Alex Smith Future HOVG or Hall Of Feel Good Story?
Posted: Tue Jul 04, 2023 4:23 pm
Great QBs usually lead their teams to win big games and ultimately, championships but there are many great QBs who fail to win it all. Some are great throwers, others great runners, some make the HOF and HOVG as game managers who can lead their teammates.
Alex Smith was a very talented player who could run or throw but was known more as a game manager, who went through adversity and high expectations the moment he was drafted. How good was he and did his toughness parlay into a HOVG career? Did injuries and lack of winning bigger games ultimately turn his career into a disappointment, or was he strictly a Hall Of Feel Good Story?
There is no doubt Aaron Rodgers probably should have been the Niners #1 pick over Smith but he wasnt and while Smith got thrown into the fire on a bad team, Rodgers got to join a good one and learn behind a HOF QB. For six years, Smith took his lumps and even had to come back from missing the 2008 season due to injury before accepting a pay cut to stay with the team. Finally, the team hired a new HC who turned around their fortunes. With the defense becoming one of the best in football, Smith improved as well and had his first winning season as a starter in 2011. For the remaining eight years of his career, he never had another losing season. In the 2011 playoffs, he played well in beating Drew Brees and the Saints in a shootout, before losing the NFC Championship due to critical special teams fumbles against the Giants. In 2012, adversity would strike again.
The team added an even more explosive, athletic QB, with an even bigger arm but despite leading the Niners to a 6-2-1 start, Smith got injured with a concussion and never got his job back. His backup took the team all the way to the SB, before losing a valient comeback ...
Going to the Chiefs in a trade, Smith rejuvenated his career, while helping his team win divisional titles but the team was snake-bitten in the playoffs. Despite playing great games in the 2013/14 and 2017/18 playoffs against the Colts and Titans, the Chiefs lost huge leads and were beaten. Critics felt Smith couldnt make enough big plays in the playoffs, as the team lost close playoff games to the Steelers and Patriots as well. Despite criticism as strictly a game-manager, Smith was replaced by another backup in 2018 ... More adversity, more problems ...
Going to the Redskins, Smith won initially with his third team but suffered one of the most gruesome injuries in the history of the sport, that not only forced him to miss the 2019 season but should have ended his career. He worked hard and came back anyway, winning Comeback Player Of the Year in 2020 while helping the Skins to the playoffs and a divisional title ... An improbable feel good story. He missed the playoff game and dealing with more adversity, was released by the team the following year where he retired.
Great feel good story, good career, talented player, game-manager, it all applies to Alex Smith, who despite adversity and six dreadful opening years still won over 100 career games as a starter counting postseason.
Is it enough for future HOVG ?
Alex Smith was a very talented player who could run or throw but was known more as a game manager, who went through adversity and high expectations the moment he was drafted. How good was he and did his toughness parlay into a HOVG career? Did injuries and lack of winning bigger games ultimately turn his career into a disappointment, or was he strictly a Hall Of Feel Good Story?
There is no doubt Aaron Rodgers probably should have been the Niners #1 pick over Smith but he wasnt and while Smith got thrown into the fire on a bad team, Rodgers got to join a good one and learn behind a HOF QB. For six years, Smith took his lumps and even had to come back from missing the 2008 season due to injury before accepting a pay cut to stay with the team. Finally, the team hired a new HC who turned around their fortunes. With the defense becoming one of the best in football, Smith improved as well and had his first winning season as a starter in 2011. For the remaining eight years of his career, he never had another losing season. In the 2011 playoffs, he played well in beating Drew Brees and the Saints in a shootout, before losing the NFC Championship due to critical special teams fumbles against the Giants. In 2012, adversity would strike again.
The team added an even more explosive, athletic QB, with an even bigger arm but despite leading the Niners to a 6-2-1 start, Smith got injured with a concussion and never got his job back. His backup took the team all the way to the SB, before losing a valient comeback ...
Going to the Chiefs in a trade, Smith rejuvenated his career, while helping his team win divisional titles but the team was snake-bitten in the playoffs. Despite playing great games in the 2013/14 and 2017/18 playoffs against the Colts and Titans, the Chiefs lost huge leads and were beaten. Critics felt Smith couldnt make enough big plays in the playoffs, as the team lost close playoff games to the Steelers and Patriots as well. Despite criticism as strictly a game-manager, Smith was replaced by another backup in 2018 ... More adversity, more problems ...
Going to the Redskins, Smith won initially with his third team but suffered one of the most gruesome injuries in the history of the sport, that not only forced him to miss the 2019 season but should have ended his career. He worked hard and came back anyway, winning Comeback Player Of the Year in 2020 while helping the Skins to the playoffs and a divisional title ... An improbable feel good story. He missed the playoff game and dealing with more adversity, was released by the team the following year where he retired.
Great feel good story, good career, talented player, game-manager, it all applies to Alex Smith, who despite adversity and six dreadful opening years still won over 100 career games as a starter counting postseason.
Is it enough for future HOVG ?