Alex Smith is who we thought he was and that's okay. (Getty Images)
Alex Smith is who we thought he was and that's okay. (Getty Images)

New storylines emerge every week. Some are reasonable, most are not. "The Week in Overreactions" focuses on the latter. Those items that offer a cursory "How do you do?" as they blow past reality straight for THIS IS THE MOST AMAZING THING EVER! We're here to keep everything in perspective. Questions, comments, casserole ideas? Hit us up on Twitter at @ryanwilson_07.

Alex Smith isn't a game manager

It's easy -- and, frankly, lazy -- to categorize Alex Smith as a game manager because that appeared to be his ceiling early in his career. Some of those growing pains can be attributed to youth (he came into the league as a fresh-faced 20-year-old), expectations that come with being the first-overall pick in the 2005 draft, and landing on a bad 49ers team that had six different offensive coordinators in Smith's first six seasons.

That's the definition of setting someone up to fail. And while the perception of Smith didn't change once coach Jim Harbaugh arrived in 2011, the reality was that he became a more complete player.

• In 54 games (50 starts) from 2005-2010, Smith completed 57 percent of his passes (6.2 YPA) with 51 touchdowns and 53 interceptions.

• In 2011-2012 under Harbaugh, Smith played in 26 games (25 starts) completed 64 percent of his passes (7.4 YPA) with 30 touchdowns and 10 interceptions.

• And in a season and a half with the Chiefs and Andy Reid, Smith has started all 21 games, completing 62 percent of his passes (6.6 YPA) with 32 touchdowns and 11 interceptions.

We've been as guilty as anyone as taking Smith's accomplishments for granted, even regularly referring to him as "a bridge quarterback" to whomever is pegged as the next face of the franchise in Kansas City. But he's proven to be much, much more than that. We saw it in last season's playoff loss to the Colts, when he was 30 of 46 for 378 yards, with four touchdowns and no interceptions.

We saw it again in Week 4 when Smith completed 20 of 26 passes for 248 yards, with three touchdowns and no interceptions as the Chiefs throttled the Patriots, 41-14. And we were reminded once again on Sunday in San Diego when Smith, who has long been criticized for his inability to play from behind, did just that.

He led the Chiefs on a late-fourth-quarter, eight-play, 62-yard drive that began on their 8-yard line, and included a nine-yard scramble and passes of 19, 16 and eight yards to set up Cairo Santos' 48-yard field goal.

It wasn't spectacular but that's not Smith's game. (And when did spectacular equate to franchise savior, anyway? Jay Cutler has plenty of "spectacular" plays on his highlight reel but he's regularly played  some truly awful football.)

According to Football Outsiders, Smith ranks 15th among all quarterbacks this season, ahead of Tom Brady, Carson Palmer and Ben Roethlisberger, but his steady-as-she-goes approach fits nicely with what Reid wants to do offensively. And even if it means fewer big plays down the field, it's hard to argue with the results; the Chiefs started 9-0 last season before finishing 11-5. And after an 0-2 start this season, they have won three of four, their only loss an eminently winnable game in San Francisco in Week 5. And this all comes after the Chiefs, prior to Reid and Smith's arrival, won a grand total of two games in 2012.

When Smith signed a four-year, $68 million extension just before the season, our only reservation was that it would mean the Chiefs would put off finding their next young quarterback. But at 30 years old, he's entering his NFL prime; there's no reason to rush him off the field. In fact, he could be the key to helping the Chiefs to back-to-back winning seasons for the first time since 2005-2006.

Is Sammy Watkins worth all those picks now?

Bills rookie wide receiver Sammy Watkins lived up to his first-round pedigree Sunday when he caught nine passes for 122 yards and two touchdowns -- including the game winner, courtesy of Uncle Rico Orton:

The Bills are now 4-3 thanks to a very good defense, Kyle Orton replacing EJ Manuel, and Watkins' development. But is Watkins worth what the front office gave up to get him? Early in the first round of last May's NFL Draft, Buffalo shipped the ninth overall pick, along with a first- and fourth-rounder in 2015, to Cleveland to move up to No. 4.

We wrote this summer about why, in general, trading up is a bad idea.

In today's NFL, roster building can be distilled to a few simple truths: Find a franchise quarterback, add depth around him, and do it all while walking the salary-cap tight rope. Trading up in the first round -- effectively swapping several draft picks in exchange for the one player an owner, GM or coach has fallen in love with -- almost never pans out.

In a heavily cited study titled "The Loser's Curse: Overconfidence vs. Market Efficiency in the NFL Draft," economists Cade Massey and Richard Thaler concluded that teams are always better off trading down. The thinking: trading down means more picks, which increases the probability one of those picks will work out, whether as a starter or a quality backup.

We still feel that way, even if we happily acknowledge that Watkins looks to be a truly special player. Through the first month and a half of his rookie season, Watkins ranks 35th in total value among all wideouts, according to Football Outsiders, and Pro Football Focus' metrics rank him 48th.

Those numbers mean little at this stage of the proceedings but we're including them here because of a player often compared to Watkins: Julio Jones. The Falcons traded up in the 2011 draft to take Jones, who had 54 receptions for 959 yards and eight touchdowns during his rookie season when he ranked 26th among all wideouts, according to Football Outsiders and 57th, according to Pro Football Focus. Jones has since developed into one of the NFL's best receivers ... and the Falcons have gone from 10-6 to 13-3 to 4-12 to 2-5 in his three-plus seasons.

The point: There's no denying Jones' talents -- and the same will likely hold true with Watkins -- but the opportunity cost of acquiring them both aren't in either team's best long-term interests.

We'll repeat what we wrote back in May: Good players can be found throughout the first round -- and beyond. History might prove us wrong, and it would be a great story for a franchise that hasn't had a winning record since 2004, when Mike Mularkey was coach and Drew Bledsoe was quarterback. But the reality is that good teams seldom trade up. Good teams are also good because A) they have a franchise quarterback, and B) a lot of quality depth around him. Buffalo, as it stands, has neither.

Colt McCoy is the next Kirk Cousins

It looks like Colt McCoy will make his first NFL start since the 2011 season. It's a welcome change for Redskins' fans who only needed a month to grow tired of favorite son Kirk Cousins.

In that time, many of these same fans have come full circle on Robert Griffin III, the second-overall pick in 2012 whose career got off to such a promising start before injuries and Shanahan-related mayhem sidetracked things. Griffin could be back on the field in weeks, but in the meantime, it's worth keeping McCoy Mania in perspective (if possible, of course).

Worth noting: Cousins' first throw of the 2014 season was also for a touchdown.

One more thing: Remember when Cousins compared himself to Andy Dalton, especially when it came to running Jay Gruden's offense? Yep, that was something.

So ... about Brian Hoyer

We don't want to overreact to an overreaction -- a week ago, we wrote these words: "We were very, very wrong about Brian Hoyer" -- but Hoyer and the Browns were Brownsin' hard Sunday in Jacksonville, helping the Jaguars to their first win of the season.

Hoyer finished the day 16 of 41 for 215 yards with no touchdowns and an interception.

It's a fair question, so much so that first-year coach Mike Pettine admitted that there was some discussion of getting Johnny Manziel in the game. Still, a week after the Browns humiliated the Steelers, Pettine says he isn't ready to panic.

"Today is a good example of when a team wins a quarterback gets a lot of credit, but when they don't he gets a lot of blame," Pettine said Sunday. "I know he missed some throws. We didn't play well enough around him."

"It's a long season," Hoyer added. "We're 3-3, and we blew an opportunity to be 4-2. We got two games at home (against the Raiders and Buccaneeers). Regroup and stick together."