West Virginia quarterback Geno Smith knows a thing or two about smokescreens. Possibly from all the burning couches.
Regardless, Smith realizes that the Chiefs could be showing interest in the former Mountaineer not because they want to use the first overall pick on him but because they hope to trade the selection to someone else. He’ll find out more when he visits the Chiefs this week.
“I hope Kansas City is legitimately interested,” Smith told Jim Corbett of USA Today. “I hope I go No. 1, but, hey, we’ll see. The Chiefs are bringing me in, so I’m going in there thinking that they’re interested [in me], because I am in them.
“I’m just going to do what I’ve always done, try and impress them, just be myself and allow the process to do it’s job and get ready for whoever drafts me. I’ll be going Monday to Friday, working out for different teams.’'
Ian Rapoport of NFL Network recently reported that the Chiefs are “fascinated” with Smith, and that one scout there compares Smith to a young Donovan McNabb. The report widely is being regarded as the blowing of smoke by the Chiefs, given that G.M. John Dorsey told reporters last month that he sees no first-round quarterback prospects in the draft pool -- a statement that was backed up by the Chiefs sending the second pick in round two plus a third-round pick in 2014 (which could become a second-round pick) to the 49ers for Alex Smith.
So look for the Chiefs to do their best to make Geno think that Kansas City will keep the first overall pick and use it on him. Even though all available evidence suggests that, with the trade for Smith plus a three-year, $10 million deal given to backup Chase Daniel, the Chiefs will be looking to address needs elsewhere at the top of the draft.
And they’ll be able to address even more of those needs if they can lure one of the other teams in the top 10 to pay an RG3-style ransom for the privilege of picking GS1.