KC Chiefs: Who Will Back Up Alex Smith?

The Kansas City Chiefs currently have four quarterbacks on their roster. The obvious starter is Alex Smith, who will be entering his second season with the Chiefs. From there, the battle begins for the backup position. Let’s take a look at our candidates, shall we?

Last year’s backup was Missouri Tigers prodigy Chase Daniel. Daniel spent the first part of his career as a New Orleans Saint backing up one of the best quarterbacks in the league in Drew Brees. Daniel didn’t see much playing time, but he spent three years with the Saints and was even apart of their Super Bowl winning squad in 2009 (though he didn’t take to the field that season).

When Daniel came to Kansas City, Chiefs fans were excited to bring him back to his college state. He had a decent first year in Kansas City and even got to start his first NFL game where he threw for 200 yards and rushed for nearly 60 yards.

Tyler Bray was Kansas City’s third string quarterback last year. He was undrafted out of Tennessee and was signed by the Chiefs shortly after the 2013 draft. Bray played well during the preseason and actually played most of the final preseason game against Green Bay. Bray threw three touchdown passes in that game.

The final quarterback on KC’s roster is Georgia Bulldog Aaron Murray. The Chiefs nabbed Murray in the fifth round of this year’s draft and fans immediately began to speculate whether he would be Alex Smith’s eventual replacement or not.

Murray could have went into the draft as a junior and probably would have been the number one pick that year (hey, that would have worked out nicely), but he decided to return to Georgia for his senior year. His final year with the Bulldogs didn’t go as planned, as Murray tore his ACL. With all of the talent in the draft this year, Murray wasn’t going to be a first round pick, but the injury definitely put a dent in his draft stock.

As stated above, Smith will be the starter, that’s a fact. Who will be his backup though? My money is on Chase Daniel.

Daniel was a very reliable backup in 2013, relieving Smith in a game against the Redskins and also doing a spectacular job in his lone start. He also still has two years left on his contract, which isn’t a huge deal but I imagine it helps his case somewhat.

Bray didn’t get any playing time last year and still needs to mature before he can even think about starting in the NFL. He had some off field drama during his college days and while it doesn’t seem like he’s caused any drama in the pros, he still needs a few years to learn the system and develop as an NFL quarterback.

Murray is going to be a rookie, but his chances are greater than Bray’s in my opinion. When Murray was drafted, I figured that Kansas City’s plan was to have Smith tutor him for a few years and then let Murray take the reigns. It’s obviously hard to tell how good Murray is in the NFL since preseason hasn’t even started yet, but I wouldn’t necessarily be opposed to this option.

Who do you think will be Alex Smith’s backup for 2014: Chase Daniel, Tyler Bray, or Aaron Murray?

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