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Kansas City Chiefs: Is Alex Smith A Top 10 Quarterback

By Leigh Oleszczak

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Alex Smith has been with the Kansas City Chiefs for two full seasons now and has mixed reviews from Chiefs fans. He was traded to Kansas City from the San Francisco 49ers after Colin Kaepernick stole his starting spot, and instantly made an impact for a Chiefs squad that went 2-14 in 2012.

In 2014, Smith had a rough start throwing three interceptions in his first game, but started to look better as the season progressed. It was tough for him to look terrific at times considering that he was getting pounded by linebackers due to not having an offensive line to protect him.

During his two years in Kansas City, Smith has led the Chiefs to a 19-11 record (Chase Daniel started week 17 both times the past two years) and has thrown for over 6,500 yards. He’s thrown 41 touchdowns to just 13 interceptions and has rushed for just under 700 yards and two touchdowns.

While Smith has looked good at times for the Kansas City Chiefs, is Smith is considered a top 10 quarterback in the NFL? Many would say no (myself included), but Elliot Harrison of NFL.com thinks that Smith is indeed a top 10 quarterback headed into 2015.

Harrison noted in the video that beefing up the offensive line and adding Jeremy Maclin in free agency is why he put Smith on this list. While those were great additions for the team, it doesn’t necessarily make Alex Smith a top 10 quarterback. He is a guy you have to build for, not one who is going to make others around him better.

The rest of Harrison’s list played out like this:

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  1. Aaron Rodgers
  2. Tom Brady
  3. Ben Roethlisberger
  4. Drew Brees
  5. Tony Romo
  6. Andrew Luck
  7. Russell Wilson
  8. Peyton Manning
  9. Philip Rivers
  10. Alex Smith

Now I’m a fan of Alex Smith, I really am, but even I admit he’s not a top 10 quarterback in the NFL. Harrison left off guys like Joe Flacco, Eli Manning, Matt Ryan, and Matthew Stafford, all of whom are easily better quarterbacks than Smith is (it’s worth noting that two of those guys have won Super Bowls, which Smith has yet to do). To be fair, I don’t think Tony Romo deserves to be ranked as high as he is on here at all, but that’s beside the point.

Harrison did say that this is a list of the top 10 quarterbacks headed INTO the 2015 season, not overall, but I still disagree with him. Matt Ryan really should have been on the list over Alex Smith.

I would definitely put Smith in the top half of quarterbacks in the leagues, but top 10? No. Sorry, Alex. I like that Smith doesn’t lose the team games, but I’d like to see him take more chances when it comes to throwing the football.

He is a guy you have to build for, not one who is going to make others around him better.

Now going into 2015, I’m optimistic about Alex Smith and where he can lead this team. The offensive line and wide receivers have been upgraded so this truly is a test to see if Smith can lead the Chiefs to greatness. The past two seasons it’s been “We don’t have any receivers” or “The offensive line sucks”, but with those two areas fixed, it’s all on Alex Smith now to show what he can do and lead the Kansas City Chiefs to their first playoff win since 1994.

Do you think Alex Smith is a top 10 quarterback? If not, where would you rank him?

Next: Projected Starters For 2015 Season

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