Former Chiefs quarterback Alex Smith to potentially compete for Washington’s starting job

At one time, it seemed improbable — if not impossible. But former Kansas City Chiefs starting quarterback Alex Smith may find himself in a quarterback competition this summer, according to Washington Football Team head coach Ron Rivera.

“The biggest thing that we’ve got to do is make sure we’re not just divvying up the reps as evenly as possible, but we divvy up who they work against,” said Rivera, according to Nicki Jhabvala of The Washington Post. “This could be a very interesting challenge for us because of Alex Smith.”

Doctors recently cleared the 36-year-old Smith for football activity following more than a year of rehab after his devastating leg injury. Earlier this year, ESPN covered Smith’s long and arduous process in “Project 11,” an E60 production.

“If Alex is healthy and continues to get healthy and we do activate him, he’s going to be in the throes of this competition,” added Rivera. “It’s going to unfold I think very nicely for us as a football team. This competition is only going to make you better, it’s going to push the young guys as well.”

Smith would be competing for the starting job against Dwayne Haskins — last year’s 15th overall pick — and 2018 undrafted free agent Kyle Allen, who followed Rivera from Carolina to Washington.

“I just feel really good about what we’re going to be doing as we start going forward,” Rivera concluded. “It’ll be a very challenging situation to make sure everybody’s reps are equitable and their competition is the same.”

Smith started for the Chiefs from 2013-17 before they traded him to Washington during the 2018 offseason. If Smith can return to starting prominence, it would go down as one of the greatest comebacks of all time.