When the St. Louis Rams made the trade to move up to the No. 1 spot, I wasn't sure how I felt about it. Everyone says you can only find your quarterback at the top of the draft because teams rarely trade them and true franchise quarterbacks hitting free agency hardly every happens.
So the Rams had to decide, do they want to give up all these picks and secure a Carson Wentz or Jared Goff? Or do they continue to build their defense and find a quarterback along the way as the Chiefs did in trading two second round picks for Alex Smith.
Obviously, the Rams chose to trade. All that said, check out this part in Peter King's The MMQB this week:
"Do we want to be the Chiefs, Texans or Jets?" That's a question that bounced around the Rams' hierarchy over the past three months, as they decided whether to break the bank to move up to No. 1. In other words, three franchises trying to go deep into the playoffs with strong defenses and questionable quarterback situations (though I'd argue Kansas City is better than that, but I'm not the one asking the question).
First, the Rams haven't had a winning season since 2003. They should just win some games. Second, don't lump Alex Smith in the same boat as Brock Osweiler or whatever is going on with the Jets. How good are the Texans last year with Alex Smith instead of Brian Hoyer? How good are the Jets if Alex Smith is their quarterback and doesn't blow it in the fourth quarter three times?
Alex Smith's Chiefs are averaging 10 wins a season. He has stayed healthy, hasn't imploded and avoided a lot of mistakes that many quarterbacks make. Clearly there is value in that. I'll take my chances that Alex Smith can lead the Chiefs and this defense to a Super Bowl before Carson Wentz or Jared Goff winning one first. (Damn it I hope I didn't just jinx myself)