Redskins Mailbag: No. 2 corner, critical wide receivers, Alex Smith, and more

What Alex Smith brings to the table

Ashburning: What differences is Alex going to bring to the Offense that nobody has talked about or realized yet?

Presumably, you mean Alex Smith and not the recently released Alex McCalister, right? Okay, bad jokes aside, the differences that Smith is going to for the offense have been discussed at length. That said, there is one aspect that I don’t think people have focused on as much as they should.

We’ve all heard about Smith’s ability to throw the deep ball, and how he was one of the best deep ball passers in the league last year. We’ve heard about his incredibly low interception rate and his penchant for avoiding mistakes. We’ve also heard that he’s very accurate, but loves to throw a lot of checkdowns. So, what’s the one area that people don’t talk a lot about with Smith?

How about his mobility?

Okay, so some have brought this up, but I feel that this doesn’t get as much attention as the passing aspect of his game. Smith has averaged 5.1 yards per carry over the past three seasons and has averaged 329 yards and 2.7 touchdowns over that same span. Those are some really good numbers. His mobility goes beyond that as well, as he has good pocket presence, escapability, and is able to make plays with his legs.

Comparatively, Kirk Cousins had the highest rushing total of his career last year, logging a respectable 179 yards and scoring four times. That said, he isn’t as quick as Smith is and doesn’t have the same playmaking ability as him. Because of this, I think that Smith’s mobility could have a bigger impact than some expect, so don’t be surprised to see him make plays that Cousins never really did.