Redskins believe that Alex Smith will miss the entire 2019 NFL season

The Washington Redskins reportedly believe that Alex Smith will likely miss the entire 2019 NFL season. This should surprise nobody after the awful leg injury he suffered last year.

It was always expected that Alex Smith would be an extreme longshot to play in 2019. After the Redskins’ signal caller suffered a gruesome leg injury in the latter half of the 2018 campaign, his future with the team was in doubt. He had to have multiple surgeries to repair the issue and a resulting infection that occurred as a result of the injury.

Playing in 2019 wasn’t close to the forefront of anyone’s mind. It was all about getting Smith healthy so he could live his life. Football took a backseat.

However, there has been a fair amount of speculation about the potential availability of him in the future. It started once Smith made his first public appearance at a Wizards game wearing a heavy contraption on his leg and using crutches. That pretty much made it abundantly clear that he was nowhere near ready to return from the injury.

More from Riggo's Rag

While Bruce Allen recently said he’s optimistic Smith will come back from the injury, he offered no timetable for his return. But as of Sunday, it seems that timetable will be pushed to 2020 at the earliest.

NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport is reporting that the Redskins don’t expect Smith to be ready this season and that they would be “pleasantly surprised” if he is. This means that the Redskins will either have to find a long-term replacement this offseason or invest in a short-term stopgap.

For the time being, Colt McCoy is a solid starting option for the ‘Skins. He’s one of the better backups in the NFL and in a full season of action, he could have a chance to match or exceed Smith’s decent-at-best production from last season. Still, the team will need depth and competition for the 31-year-old veteran, and they may invest in a young quarterback to help with that.

So far, the Redskins have demonstrated a lot of interest in the 2019 NFL Draft’s quarterback class. They met with countless passers at the Senior Bowl and are rumored to be particularly interested in Duke QB Daniel Jones. It should surprise nobody to see them select a quarterback in the first couple of rounds depending on who is available. That said, they would probably be better served to ride it out with McCoy and another veteran until 2020, when a better crop of passers will become available.

If the Redskins explore the free agent quarterback market, there aren’t a lot of quality options. They would just have to find a backup to McCoy who could start if needed. Here’s a look at three potential options to help backup McCoy.

Next. 5 standouts Redskins should target after Senior Bowl. dark

The news regarding Smith isn’t a surprise, but it certainly will hurt the Redskins. He’s on the books for a lot of money and the replacement options they have are questionable at best. While there is some hope that McCoy or a rookie passer could keep the team afloat, the team has yet another offseason of question marks at the quarterback position. It will be interesting to see what path they decide to take this year.

Home/Commanders News