Official 49ers Thread

[DrumNFeather]

There may not be another player in the history of the NFL who got more chances and was stuck with longer than Alex Smith. So it's hard to feel bad for him from that perspective. If the end up going with CK after today then Alex will get an audition somewhere else. Several teams have pretty bad QB situations.

It very much reminds me of when Gibbs named Ramsey the starter, but went to Brunell when Ramsey was injured (did not miss any time outside the second half of the first game of the season) and never looked back. I think this is about Harbaugh getting his guy in there plain and simple...and, I agree with the point that others have made that Harbaugh believes in the system more than he does any individual player and as such, he thinks he can plug in the most athletic guy into it and have success, and the results so far seem to bear that out.

The odd move in all of this is signing Alex to a three year deal in the offseason if Harbaugh was indeed just looking for the right time to make the switch.

Troy Aikman paid Alex Smith a great compliment in that he's the got the perfect personality to handle this kind of slap in the face...on the other hand, maybe he needs a little more Cutler in his personality.

[YOhio]

He's the 5th-rated QB in the NFL right now so he's got that going for him. I wish him all the luck in the world.

Yeah. I feel for him. I would have liked to see him make it big with the Niners. I've always liked him.

[Color Me Badd Fan]

It very much reminds me of when Gibbs named Ramsey the starter, but went to Brunell when Ramsey was injured (did not miss any time outside the second half of the first game of the season) and never looked back. I think this is about Harbaugh getting his guy in there plain and simple...and, I agree with the point that others have made that Harbaugh believes in the system more than he does any individual player and as such, he thinks he can plug in the most athletic guy into it and have success, and the results so far seem to bear that out.

The odd move in all of this is signing Alex to a three year deal in the offseason if Harbaugh was indeed just looking for the right time to make the switch.

Troy Aikman paid Alex Smith a great compliment in that he's the got the perfect personality to handle this kind of slap in the face...on the other hand, maybe he needs a little more Cutler in his personality.

The 49ers can opt out after this season and only be on the hook for $1 million to Smith.

Kaepernick made some plays today that Alex Smith couldn't have made. Alex Smith was a little too much Captain Checkdown. The thing that had to be encouraging to the Niners is Kaepernick has only turned the ball over once through ten quarters of play. The biggest thing with Smith the past couple seasons was he didn't turn over the ball, the Niners would just win with defense, special teams and running the ball. The problem was the Niners were terrible in the red zone and they weren't a home run threat. The offense struggled at times last year and their passing offense was ranked 28th in the league this year. Part of it was the Niners focusing on the running the game but then the question is whether they did that because of Smith's inability to make big plays.

[DrumNFeather]

The 49ers can opt out after this season and only be on the hook for $1 million to Smith.

Kaepernick made some plays today that Alex Smith couldn't have made. Alex Smith was a little too much Captain Checkdown. The thing that had to be encouraging to the Niners is Kaepernick has only turned the ball over once through ten quarters of play. The biggest thing with Smith the past couple seasons was he didn't turn over the ball, the Niners would just win with defense, special teams and running the ball. The problem was the Niners were terrible in the red zone and they weren't a home run threat. The offense struggled at times last year and their passing offense was ranked 28th in the league this year. Part of it was the Niners focusing on the running the game but then the question is whether they did that because of Smith's inability to make big plays.

That makes sense. I don't totally by the whole "Alex can't throw down field" argument...I think it would be more of a "Alex doesn't throw down field" (as you noted with captain check down. We've seen him connect on throws down field this season, but I understand that those seem to be few and far between. It's a big move by Harbaugh, but two games in seems to have paid off, and if they opt out at season's end, we'll see Alex somewhere else next season. THAT will get very interesting, because I'm sure there are teams that would take a guy that takes care of the ball, but won't excite any fan base whose town he comes into.

[Color Me Badd Fan]

That makes sense. I don't totally by the whole "Alex can't throw down field" argument...I think it would be more of a "Alex doesn't throw down field" (as you noted with captain check down. We've seen him connect on throws down field this season, but I understand that those seem to be few and far between. It's a big move by Harbaugh, but two games in seems to have paid off, and if they opt out at season's end, we'll see Alex somewhere else next season. THAT will get very interesting, because I'm sure there are teams that would take a guy that takes care of the ball, but won't excite any fan base whose town he comes into.

The only team that expressed interest during the offseason was Miami.

There's been a big influx of decent young QBs the past three seasons and teams are still seeing what they have. For instance, Cleveland was a trainwreck at QB but Weeden has shown some potential at times. Jacksonville on the other hand needs to cut bait with Gabbert who is horrible. Henne has looked okay.

Phoenix, Philly and KC have decent skill players but horrible QB situations. Phoenix and Philly have terrible o-lines, I'm not sure about KC's line. The Raiders have a better o-line but not great skill players, although it's impossible to tell with Carson Palmer at QB. Then there's Buffalo who may be looking to unload Fitzpatrick and that crappy contract.

All told, I think Smith should go to KC if they came calling. KC will likely have a high draft pick, but I'm not sure there's a QB coming out that's worth a top 3 pick. Pick the best offensive tackle and pick up Smith when he's released by the Niners.

