Week 15 vs. Seattle Seahawks
Alex Smith suffered a calf injury in Week 14 and is questionable to play this week. Even if Smith does play, he's averaging as many interceptions (0.6) in his starts this season as touchdowns (0.6). Smith has no games with multiple touchdowns this season, making him a mostly poor streaming option. It's a favorable matchup against the Seahawks, but he hasn't been great, and his calf injury will likely limit him, assuming he even plays. There are many better QB options available in Week 15.
Week 14 at San Francisco 49ers
Alex Smith had an OK outing last week, finishing with 296 yards and a touchdown. Smith has not scored more than one touchdown in any of his four starts this season, and is averaging 250.3 yards in those games. He gets a fairly tough matchup against the 49ers (No. 12 aFPA) this week, who are giving up the sixth-fewest passing yards. Considering Smith's production so far, he should be off of the fantasy radar for owners in Week 14. He's in our bottom tier of quarterback options this week.
Week 13 at Pittsburgh Steelers
In Alex Smith's last two games combined, his pass attempts (51) didn't match the pass attempts he had in Week 10 (55). As we noted at the time, those pass attempts were the primary reason why Smith had back-to-back 300-yard games. Since then, Washington has relied on a more run-heavy approach. As a result, Smith has back-to-back games below 200 passing yards with one touchdown and one interception in each outing. Those aren't great fantasy numbers, and it's partly why Smith is a bottom-five QB option in Week 13. The other reason is Smith draws a brutal matchup against the Steelers who are No. 1 in aFPA quarterbacks. Stay away from Smith this week.
Week 12 at Cowboys
Alex Smith's production went way down in Week 11 following back-to-back 300-yard games. Last week, Smith finished with just 166 yards with one touchdown and one interception. The biggest takeaway, though, is Smith going from 55 pass attempts in Week 10 to 25 in Week 11. As a combined trio, Washington is averaging 36.2 pass attempts per game, which is closer to what you can expect this week. Washington plays the Cowboys in Week 12, which is a favorable matchup. Kyle Allen started in Washington's previous game against Dallas, finishing with 194 yards and two touchdowns on 25 pass attempts. Washington quarterbacks have a 10-8 TD-INT ratio through 10 games this season, so despite the favorable matchup, this offense is pretty limited in its production. Smith isn't a horrible choice, but he's outside the top 15 quarterbacks for Week 12.
Week 11 vs. Cincinnati Bengals
Alex Smith has had an odd couple of games for Washington, throwing for 300+ yards in back-to-back weeks, but finishing with a 1-3 TD-INT ratio in that span. He had 390 yards in Week 10, but that was mostly due to the fact he threw the ball 55 times. It's unlikely we see that again, as it took Washington a season-high 88 offensive plays to get there. Washington was averaging ~65 snaps per game before. Smith might be a better option than previously thought, especially in a favorable Week 11 matchup against the Bengals. But Washington quarterbacks have struggled to get touchdowns this season, averaging just one per game (9 in 9 games). Smith is outside the top-15 quarterback options in Week 11, but isn't in the bottom tier of options.
Week 10 at Detroit Lions
Alex Smith filled in for an injured Kyle Allen last week and had a strange game. He completed a high 75% of his 32 pass attempts, but still wound up throwing three interceptions. Depending on your scoring settings, those three interceptions canceled out his one touchdown, leaving just his 325 passing yards as his production. We haven't seen much success from any Washington quarterback this season, so there's no real reason to expect any different from Smith in Week 10. He's a bottom five quarterback option this week against the Lions.
Week 11 vs. Houston Texans
Washington is a team that is built around its defense and ball-control offense. This team is third in time of possession, but for fantasy purposes, Washington has an implied team total in Week 11 of only 19.75 points. Only Oakland is lower. Combine that with the fact that Alex Smith hasn't scored more than 17 fantasy points in a game since Week 1, despite two pristine match-ups against Tampa Bay and Atlanta over the past two weeks, and there's nothing to see here in single QB leagues. Move along. Move along (stormtrooper voice).
Week 10 at Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Let's check in on the Washington offense as they begin the second half of their season: 25th in total offense, 25th in scoring offense and 24th in passing offense. That does not inspire confidence, but the match-up does, as Tampa Bay is dead last in fantasy points allowed to quarterbacks at over 25 per game. Smith put up a decent floor performance in a similar great match-up last week, and we think he's a viable streamer against the Bucs, since every other QB against them this year has been. All but one opposing QB scored 20+ points, and that one was Nick Foles for 15+ points.
Week 8 vs. Atlanta Falcons
Alex Smith gets a strong match-up in Week 9 to put him on the streaming QB radar, despite his lackluster performances this season. Atlanta has allowed 20+ fantasy points to QBs every week since Week 2. The Falcons are also just 30th in aFPA to QBs. There's still risk here though, as Smith hasn't eclipsed 17 FP since Week 1, but the match-up is very attractive.
Week 8 at New York Giants
The Washington-New York game has the second-lowest over/under of Week 8 at just 43.5 points. That's not a good sign for Alex Smith's fantasy production, considering he has not eclipsed 17 fantasy points since Week 1. The Giants are also top ten in aFPA to QBs. Continue to keep Smith out of your one QB league lineups.
