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Thread: Alex Smith....

  1. #1
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    Default Alex Smith....

    Yup....ANOTHER Alex Smith thread....

    I recently watched this video www.youtube.com/watch?t=90&v=GwxAqvHjIc4 of Alex Smith 2014 highlights but instead of just watching it and enjoying it, I decided to really study the damned thing and see if I could actually learn anything about Alex from it.

    The big complaints about Alex have been that he can't or won't throw balls more than 5 yards beyond the LOS. I think most will agree that in a West Coast the offense's bread and butter pretty much comes down to the 5-7 beyond the LOS pass play with yards after catch being crucial. So first I watched this video to see how Alex is at throwing passes that travel 5-7 yards beyond the LOS in the air. Since this is a "highlights film there were plenty of them. The next question was how long does it take for Alex to get that sort pass out of his hands. The answer seemed to be 2-3 seconds from the snap to release. Certainly not the fastest gun in the West but not terribly slow by any means.

    While watching I couldn't help notice that it showed Alex completing a substantial number of passes that traveled 15 or more yards beyond the LOS. I watched the vid 3 or 4 times and watched carefully to count them and was surprised to come up with a count of 12 including several that went more than 20 yards from the LOS in the air. Naturally, since in most of these long passes Alex was at least 7 yards behind the LOS when he released the ball that means these passes traveled at least 27 yards in the air (many of them more than that). So to me that shows he is AT LEAST capable of throwing longer passes. Next I watched to see how long it took him to get those passes out of his hands. Excluding plays where he scrambled before releasing the ball and paying attention only to long balls where he did a straight drop back and then promptly released the ball, the average seemed to be about 4-5 seconds. 2-3 seconds to drop back and survey the field and 1-2 seconds to plant his feet and release the ball. Again, not the fastest, but no slouch either.

    So what does this all mean?

    1) Alex is plenty capable of and willing to throw accurate passes that travel up to 30 yards in the air IF he gets 4-5 seconds to do it and IF he has a receiver who is at least close to open. Not WIDE OPEN but at least has a step on the defender.

    So that suggests to me that the whole "noodle arm" claim is nonsense.

    2) Since all the longer balls he threw in that video were to receivers who were open with at least a step on the defender that says to me Alex is cautious about throwing long balls. Conservative. Well....we all knew that. So our receivers need to get open. With Maclin, Dat and Conley we have added a lot of speed and "moves" so I think Alex will have A LOT more opportunities to throw longer balls since I *think* our receivers are going to do a better job of getting open this year. Of course that leads to TIME....

    3) TIME....With Alex taking 4-5 seconds to get off any ball that goes much beyond 15 yards beyond the LOS we need an O-line that can get him those 4-5 seconds. Simply put the O-line MUST keep the pass rushers off his back for 4-5 seconds. If they don't, he's just not going to throw many completions that go in the air more than 7 yards beyond the LOS.

    Now I realize that this was a "Highlights film" and is designed to show Alex at his best, but it ALSO shows us WHAT HE IS CAPABLE OF DOING and WHAT HE NEEDS to live up to his potential.

    So in summary what I took from this film after watching it several times to really try to study Alex is that he can and will throw the long ball (not talking about 45 yards in the air) but that he wont do it unless he has a receiver who is at least somewhat open and he can't do it if he doesn't get AT LEAST 4 seconds to do it. So to my mind our mid-to-long ball game will depend on receivers getting at least a little separation (I think they can) and our O-line giving Alex 4-5 seconds before he gets pressured (they seldom did last year--hope they can this year. All in all, I'm cautiously optimistic we will have a MUCH IMPROVED mid-to-long range passing game this year.


  2. #2
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    Here's to hoping Alex has his best season ever in 2015, and maybe the Chiefs get a playoff win.

  3. #3
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    Quote Originally Posted by brdempsey69 View Post
    Here's to hoping Alex has his best season ever in 2015, and maybe the Chiefs get a playoff win.
    Y'know demps....

