Alex Smiths accuracy wowing fans

[Hog's Gone Fishin]

http://www.kcchiefs.com/news/article...a-a4b423d11a12



Alex Smith's Accuracy Sparks Chiefs Practice
Posted 1 hour ago

Reid Ferrin
Chiefs Insider

KCChiefs.com

Email @KCChiefs_Reid
aaKansas City Chiefs QB Alex Smith wowed the crowd with pinpoint throws

Kansas City Chiefs QB Alex Smith didn't care that the skies were again overcast during practice on Monday; likely because his accurate throws would've outshined the sun, had it made an appearance.

Smith was on-point, nearly perfect, unofficially completing 17 of 20 passes for three TDs during the roughly two-and-a-half hour practice.

"It’s a reflection of the group,” Smith said. “O-line was great today; it starts with them. They did a good job communicating, especially in the blitz period, third down, everybody was on the same page and then there were guys making plays outside. We got off to a good start but really, I think the spark came from the guys up-front."

Among the many pass-catchers Smith connected with on Monday, Chiefs TE Anthony Fasano continues to play at a very-high level. Smith threw to Fasano three-straight times, late in practice, including one TD.

"He's such a dependable guy, so reliable," Smith said of Fasano. "He has such a great knowledge of the game, a great feel for it, defenses and how they’re playing him and he uses his body so well. He continues to make tough catches. He’s what you’re looking for in a TE, that reliable guy that continues to be open, time after time."

Another of Smith's targets was Chiefs WR Dwayne Bowe, whose best catch on Monday was a one-handed grab in 7-on-7s.

"That’s just him making me look good," Smith said. "There’s not much to it. I threw it up there and let him do the rest."

Bowe described the play from a different perspective.

"No, man," Bowe said of Smith's pass. "He put the ball right on the outside; he saw the inside leverage, and our job is to catch the ball; it happened to be a one-handed catch, but it was a great pass by Alex."



Bowe also shared how he's feeling just days away from the team's first preseason game of the year.

"I’m feeling good,” Bowe said. "We’re going against the best every day at practice, so when we get to the games, we will be ready."

Following Smith, Chiefs QB Chase Daniel stepped in Monday and continues to move the ball effectively, highlighted by his completion to a determined Chiefs TE Tony Moeaki on a third-down play in the red zone.

"Chase did a great job of getting the ball out quick," Moeaki said. "I was just trying to get the ball vertical and it was a third-down play, so getting the first down in the red zone, that’s huge. We as a TE group feel that’s where our number should be called; we’re just trying to help the team score."

Later in 11-on-11s, Chiefs QB Ricky Stanzi closed out the drill with a beauty of a throw for a TD to Chiefs rookie WR Frankie Hammond Jr.

"It was a great throw by Ricky,” Hammond Jr. said. "I kind of pinned the guy inside and he just made a great throw and I went up and got it."

Like the other Chiefs rookies, Hammond Jr. is ready and waiting for his opportunity to shine on Friday night.

"Definitely,” Hammond Jr said. "It’s just ‘lay it out all on the table’; you’ll only get so many opportunities in these preseason games, so when we get out there, we have to make the most of them and go out there and play hard."

The team played hard yet again today, which caught the eye of Chiefs head coach Andy Reid.

"Good work today," coach Reid said.

"This is our fifth day in a row of full contact and going. This is our longest stretch; we’ll have another day tomorrow. So, the guys pushed through a big red zone day today, big 3RD-and-long day today. I thought they traded back and forth, challenging each other and working hard.”



Part of the hard work paid off for the defense in 11-on-11s, when Chiefs DB Otha Foster III was in the right place at the right time for his pick-six INT.

"I was playing free," Foster III said. "The guy dragged across and the QB threw it to him, bounced off his shoulder and landed in my hands. We were going full contact, all the way, tackling to the ground and that’s why I ran it all the way back."

Foster hopes to carry the defensive momentum with him into Friday's road game against the Saints.

"I feel good about that because it’s close to my hometown in Louisiana," he said. "I’m going to have a lot of family there and they love the Saints, except when I’m playing; they’ll be on my side (on) Friday.”

The Chiefs return to the practice field tomorrow, before a day off on Wednesday, travel day to New Orleans on Thursday and then, the real fun begins Friday night at 7:00 PM CDT, from the Mercedes-Benz

[Pasta Little Brioni]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

No shit.

Smith's a damn accurate passer, especially when he has time to throw.

The problem was that a lot of people dug their heels in hard on this guy vs. a Rookie and have absolutely refused to retreat from their initial positions on him.

