Kansas City Chiefs: Alex Smith was the right quarterback for this era

Alex Smith could be playing in his final regular season game as the Kansas City Chiefs quarterback this Sunday. Looking back, trading for Smith was one of the best moves in franchise history.

When the KC Chiefs went 2-14 in the 2012 season, it was apparent that a new era needed to begin in Kansas City. The organization made a bold move from the start in trading for then-49ers quarterback Alex Smith.

Smith had a rough beginning for the Niners after being the number one overall pick for them in 2005. He had a different offensive coordinator nearly every season in which he was in San Francisco, which would make it difficult for any young quarterback to thrive.

When Smith came to Kansas City, the hope was that the team could just start winning again. No one expected to win a Super Bowl any time soon, but being competitive just seemed like a good goal for the first few seasons.

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Well, in his four complete seasons with the Chiefs, Smith has gone above and beyond what was expected of him in Kansas City. There’s no Super Bowl appearance (or even AFC Championship appearance), but Smith has made the Chiefs a constant AFC contender and that hadn’t been a thing since Trent Green was in town.

When fans look back at this current era, I think they’ll miss Alex Smith and what he provided for this team.

Say what you want about Alex Smith, but when it comes down to it, the guy will be considered one of the best quarterbacks to ever take snaps for the Kansas City Chiefs. After his first four years in Kansas City, Smith went 41-20 as a starter. If you count his current 8-6 record in 2017, that puts him at 49-26. Twenty-three games above .500!

While there are Alex Smith haters out there, even they would have killed for that win total from a quarterback when we were watching Matt Cassel and Brady Quinn in 2012. The quarterback position was a giant question mark after Trent Green was traded and that was no longer a problem once Smith came to town.

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For this era of Chiefs football, the team needed a quarterback who was smart and took care of the football. Having the type of defense that Kansas City had in those first four years was perfect for what this team was trying to do, which was let their defense win the games for them and the offense to put up points when necessary.

Smith was perfect for that. He never had an outstanding offensive line or even decent receivers, but the run game was usually a positive and he knew his defense would be able to keep him in games. He turned the Chiefs from a bad team to a contender and that’s something that fans should be grateful for.

Now, as we prepare for the playoffs and to eventually hand the reigns over to Patrick Mahomes, fans are going to jumping on Smith’s every move. I get it. He’s the quarterback. Quarterbacks get critiqued more than any other position in sports.

When fans look back at this current era of Chiefs football, however, I think they’ll miss Alex Smith and what he provided for this team. Sure, we all made fun of his dink and dunk plays or his lack of throwing deep in the first four years, but when it came down to it, the KC Chiefs were a force to be reckoned with when Smith was taking snaps.

Let’s not forget how bad this team was before Smith was traded here and how he stabilized a position that was a mess for close to a decade before he got to town. Whether you love him or hate him, Alex Smith was a part of one of the best eras in Kansas City Chiefs football history and I think a few years from now, we’ll realize how great he truly was.