Here’s why I think the Niners should let Alex Smith sign with the Dolphins, and then the Niners could sign Mike Wallace and Josh Johnson instead, and then let Johnson and Colin Kaepernick compete for the starting quarterback job in 2012.
Last season, Alex Smith was a game manager who played his best when he was losing in the second half, and whose best attribute was not turning the ball over.
Besides that, he threw the fewest passes of any quarterback who started all 16 games, and he was the worst on third down and in the red zone.
Colin Kaepernick or Josh Johnson could be the worst QB on third down and in the red zone for way cheaper. Kaepernick will make about $600,000 in ’12. He’d be less than one-tenth of the cost of Smith. So it would cost the Niners much less to have a quarterback throw the ball at the feet, over the head or to the side of Michael Crabtree, Randy Moss, you name him.
Spend the cap space on real talent – Mike Wallace – not on Alex Smith, the Steve-DeBerg bridge to the future.
Yeahhhh I’m pretty close to being convinced that this is the right move… Obviously that pristine +29 turnover ratio would suffer but I don’t think there’s much question that passing TDs would go up as well. Add in the fact that defenses wouldn’t be allowed to stack 8 in the box any longer as well and it’s looking real good.
No Way!!! Lets just expect Smith to get slightly better this upcoming year considering the fact that he is comfortable with the playbook and will have the same Off Coordinator for the first time in his 7 year career. We add Randy and Mario, which is a huge upgrade from last years WR’s (the weakest part of our team). The progression of our Newer/younger team members; Coach Harbaugh,Hunter, Bowman Culliver, Brock. Everything else Similar to last year=Superbowl
Did we want Manning? Yes! Would it have made it easier to make it to and win the SuperBowl? Yes, everyone was calling them the front runners if Manning chose the 49ers.
Will the 49ers till be one of the top 5 teams favored to win the super bowl if they signed A. Smith again if not top 3? Absofrickenlutely! I would put Money on it!! And I probably Will!!
Not exactly true. He had Jimmy Raye in consecutive years under Singletary. Granted, Raye was removed into the second season, but Alex had some continuity there and proved it didn’t matter.
Totally agree Eric with your Take,
Grant’s off his Frickin’ Rocker if he thinks K-Gun is ready to the Starting QB.
Just go ask Aaron Rodgers how that turned out for him his 1st year as the Starter for the Packers. They went 6-10 and he was wayyy more prepared than K-Gun would be.
Lol f4…. The packers as a team sucked. Rogers was sacked over 50 times and still threw for 4 grand. Ck with a good team could be just as good if not better than smith last year. All he would have to do is play safe and not turn the ball over. Alex isn’t going anywhere. But nice try on the Rodgers thing though.
@ninermd
The Packers sucked? You mean the same Packers that went into Overtime in the Championship Game against the Giants the previous year?
As usual you don’t know what you’re talking about. Never have never will.
Lol f4 your the one who brought up Rodgers first year at 6-10 when he did well. Now who doesn’t know what they’re talking about? Clueless
Wow, harsh!
Grant, I hope you remember this article of yours about 10 months from now. I have a feeling you’ll change your tune by then.
Or he’s getting hints from his dad. Keep the audience interested.
You’ve been quite disrespectful to me recently.
Come on GC you’re not that thin skinned. lol
I don’t care about the posters who come just to bash, but DS writes hundreds of posts a day and I try to reply to as many of DS’s questions as possible. I think DS should be more polite to me.
Hundreds of posts a day….lol. So true.
I think there are a handful of people here who need to be more polite to everyone in general.
What happened to the “be polite or I ban you” rule?
There were some particularly nasty exchanges yesterday that went completely unchallenged. There seems to be a core group of four or five here that can get away with writing anything they wish to anybody without so much as an eyelash being batted. There also seems to be some (and here comes the alliteration) nasty newbs here lately that think it’s cool to call people retards and… I’ll have to go back and look to get the other fun nastiness.
Matter of fact I was going to ask for clarification on that rule yesterday. Is it still the law of the land? I can bash with the best of them and have been biting my tongue with several folks here for a while now. Seems they’re allowed to be large bloated D-Bags but others (who really aren’t nearly as offensive) aren’t.
I’m thinking the Animal Farm approach isn’t gonna cut it.
