Ron Rivera is open to Alex Smith being QB1 for Washington for next few years

Alex Smith had the best statistical day of his career in Sunday’s loss to the Detroit Lions. It didn’t end with any touchdowns on his stat line, but the QB threw 55 times for 390 yards and looked comfortable in his reads and decisive in his throws. He checked the ball down early and often, he aired it out when necessary, and he showed an ability to scramble and throw it away when nothing developed.

He convinced us that there’s a real chance he becomes Washington’s starting quarterback for the 2021 season and beyond, and it appears he’s put a similar thought in Ron Rivera’s head.

It’s too early to make that decision now, of course, and a lot of it will come down to whether or not he can stay healthy for the rest of the year, and continue to play at a high level. Beyond that, he still has the decision to make if he wants to continue playing beyond this year, as he said earlier that he had yet to completely decide. However, with him playing at the level that we’ve seen so far, it’s hard to imagine that he’d hang up his cleats prematurely, especially after all he’s gone through to get back onto the field.

Nobody really knows what’s going on with the quarterback position in Washington, but the emergence of Smith has given them a bit of an out going forward. If he can continue to make the throws necessary and keep himself out of harm’s way, there’s a reasonable expectation that Washington could have found a short-term answer for the next few years.