Alex Smith had a decent season for the Kansas City Chiefs last season. Smith threw for 3,265 yards and 18 touchdowns. While they seem like great numbers, one scary stat stood out during the season. None of Smith's touchdowns were thrown to a wide receiver. With a team that had some solid receivers in Dwayne Bowe and Jason Avant, it still seems head scratching that Smith could not take advantage of having a target as big as Bowe. But we all knew about Bowe's struggles after being one of the top receivers just a few years ago.
This has been a problem for Smith even when he was with the 49ers, where they used the run to set up the pass. He still could not take advantage of having good wideout targets in the likes of Michael Crabtree. We know that Crabtree and Bowe are not the top wideouts in the NFL but still, even some mediocre receivers catch a few touchdowns during the season. It's time for Alex Smith to be more than a game manager.
But things are different this year. Smith now has a new weapon in Jeremy Maclin. Maclin thrived last year in Philadelphia with 1,318 receiving yards and catching 10 touchdowns. Maclin will be the best deep threat receiver that Smith has had his whole career. Kansas City has now gotten Smith his big time target and it will be up to Smith to see if he can use that to his advantage. If he fails, it won't be his teams fault and he could see himself being stuck with the "game manager" label for the rest of his career.