NFC East: 5 things to look for in 2018

3. Can QB upgrade snap Redskins out of mediocrity?

There’s no denying it; Kirk Cousins was never a bad quarterback, but he never made the Washington Redskins more than, at best, just an above average football team.

The best they could ever muster was a 9-7 record in 2015 – good enough to win the NFC East and make the playoffs, but went nowhere after that. Washington then proceeded to miss the playoffs the next two years before Cousins left town to sign a massive deal with the Minnesota Vikings.

But at least for the time being, that worked out in Washington’s favor, as a trade netted them veteran quarterback Alex Smith. Obviously, Smith isn’t the long-term answer at QB for the Redskins at age 34, but he’ll be around for the next few seasons.

And at least from a winning perspective, Smith is a pretty decent upgrade over Cousins. During Cousins’ three years starting for Washington, he compiled a record of 24-24-1.

Meanwhile, during that same span, Smith went 32-18 with the Kansas City Chiefs and helped them to multiple playoff appearances.

Smith is just about as experienced as they come. He’s never played in the Super Bowl, though he did come close when he led the San Francisco 49ers to the 2011 NFC Championship Game.

He’s a very good regular-season quarterback and that should prove to be a nice step forward for the Redskins for the next couple of seasons.

Unfortunately, it will be hard for Smith to turn this team into a contender in 2018, as he doesn’t have quite as many offensive weapons to work with as he’s had in years past.

And it certainly doesn’t help that rookie running back Derrius Guice just tore his ACL during Washington’s first preseason game.

But, if you’re a Redskins fan, you should feel more confident in Smith dealing with these issues than Cousins.