    I seldom think about the Chiefs playing in the Super Bowl any more. The last 20 years have almost wiped that from my horizon (though I had a few little rays of hope in 2013). Now, all I want is a playoff win. And the difference between 2013 and 2014 was 2 games that we SHOULD HAVE WON...the Titans game and the first Raiders game. BOTH games that we easily should have won. And that was despite the fact that we had two terrible injuries in game 1 and also had a tougher schedule than 2013. In short our 2014 starting lineup was BETTER than the 2013 team. Not a doubt in my mind about that...even after all the players we lost in Free Agency after the 2013 season. In fact without the injuries to DeVito and DJ I think we'd have won both the 1st donkey game and the 9er game.

    IMO in Reid, Sutton and Toub we have the best head, defense and special teams coach combination in the NFL. NOT A DOUBT IN MY MIND. None of them may be the best in the NFL at their job, but I think they are the best combination out there.

    IMO in John Dorsey we have a fairly young (55) GM who while he was new at the job when he came to us learned VERY QUICKLY and is going to do GREAT things for us for years to come. He and Reid seem to go together like "peas and carrots". I REALLY HOPE we get at least 10 more years out of each of them.

    The question mark in my mind this year is the O-line. I think we have gotten the receivers that can make Alex look MUCH BETTER than he did last year. But the O-line still worries me. If Alex is running for his life 2 seconds after he takes the snap the WRs won't matter much. Alex needs that 4-5 seconds to throw out of the pocket for any distance. And while we can roll him out, he still needs 2 seconds to set and release the ball. And if he rolls out he needs to be performing a planned roll out not at "Run for Your Life" roll out.

    So I think that what really matters this year is the improvement in the O-line. Fisher MUST step it up this year and Grubbs needs to find new life and success in KC this year. If those two things happen and we don't get KILLED by injuries then I think the worst we do this year is 10-6 and I could easily see 11-5 or 12-4.

    IMO it's all up to the O-line this year....I think we have most everything else pretty well covered to make the playoffs and win at least 1 playoff game.
    Last edited by ctchiefsfan; 07-05-2015 at 03:09 PM.

  4. #4
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    Alex CAN throw the deep pass

    We just need 2 things to happen

    1. GIVE HIM SOME FREAKING WEAPONS. I've been on this for years. THIS TEAM NEEDS TALENT. The likes of Frankie Hammond,Aj Jenkins ECT to go along with a good WR isn't going to get the job done. It's just not. I mean I've asked this a million times who's scared of Frankie Hammond and AJ jenkins? Answer NOBODY

    2. Alex himself needs to learn there are times you need to take a chance or two that you most of the time wouldn't Alex can play it to safe at times. Having better weapons will help that I hope. But it's something Alex needs to work on. I don't want him taking a ton of chances but he needs to take some.
    TopekaRoy is my hero!

  5. #5
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    Grubbs is not even a concern I'm my mind and shouldn't be to anyone else either. Fisher really isn't a concern for me. My concern is the RG and RT positions

  6. #6
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    ctchiefsfan,

    What I want MORE THAN ANYTHING for Alex Smith, is to see him get more post-season opportunities during his time KC, and if anybody needs to ask why, then obviously they have not been paying attention to what Alex has done in the post-season when he's had the chance. He has performed excellently.

    With that said, first things first. The main goal in 2015, for everybody, should be GET BACK TO THE POST-SEASON with a healthy Alex Smith. Once that's accomplished, then we'll go from there.

  7. #7
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    Quote Originally Posted by brdempsey69 View Post
    ctchiefsfan,

    What I want MORE THAN ANYTHING for Alex Smith, is to see him get more post-season opportunities during his time KC, and if anybody needs to ask why, then obviously they have not been paying attention to what Alex has done in the post-season when he's had the chance. He has performed excellently.
    Without a doubt true. Both Alex and Reid have a habit of really stepping their game up come playoff time.

    Quote Originally Posted by brdempsey69 View Post
    With that said, first things first. The main goal in 2015, for everybody, should be GET BACK TO THE POST-SEASON with a healthy Alex Smith. Once that's accomplished, then we'll go from there.
    Agreed. Got to get to the playoffs first. And while our depth has improved, we still need our big guns to stay healthy. But I think we have a pretty good shot at going to the dance this year....and once you get to the dance it is a whole new season.

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