[LA Ute]

That makes sense. I don't totally by the whole "Alex can't throw down field" argument...I think it would be more of a "Alex doesn't throw down field" (as you noted with captain check down. We've seen him connect on throws down field this season, but I understand that those seem to be few and far between. It's a big move by Harbaugh, but two games in seems to have paid off, and if they opt out at season's end, we'll see Alex somewhere else next season. THAT will get very interesting, because I'm sure there are teams that would take a guy that takes care of the ball, but won't excite any fan base whose town he comes into.

[YOUTUBE]iDGn_IRSDTg[/YOUTUBE]

[UtahDan]

[YOUTUBE]OyCpQkqmgTo[/YOUTUBE]

You didn't like how I had fixed it for you?

[LA Ute]

You didn't like how I had fixed it for you?

iPad wouldn't work....Thanks.

[smokymountainrain]

I said it earlier in the thread and each week they impress me even more - the 49ers have a great football team and I'm not sure it matters who they throw in there under center. Whoever it is will be protected well, will get plenty of support from the run game, will have good play calls, will see receivers running open all over the field and even with all that, most of the time won't have to score very many points because that defense is so damn good.

Bad luck for Alex Smith because he was in the perfect situation to succeed, but unfortunately Harbaugh appears to like CK and now CK is in that perfect situation to succeed.

[DrumNFeather]

[YOUTUBE]iDGn_IRSDTg[/YOUTUBE]

You don't have to sell me. I'm sold. I'm basing my comments off of everything I've seen and read in the media regarding this change from Smith to CK. Troy Aikman came the closest to saying anything remotely positive about Smith today in saying he takes a slap in the face well. Some have noted his top 5 passer ranking, but not really as a reason to not bench him (PTI may have made mention of it). But from Jaws, to Gruden, to Dungy, to all the others, Smith just isn't the guy.

[LA Ute]

I said it earlier in the thread and each week they impress me even more - the 49ers have a great football team and I'm not sure it matters who they throw in there under center. Whoever it is will be protected well, will get plenty of support from the run game, will have good play calls, will see receivers running open all over the field and even with all that, most of the time won't have to score very many points because that defense is so damn good.

Hmmm. Looking at the clip in my post I'm not convinced that just any old journeyman QB could have pulled that off, system or no system. I think Alex deserves lots of credit for becoming the quarterback he became. If he really is good I hope he gets a shot to show that somewhere.

[UtahDan]

Hmmm. Looking at the clip in my post I'm not convinced that just any old journeyman QB could have pulled that off, system or no system. I think Alex deserves lots of credit for becoming the quarterback he became. If he really is good I hope he gets a shot to show that somewhere.

I think when you have a winning formula you stick with it, so I'm not saying I agree with Harbaugh. There are a lot of assumptions that go into the conventional wisdom that you could plug anyone in that may not be correct. It was that same conventional wisdom that lead the Ravens to cut their Superbowl Champ "game manager" QB after the 2000 season and go with Grbac, which seemed okay until he threw three picks in the playoffs and they were done. There are so many moving parts on a football team and so much that goes into success or failure I think it is just crazy to tinker with a part that is working. As Drum said, unless they win the NFC championship this was a bad move.

[Color Me Badd Fan]

I think when you have a winning formula you stick with it, so I'm not saying I agree with Harbaugh. There are a lot of assumptions that go into the conventional wisdom that you could plug anyone in that may not be correct. It was that same conventional wisdom that lead the Ravens to cut their Superbowl Champ "game manager" QB after the 2000 season and go with Grbac, which seemed okay until he threw three picks in the playoffs and they were done. There are so many moving parts on a football team and so much that goes into success or failure I think it is just crazy to tinker with a part that is working. As Drum said, unless they win the NFC championship this was a bad move.

After watching the Giants destroy the Packers last night, it became pretty clear to me that whoever wins the NFC is going to have to beat the Giants. The Giants beat the Niners handily earlier this year when Smith played poorly. The Giants have the best pass rush in the league when only rushing four. Alex Smith takes a ton of sacks because he holds onto the ball too long and is unwilling or unable to make that split second decision when the pocket is collapsing. In the Giants game, Smith was sacked four times and threw three interceptions.

The Niners don't have a shitty o-line, it's not the crappy Packers line. But the Giants have a simple formula. They drop all their DBs and linebackers into coverage and Pierre-Paul, Tuck, Usemeniryora and Kiwanuka pressure the QB. It will be interesting to see what Kaepernick does against these guys, because he can evade the pass rush just about as well as anyone and if they don't leave a couple linebackers behind, Kapernick is going to pick up some yardage.

[Color Me Badd Fan]

Kendall Hunter is out for the seasons with an achilles tear. Shit. I really like Hunter, he's a perfect compliment to Frank Gore.

Time to finally activate LaMichael James.

[BigPiney]

Kendall Hunter is out for the seasons with an achilles tear. Shit. I really like Hunter, he's a perfect compliment to Frank Gore.

Time to finally activate LaMichael James.

Agreed. And maybe give Jacobs more that one carry on the season.

Hunter was playing really well. Bummer for him.

On a related note, friend of mine asked me yesterday if I would go to the playoffs with him this year. I guess they need a designated driver and will even pay for some of my expenses if I go. So very tempting.