Richard has high expectations for Alex Smith's 2018 season

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Photo credit Brad Mills-USA TODAY Sports

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Another day, another CBS Sports writer predicting Alex Smith to have a great first season with the Redskins.

It all started in July, when Ryan Wilson told Chad Dukes that Smith "could be in the MVP conversation."
Last week, The Junkies began placing bets amongst themselves on Alex Smith's stats this upcoming season. CBS Sports writer Will Brinson got in on the action Monday and predicted Smith to have a huge season. 
On Thursday, CBS Sports fantasy football guru Dave Richard threw his hat into the ring during an appearance on The Junkies, by the request of Brinson. 

DAVE. Make your Alex Smith predictions and join our contest.

— Will Brinson (@WillBrinson) August 23, 2018

And like his colleagues, Richard has high expectations for Smith's first year in burgundy and gold. Here's what he predicted:

Passing Yards: 4,180
Touchdowns: 24
Interceptions: 8
Completion Percentage: 64.8
Quarterback Rating: 96.0

The 4,180 passing yards would be a career-high for Smith, while the 24 TDs would come just shy of the personal best 26 he tossed for last season in Kansas City. 

"I think the injury to Derrius Guice — sorry, I'm not a big believer in Adrian Peterson coming in and rushing for 1,500 yards in Washington this year — I think it's gonna force Jay Gruden to dial up even more pass plays than he has in the past," Richard said. "Alex Smith's career high in pass attempts in a season is 508. He is going to blow that out of the water this year in Washington. He'll get close to 575, 600 pass attempts this season."

As for the rest of the Redskins offense, Richard explained that fantasy team owners should look to draft some of Washington's playmakers in "round eight or later," but thinks they could certainly provide some value.

"You've got Chris Thompson, Jamison Crowder, I think those two guys should get a bunch of catches this year, Crowder especially," Richard said. "If Jordan (Reed) is healthy, then as long as he's on the field, people are gonna start him in fantasy, and we know that Alex Smith does have a track record of leaning heavily on his tight ends."

"He did it in San Francisco with Vernon Davis, he did it in Kansas City with Travis Kelce, and he should do it with Jordan Reed, too. And when Reed doesn't play, that's gonna be Vernon Davis's time."

Richard isn't as sure about Josh Doctson's fantasy value, describing him as "the wild card."

"I'm getting him late in a bunch of drafts, just in case he does put it together, just in case he can stay healthy," he said. "I know Jay Gruden likes to spread the ball all around, doesn't like to focus on having one stud wide receiver, but he's mentioned a number of times that Doctson is his guy in the red zone. 

"When we're talking round 15 on draft day, and you're just getting a guy to take a shot on, why not Josh Doctson? Why not give him that opportunity for your fantasy team?"

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