 or 16th in 2011. Not bad, but very middle of the road and not the type of performance you'd expect to accompany a guy who is 19-4 as a starter in that timeframe.

Take away a couple of laugher/blowouts against craptastic teams in each year, and the PPG dip to less than 22.

A QB who is putting up mediocre offensive output yet still winning at that ratio is riding his defense.

And yes, his QB rating is shiny and so are his YPA. It's still impressive, but less so when you apply the context of who Alex Smith really is as a QB. Minimal pass attempts, taking no chances, scrambling early or checking down early instead of hanging in the pocket and throwing heavily off of play-action does wonders for efficiency and YPA.

He's better than Cassel and better than anything the Chiefs have had since Trent Green. But he's still a mediocre starting NFL QB.

Games are not played in a vacuum. The 49rs had a badass defense so they played to their strengths Harbough is a conservative type coach.

Smith did exactly what he was asked to do and that's all you can ask.

It will be interesting as Reid is obviously not conservative.

People continually act like there is only 1 way to build a SB team and that's only with an elite QB and that's simply not true. You need an above average QB.
I think we have one and I think they will draft and develop another one.

[houstonwhodat]

I'm just glad I have Drew Brees for a few more years before he becomes a senator or president or something.

Brittany Brees would make a fine first lady...

[RealSNR]

Originally Posted by Chief Roundup

Oookay I wouldn't call everyone on that list reasonable about anything Alex Smith.

Reasonable is not bashing the shit out of everything. Reasonable is this is not what I wanted but it was the best option at the time. We will have to move on again quickly from another QB definitely sucks but I prefer this to another year of Cassel ****ing everything up.

Basically reasonable = agreeing with me.

Yeah, right. I'm still going to fight this for years to come that giving up the farm for Alex ****ing Smith was NOT the best option on the table.

And unfortunately for the Chiefs, I've got a pretty strong feeling that I'm right on this one.

[RealSNR]

Originally Posted by houstonwhodat

I'm just glad I have Drew Brees for a few more years before he becomes a senator or president or something.

Brittany Brees would make a fine first lady...

Would you like Drew Brees as much as you do if he were a ninja?

[ChiefGator]

I don't agree that Tamme is a better TE than our group. I like our TE group better than the Broncos, and that is with Moeaki at #3. Fasano and our drafted rookie should both be better blockers than Tamme. Tamme is a pass-catching TE, and that is it. Basically, you use Tamme as your slot receiver, in tighter of course.

[ChiefGator]

Originally Posted by Marcellus

Games are not played in a vacuum. The 49rs had a badass defense so they played to their strengths Harbough is a conservative type coach.

Smith did exactly what he was asked to do and that's all you can ask.

This, over and over.

Yeah, Smith had some bad years with bad coaches. But, he was able to be coached up by Harbaugh and play within Harbaugh's system. I think he has a chance to be the best QB we have had in a long time.