I started out pretty damn opposed to Smith but once the deal was made, I did a hell of a lot more homework on him and the guy's a good QB. He's going to be very good in the Reid offense.

And every time he does something outstanding, for many it will be attributable to someone else or "what he's supposed to be doing".

PFF agrees with DJnut.

[Jakemall]

Originally Posted by BossChief

It's a real shame that pressure effects Alexs game so much.

I say that because I went to every training camp that Trent Green was our quarterback of and Alex Smith is really close in terms of accuracy and the whole package.

But, of course, the real bullets weren't flying. That's when Alex seems to struggle the most...under any pressure.

Not entirely true. As I recall, Alex was one of the better QBs statistically against the blitz. It was on non-blitz pressure (meaning someone let their guy through) that he really suffered. But I think most Qbs do.

I'd have to dig for the actual stats.

[Hammock Parties]

kcchiefs.com

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by BossChief

What days were you in st joes?

What did you see from Bray?

I was only there on Monday last week for the ST holder breakfast, etc...

I posted about 100 posts back that I was actually extremely disappointed by him. As you've noted, the arm talent was apparent and flashed on occasion, but his feet were bad and his decision making seemed, for lack of a better word, disinterested.

In his defense, the O-Line got abused that day. I mean it was a sack on every third play. It was also raining off and on so the conditions were less than ideal.

But on that day, with cruddy playing conditions and a bad line in front of him, he looked every bit the raw rookie we heard about. Perhaps he's shaking off the nerves, but Smith and Daniel (especially Smith) just looked a hell of a lot more composed out there in the muck and with the pocket imploding every time he dropped back.

Every other report I've read on him has been different from mine, though. I'm wondering if I wasn't being too hard on him or if perhaps the conditions/line/nerves that day really held him back. Maybe it was just a shitty day for him. I just read all these glowing reports and say "Man, where the !@#$ was that guy on Monday" because he was probably the guy I was most excited to go watch.

Though you're the first guy to see what I saw and say that Smith was the best QB out there. He really was head and shoulders above Daniel and Bray. Bray showed some skills that suggest he's a legitimate QBOTF and standing behind the line from so close really opened my eyes to how critical vision is for a QB; Bray's height is a massive asset. But I really did think Smith look composed and professional as hell. And when he and Reid were talking, it was almost collaborative rather than Reid dictating. I hate getting into the intangibles discussions, but Smith sure seemed to be in command out there.

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by Kaepernick

Alex can make the 20 yard throws when he is WILLING to do so. I never said he "couldn't throw", I said he "wouldn't throw". In SF he always seemed to read from short to long. On some deep patterns with Vernon Davis, that would often be the 1st read and when they connected, it was heaven -- but all too often, Alex read from short to long, taking what he could short without evaluating what was available long.

If Alex could ever overcome that game day caution of fearing an INT and just go out and attack DBs by throwing into windows, I think he would be OK. It seems to be mental with Alex, rather than limited by his physical skills.

In SF, he just never showed that attacking mentality, willing to challenge the secondary. With the one exception being the Saints Divisional win in 2011, when Alex had his back against the wall and said "screw it" and just ATTACKED.

The sad thing is, he showed some of that in 2006, his sophomore year, the year before his severe shoulder injury. Since recovering from the shoulder, he just doesn't want to attack. He wants to play it safe as Harbaugh beat into him.

He has the skill, he just limits himself by playing too timidly. It doesn't help that his arm strength does allow DBs to close on the ball on deep passes. But it is not like he has a noodle arm either.

The good news is that Reid's offense, theoretically, is built for a QB to read from short to long.

When he ended up with guys like Jackson and a cannon-armed (scattershot) passer in Vick, he opened it up a bit because Jackson refuses to run underneath routes and Vick can't throw short anyway. But given his druthers, I think Reid would prefer an offense that is precisely tailored to Smith's strengths.

We shall soon see...

[BossChief]

Originally Posted by Kaepernick

Alex can make the 20 yard throws when he is WILLING to do so. I never said he "couldn't throw", I said he "wouldn't throw". In SF he always seemed to read from short to long. On some deep patterns with Vernon Davis, that would often be the 1st read and when they connected, it was heaven -- but all too often, Alex read from short to long, taking what he could short without evaluating what was available long.

If Alex could ever overcome that game day caution of fearing an INT and just go out and attack DBs by throwing into windows, I think he would be OK. It seems to be mental with Alex, rather than limited by his physical skills.

In SF, he just never showed that attacking mentality, willing to challenge the secondary. With the one exception being the Saints Divisional win in 2011, when Alex had his back against the wall and said "screw it" and just ATTACKED

The sad thing is, he showed some of that in 2006, his sophomore year, the year before his severe shoulder injury. Since recovering from the shoulder, he just doesn't want to attack. He wants to play it safe as Harbaugh beat into him.

