10-06-2018, 02:51 PM
(10-06-2018, 02:41 PM)CornerBlitz Wrote: The Chiefs essentially did what I've wanted the Bengals to do for a few years now. Yes it is a risk to take a QB in the first round, however the payoff if it works out is well worth it. The Chiefs knew they had a decent QB in Alex Smith but understood that in order to get over the hump and make a legitimate run at the SB, they needed an upgrade. They took the risk and drafted an uber talented QB and we can now see that it's made a huge difference for them.
This is not to say that Andy Dalton is a bum or a backup QB. Quite the contrary, he's playing very well this season in fact. This discussion is more nuanced than most people would like to admit because we have a decent QB but do we have a SB caliber QB is the ultimate question that we must ask ourselves. It's the same question the Chiefs asked themselves and ultimately the answer was No. Hard to argue against their decision at this point.
Yeah, but it is still very risky. Shake brought up a good point in that Alex Smith is 4 years older than Andy.. Andy is still in his prime. But yes, GM's do have to take chances like this if they see it. There will always be risk, but the payoff can be massive. I think another benefit for the Chiefs is that if they missed on Mahomes, they still had Smith, and their core offensive stars are still young. Hill, Hunt, and Kelce are all young guys who still have plenty of room to grow.
Andy has faltered in the big moments and I posted the stats on that earlier. I will say that in his defense, he hasn't gotten his opportunity since 2014. To me, he's a much different QB now. His growth this year, IMO, is the biggest jump I've seen. He seems like he's doing a great job at the chess match that is offense vs defense, and is reading the defense extremely well. Excited to see what he can do with us this year.
