Redskins vs. Packers: 5 players to watch in Week 3
By Ian Cummings
No. 1 – Alex Smith
Just like that, Alex Smith has something to prove again.
In 2017, the Chiefs lit a fire under Smith by drafting Patrick Mahomes in the first round of the NFL Draft. Smith responded to the move by amassing career-best metrics all across the board, and mounting on a borderline MVP campaign.
In the ensuing offseason, the Chiefs passed the torch to Mahomes and shipped Smith off to the nation’s capital for a third-round pick and elite cornerback Kendall Fuller. Two games into the season, Mahomes has ten touchdown passes to Smith’s two. And the Chiefs appear to be the runaway winners of that trade. The doubters are dwelling again.
Could that be enough to light a different kind of fire under Smith?
There’s no questioning that Smith needs to do more for the Redskins in 2018. He’s been a competent field general thus far, but when the team’s running game failed against the Colts, he didn’t do enough to make up the difference.
Next. Redskins vs. Packers: Matchups, score predictions, more. dark
Smith hasn’t yet been asked to do anything more than keep the unit afloat. All the while, other teams are sailing by with haste. Against both a friend and an enemy in Rodgers, Smith has to take the helm with authority, and help the Redskins enter the bye week with restored hope.