Taken five years apart as the first overall picks in the draft, there’s a lingering sense that neither Alex Smith nor Sam Bradford have done enough to become true franchise quarterbacks, other than to get paid like one.
In Week One, they each did something no quarterback had ever before done in league history.
According to the NFL, Bradford and Smith became the only quarterbacks in league history to complete 80 percent or more of their passes, to gain at least 325 passing yards, to throw three touchdown passes, and to produce no interceptions in a season-opening game.
Bradford completed 27 of 32 throws (84.4 percent) for 346 yards and three scores in a win over the Saints. Smith connected on 28 of 35 passes (80 percent) for 368 yards and four touchdown passes.
While it make not be enough to immediately change the perceptions and narratives about each guy, it could be that Smith and Bradford (both on the right side of 35) are lining up to become the wrong-side-of-35 franchise quarterbacks once the likes of Tom Brady (whom the 33-year-old Smith beat) and Drew Brees (whom the 29-year-old Bradford beat).