Oakland Raiders may be the biggest winners in the Alex Smith trade

The Oakland Raiders have a tall mountain to climb if they want to get back to the top of the AFC West – that quest may have gotten a boost with the trade of Alex Smith.

With Jon Gruden now at the top of the food chain for the Oakland Raiders, fans are buzzing with excitement about a possible return to the top of the division heap. After all, the last time the team won an AFC West title was during Gruden’s last tenure – which seems about a billion years ago now.

The Raiders haven’t been AFC West champs since the Euro became a thing, Kelly Clarkson won American Idol’s inaugural season, and George Lucas put out the rancid dumpster fire that was the second of the three Star Wars prequels.

Suffice it to say, it’s been a while since the Raiders have breathed the rarefied air at the top of the division.

With the Return of Chucky though, people are starting to believe that all things are within Oakland’s grasp. And that perception – perhaps even the reality of it – may have gotten a bit of a boost with a trade that didn’t even involve them.

The Internet was set on fire yesterday with the news that the Kansas City Chiefs – arguably, Oakland’s biggest nemesis and roadblock to the top of the division heap – traded quarterback Alex Smith to Washington.

There’s an age old saying that goes, “If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em.” In this case though, it seems more appropriate to bastardize that old saying to read, “If you can’t beat ’em, hope they get traded out of the division.”

The Chiefs apparently feel comfortable enough with now second-year man Patrick Mahomes under center to jettison the 13-year vet who’s played the best football of his career in a Chiefs uniform. In fact, statistically speaking, Smith had the best season of his career in 2017.

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For the year, Smith completed 68 percent of his passes for 4,042 yards, with 26 touchdowns against just five interceptions. He also had a career high QB rating of 104.7 last season.

It was a career year for Smith and he leaves Kansas City having posted a record of 50-26. His Achilles Heel though, was a meager 1-4 record in the postseason, which, combined with the presence of Mahomes, may have hastened his departure.

The Chiefs are going to sink or swim with Mahomes as he learns on the job. And he will be learning on the job, given that he has one career start – a meaningless week 17 game against Denver in which he went 22/35 for 284 yards with no touchdowns and one pick.

Smith being traded out of the division is good news for the Raiders no matter which way you slice it. Against the Raiders over the course of his career, Smith has been surgical and has had a tremendous amount of success.

In 12 career starts against the Raiders, Smith is 10-2. He’s completed 64 percent of his passes (211/333) for 2,273 yards with 22 touchdowns against just five interceptions. He’s also compiled a 104.7 career QB rating against the Raiders in his 12 starts.

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The only teams he’s got a better QB rating against are teams he’s made very few starts against – Miami (112.1 in two starts), New England (147.0 in two starts), the Jets (109.6 in four starts), and Tampa Bay (114.7 in two starts).

Suffice it to say, Smith has feasted on Oakland’s defenses over the course of his career. Which makes his departure from not just the Chiefs, but the AFC West as a whole a noteworthy event for the Raiders, and makes them arguably, the biggest winners of this trade.

Oh sure, Smith is a big winner too, given the fact that he’ll be, if the reports are accurate, a tick below what Derek Carr is making to play in Washington. We won’t know the actual numbers until contracts can be signed at the start of the new league year in mid-March.

But in terms of the division, having Smith shipped out of the AFC West can only help the Raiders. Given his success against the Silver and Black, not having to face him twice a year is a good thing.

They’re, of course, still going to have to find a way to overcome that defense – not to mention shutting down Tyreek Hill and Travis Kelce – but not having Smith slinging the ball to them should give them a small sense of relief.

It’s a simple case of addition by subtraction and it’s why Oakland stands to gain the most of any other team in the division with Smith’s departure.