clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

Kansas City Chiefs' Alex Smith lands on a top 10 quarterback list

Is Alex Smith the No. 10 quarterback heading into the 2015 season? That's what NFL Network's Eliot Harrison thinks in his top 10 quarterback ranking.

It's May and football doesn't start for enough four months. The Chiefs just had their rookie minicamp. In other words, this is way too early and means nothing.

That said, Harrison says...

"Ryan Tannehill was suggested to me in the NFL Now newsroom. I think that's a good one. Definitely Matt Ryan is a guy I considered. Cam Newton is a guy I considered. Problems with accuracy for Cam Newton but that's what Alex Smith does really well. If there's one thing I'd like to see him do more of it's this [running the ball] because he's quite effective at it.

"I like Alex Smith going into this year because they shored up the offensive line. They went and got Ben Grubbs and they drafted Mitch Morse. And also they got Jeremy Maclin in free agency. They're giving Alex Smith some of the help he needed.

"Of course Justin Houston is going to be there for a while. I'm talking about the Kansas City Chiefs defense being able to keep other offenses down in points so Alex Smith doesn't have to go out there and put 35 points on the board to win.

"That's why I like Alex Smith as the 10th best quarterback heading into 2015. I'm not saying his career resume is the 10th best because I think you could make an argument for Joe Flacco, who has a Super Bowl ring. You could make an argument for Matt Ryan who's pretty much been good out of the gate. And then Cam Newton brings a unique factor to pro football that other quarterbacks just don't bring.

"That said, we're talking about going into 2015. I think the help that Alex Smith got from Andy Reid and that front office sneaks him into the top 10. I do think there's that discernible drop off between [No. 9 Philip] Rivers and [No. 10] Alex Smith."

Arrowhead Pride Premier

Sign up now for a 7-day free trial of Arrowhead Pride Premier, with exclusive updates from Pete Sweeney on the ground at Arrowhead, instant reactions after each game, and in-depth Chiefs analysis from film expert Jon Ledyard.