FanPost

O Captain My Captain: A Brief Review of the 2015 Chiefs Quarterbacks

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A Brief Review: Episode 5

The State Of The Quarterbacks

Welcome to the 5th edition of A Brief Review. If you haven't read the other editions, you can find them here: 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th

We in Chiefs Kingdom have endured watching some of the worst quarterbacks in NFL history try and fail to win games for us, Matt Cassel, Brodie Croyle, Tyler Palko, Brady Quinn, etc.

Our current quarterbacks are a refreshing and encouraging divergence from that bleak history.

Alex Smith

I've said before that Smith is a competent quarterback. Don't misunderstand me, I actually love how Alex Smith plays. Saying that Smith is competent means that he gets the job done. He's not flashy, he won't consistently show up on the stat sheet, or make amazing highlight real plays. Instead, Smith simply gets the ball to his playmakers, and lets them make the plays. While Smith receives a lot of criticism for his cautious play style, he is never praised for his courage and warrior-like grittiness. Unlike Matt Cassel, who would panic under the insane pressure our mediocre o-lines let through, Smith stays calm and keeps getting back up after each of the endless hits and never stops fighting.

Smith will do anything to help his team win, even putting his body on the line despite having a concussion cost him his job with the 49ers, and potentially a superbowl.

One such example was in the 2014 game against the Bills. After an amazing 4th down touchdown run by Charles, the Chiefs were still down 10-13 in the 4th quarter. Knowing that a touchdown was crucial, Smith put his body on the line, and instead of sliding away from contact, or running out of bounds at the 1, like many quarterbacks would do, Smith put his shoulder down and plowed through a defender into the endzone for the go-ahead touchdown. We ended up winning the game because of this score.

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Smith kept fighting even when the line was collapsing on every single play for the entire game. Smith's courage ended up beating the same team that had crushed higher esteemed quarterbacks, such as Aaron Rodgers, Tom Brady, and Peyton Manning (yes the broncos won, but Manning's 173 yards, and deceased 51 game passing TD streak definately didn't help at all.) (fun fact, Manning and Rodgers failed to score a single touchdown against the Bills, and Brady only scored touchdowns in one of his two Bills games.)

Finally, Smith has played his best games in the playoffs. This is a trait that players like Andy Dalton and Peyton Manning can only dream of. Think about Eli Manning. Eli is a terrible regular season quarterback, but if he can get to the playoffs, he becomes championship caliber. Smith is similar, and better. Smith not only becomes championship caliber in the playoffs, he actually plays well enough in the regular season to get you there on a more consistent basis.

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Chase Daniel

Chase Daniel is a solid backup who has shown he can win. However, if Murray or Bray can prove themselves in the preseason, then Daniel could be a lot more valuable in a trade then he is as a backup, since he has little to no chance of being our future franchise quarterback.

Aaron Murray

Murray was extremely successful in college, and his first preseason in the NFL showed potential. Due to Bray's injuries, Murray is the front runner for the future franchise QB gig. I see him as being an Alex Smith type of QB, not a strong arm quarterback, more of a conservative, accurate and smart QB.

Tyler Bray

I used to think Bray had a great chance of beating Murray to the franchise QB job if he could develop better vision and knowledge of the game, he has a cannon for an arm and he had a great preseason in 2013, but constant injuries have caused me to question if he can ever stay healthy.

In Conclusion

Overall, we have a great set of quarterbacks, with a championship caliber starter, a capable backup, and two promising prospects who could end up being our future franchise quarterback.

Thank you for reading the 5th installment of A Brief Review.

Please Comment, Share, and Recommend.

Continue Reading:

DAT What Speed Do: A Brief Review of the 2015 Chiefs Special Teams

This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of Arrowhead Pride's writers or editors. It does reflect the views of this particular fan though, which is as important as the views of Arrowhead Pride writers or editors.