Please, let us know your decision so I can prepare my verbal Judo if needed. ;)
@DS
Be a man and apologize. Oops, I mean be something … anyway, you know what I mean
Thanks, Nick. You proved my point.
@Grant
If you feel that way,then please email me the thread you think I was mean or disrespecftul to you and we can discuss it in private via email. Unless you want a whole long thread on your blog to bring the blog down with us?
I did ask you to start policing the blog more and your reply was something like:
Why does it bother you?
So, we can keep this in private. Just like the Niners should/are I hope doing right now. And, of all the things said about you in the last blog, you are pointing me out? Interesting.
I do a fine job policing this site. If you you have a problem with me, please post somewhere else.
Grant, you should care about the posters who come to bash. Adam is on point. You seem to care more about someone saying something about your dad than other commentors truly bullying. I can understand sticking up for your dad, but you should stick up for all.
I don’t delete posts unless they include cursing – those are the directions from my boss. I’m not here to be the kindergarten teacher and force everyone to play nice.
@Grant
I am not pork. I am not going to get mad at you for not answering a question I had which you didn’t answer.
I don’t think I post questions to you often if you are not online either. If so, then I am sorry. But it would help if I knew what I was sorry about.
You wrote: “Or he’s getting hints from his dad. Keep the audience interested,” and Hoferfan suggested I wrote this article just for blog hits. So, both of you questioned my journalistic integrity, and coming from you two, that hurts my feelings. I take your posts seriously. You should take mine seriously.
DS,
Take a hint.
@Grant
Seriously,
Can’t we discuss this off the blog?
I would not spend my time on a persons blog who I disrespected. Surely you must have seen my many posts where I tell others who are flat out rude to you that?
It’s alright, let’s move on.
Grant, arn’t tired on hating a> smith? Good Job..
Grant – I am all for being polite and respectful on these things, but I find it somewhat ironic that you take issue with DS being “disrespectful” in the same thread in which you show pretty much no respect for Alex Smith. You can argue that he is not the answer at QB, and I think we all get that you simply don’t want or like him. In all fairness, however, you might want to show him at least a modicum of respect as you request it in return.
Grant puts up with a lot of crap from people here, who I doubt would have the courage to say the same to his face. Much like Alex Smith.
The internet enables basement tough guys. Let’s try to act like adults and discuss the subject without personal attacks, politics, or ad hominems.
Grant,
“I do a fine job policing this site. If you you have a problem with me, please post somewhere else.”
Thanks for making my day :-).
Where was the “journalistic integrity” when you were posting updates on what Smith was supposedly eating, and joining in on some joking around about AS tossing a quarter to a homeless man? If you’re a journalist you need to keep to the facts and at minimum be respectful of those you report on. I understand this is a blog where opinion rules, but if you’re going to throw the “journalistic integrity” card you should be staying above the fray, providing the fodder for us all to debate, not joining in in the bashing of a player that has underperformed in his history, yet has always seemingly treated the media, his teammates, his coaches, and everyone else with respect.
No, that was humor. It was funny considering people were getting on him about FA updates, and there weren’t any.
@Grant
My 10:57 post was meant as a compliment.
One thing that any writer of any kind needs to have is to be able to hold the audience. Whether that be in a movie with tense drama, or on a newspaper/blog. The writer needs to write things that make people think/ask questions/etc.
And, your father has been very good at that. And I have seen you learn and get better at doing that all this time.
It was not meant as an insult. It was meant as a compliment. And I still believe your writing has definitely gotten myself and others to think in different ways/ideas, and that is what a good writer does. That is what separates a good writer from a mediocre writer.
Sorry. I should have explained myself better by writing more. It is your blog. You have every right to ban me if you wish. Just want you to know that I was trying to compliment you, not insult you.
Ds… Your pushing it. It’s an opinion based blog. When are you going to quit defending Alex smith from others opinion? Not everyone is going to have the same opinion. Your killing the fun. Just stop already.
MD props to you man, you have been awesome lately staying away from the drama and I gotta say I’m trying to. We all need to stop defending or critisizing Alex, its done, been played, lets all move on, cheers bro!
GC said AS was the team MVP a few months ago. Hmm.
That was last season.
???