He has the skill, he just limits himself by playing too timidly. It doesn't help that his arm strength does allow DBs to close on the ball on deep passes. But it is not like he has a noodle arm either.

what do you mean, "he read short to long"?

Are you saying he disregarded the progressions that are built into every play and just looked at the short options?

Is it possible the deeper options simply weren't open?...because he was chucking it deep quite a bit when I was there.

[Pasta Little Brioni]

A guy like Avery can open up those shorter routes too. He can FLY.

[Jakemall]

Originally Posted by Kaepernick

Alex can make the 20 yard throws when he is WILLING to do so. I never said he "couldn't throw", I said he "wouldn't throw". In SF he always seemed to read from short to long. On some deep patterns with Vernon Davis, that would often be the 1st read and when they connected, it was heaven -- but all too often, Alex read from short to long, taking what he could short without evaluating what was available long.

If Alex could ever overcome that game day caution of fearing an INT and just go out and attack DBs by throwing into windows, I think he would be OK. It seems to be mental with Alex, rather than limited by his physical skills.

In SF, he just never showed that attacking mentality, willing to challenge the secondary. With the one exception being the Saints Divisional win in 2011, when Alex had his back against the wall and said "screw it" and just ATTACKED.

The sad thing is, he showed some of that in 2006, his sophomore year, the year before his severe shoulder injury. Since recovering from the shoulder, he just doesn't want to attack. He wants to play it safe as Harbaugh beat into him.

He has the skill, he just limits himself by playing too timidly. It doesn't help that his arm strength does allow DBs to close on the ball on deep passes. But it is not like he has a noodle arm either.

Partly true. Remember when he earned his job back from Hill? He was throwing it down field and everyone was talking about "wow, where'd this Alex come from?" and then it vanished again..probably coached down as they went back to up the middle 3 times and a cloud of dust.

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by PGM

A guy like Avery can open up those shorter routes too. He can FLY.

I noted that in the Bray thread as well (I used it as my defacto Camp thread).

Avery was unbelievably fast out there. He really was a breed apart from anybody else on that football field.

I noted it in one of these Smith threads, but Smith throws a pretty 'run under' deep ball. A guy like Crabtree never had the gear to run under a deep throw, rather Smith would have to rocket it into a seam and let Crabtree use his body to fight off DBs. Smith just doesn't have the arm strength to do that well.

But the tape shows a QB with very good touch downfield. And if you can get a WR that can flat out pull-away from his DB (and Avery absolutely can), Smith can take advantage of that, IMO.

Time may make a fool of me here, but I really do think that his skills with this coach and this personnel group are going to allow Smith to really excel.

[BlackHelicopters]

Print 'em

[Kaepernick]

Originally Posted by DJ's left nut

The good news is that Reid's offense, theoretically, is built for a QB to read from short to long.

When he ended up with guys like Jackson and a cannon-armed (scattershot) passer in Vick, he opened it up a bit because Jackson refuses to run underneath routes and Vick can't throw short anyway. But given his druthers, I think Reid would prefer an offense that is precisely tailored to Smith's strengths.

We shall soon see...

Well, there is a reason fat Andy wanted him, so...

Remember, as a 49ers fan, I really need you guys to go 9-7 so we can have that 2nd round draft pick.

Other than that, if Alex turns into the next Eli or Big Ben, it is OK by me. Then at least your trade would be a good one. It is going to be an interesting year for you guys watching this question being answered.

[DaneMcCloud]

Originally Posted by Kaepernick

Remember, as a 49ers fan, I really need you guys to go 9-7 so we can have that 2nd round draft pick.

Actually, it's 8-8

[mcaj22]

he still has durability issues no matter how good he looks

his shoulders made of glass and his head is one more concussion away from some serious career evaluations

[DJ's left nut]

Originally Posted by mcaj22

he still has durability issues no matter how good he looks

his shoulders made of glass and his head is one more concussion away from some serious career evaluations

100% legitimate criticism.

2 shoulder surgeries and a concussion history should scare anybody.

But strong arguments tend to be weakened by refusing to acknowledge legitimate counterpoints. When guys sit around and act like this dude is Matt Cassel 2.0, it's just silly. The guy does a ton of things extremely well.

[RunKC]

"Alex Smith wows with accuracy"

CP reaction: It's just training camp. What else is this stupid insider supposed to write?

"Eric Fisher struggling"

CP reaction: JFC you stupid mother****ers you should have drafted Geno!!!!! How could you be so ****ing stupid!!!!