Washington didn’t get to where it wanted to go in a clean way but they are where they want to be. Alex Smith is the starting quarterback.
When Washington traded for Smith, they thought they had finally gotten the answer to the most important position in football. After all the Robert Griffin III/Kirk Cousins drama, the organization could use a quarterback like Smith. Dependable. Mobile. Capable of leading a team to the playoffs. He proved all those things in his time in San Francisco and Kansas City.
Then just like that, it was gone. A catastrophic injury almost cost Smith his leg. Then it almost cost him his life. Coming back to football was the furthest thing from anyone’s mind or so we thought. Washington’s front office always held out hope for a Smith return.
But if there’s one thing the organization could’ve done better is manage how we got here. For better or worse, the organization drafted Dwyane Haskins. He was never given a legitimate shot under then head coach Jay Gruden.
Enter Ron Rivera. New coach. Same results. The writing was on the wall for Haskins when Rivera brought in Kyle Allen. Allen played for Rivera in Carolina and was brought in because he knew the offense. In reality, Allen was brought in so, barring a miracle, Rivera could bench Haskins and go to Allen if Smith wasn’t ready yet.
After four weeks, that’s what happened. Allen wasn’t any better than Haskins but the second year quarterback had been relegated to the third quarterback which means he wouldn’t dress on Sundays.
Allen’s injury opened the door for Smith to test out his leg. Smith has proven that his leg can hold up and that gives Washington the hope to win the NFC East.
That was the plan all along.