Smith caught lightning in a bottle last season. I don’t believe he’ll improve much. Kaepernick is improving rapidly. The schedule is tougher next season. I say go with Kaepernick.
Throw CK to the wolves is the answer because you want ed PM and he chose Denv??
I didn’t want Manning. I’m not a fan. You seem upset, Hofer.
I see no reason, or logical evidence, that suggests Smith won’t improve next season. I completely expect him and the rest of the offense to build off their first season together and take it to another level in 2012.
Smith has nowhere to go but up.
GC, upset (??) about what – I thought this is how it would play out…but I don’t think we throw CK to the wolves just to ensure AS doesn’t start this year. Not a good plan for the kid if not ready!
Kaepernick wouldn’t be thrown to the wolves, he would be thrown onto the best team in the NFL. This isn’t 2005 when Alex Smith started as a rookie on the worst team in the league.
Hofer, yesterday you were ready to go with CK over Manning. Come on, MANG!
GC, I hear ya but if CK is ready, why offer AS 3 yrs and $24M a couple of weeks ago?
Contract numbers mean nothing until you know what’s guaranteed. We know the Seahawks guaranteed Flynn $10 million. We don’t know what Baalke guaranteed Smith – maybe very little. Maybe there was only one year guaranteed. We don’t know. We know Smith didn’t like the offer, he didn’t feel the Niners were sufficiently committing themselves to him. It’s clear to me and to Smith the Niners want to turn to Kaepernick sooner rather than later.
BigP, I’m still ready to go all in with CK but the logic doesn’t point that way…offering AS a 3yr deal or signing PM isn’t a ringing endorsement that CK is ready. It’s silly logic to insinuate that he is ready.
Hofer,
Trying to sign Manning isn’t a ringing endorsement of Smith. You said you would rather go with Kaepernick then Manning because he is “home grown.” Sounds to me like you bought to much of the Smitty stock at a high price.
BigP, just your AS blamertude shining through!
Hofer,
I like you. You seem like a good guy and I respect your opinions. You are so invested in Smith that you lose your obejectivity with the situation. You were ready to go with CK instead of Manning, but not CK instead of Smith. I don’t know what else to say.
BigP, what I said was, I’m all in with whoever JH chooses which includes AS and CK!
Grant, did I read you correctly? You are not a fan. Which is good, because the 49ers don’t need more fans.
So you are a journalist. You cover the 49ers. As a journalist covering the 49ers, you did not want Peyton Manning on the 49ers? Isn’t Manning’s return going to be one of the stories of the NFL this upcoming year? And you didn’t want Manning?
Wow!
I advocated the Niners to sign Manning.
That would make sense. I just thought I read during your conversation with HOF during this thread that you said you did not want Manning because you were not a fan. I must have mis-read you.
Thanks for replying.
Grant you are the man. Thank you for posting your honest opinion and insight. However i still believe we should sign Alex and give him a chance to take his game to the next level while CK continues to improve.
Why would anyone want to have a one on one conversation with DS, the guy or women is nothing short of a blowhole and a delusional one as well.
Another great insightful post from Neal.
By the way, you used to like me. And at one time, you did write good insightful posts.
Times long since past….
@DS,
By the way, Grant once liked you and now he would like you leave.Times long since past.
Alex Smith may be a “game manager” but don’t you think he brought some stability to the position last year? With just a play of two away from the Super Bowl, do we really want to gamble with the “quarterback carousel” again?
(I.E. Dilfer, Hill, O’Sullivan, Ratay, etc…O)
we can repat last season play it safe and end in another Alex Smith CHOKE… or build fresh young talent for years to come!!! Kaepernick was drafted by us we traded up just to get him, he was the next pick after Dalton.. hes not in the ranks of Dilfer Hill Ratay or O’somanyintercetions
If he was ready…why would offer a contract to Smith in the first place?
Agreed.
GC, really. The presses aren’t even cool yet on the PM going to Denver and now they are the favorite to win the SB and you pull this??? Ha! Blog hits.
Grant
Good grab on the ‘respectful’ situation. Even though we’re all on two separate sides of the fence, The last 30 or so posts are coming dangerously close to being about football….
We’re rallying today.
I say bring Alex back with only the $10 million guaranteed and JJ. Let all three QB’s fight it out in a real QB competition. No one is guaranteed anything.
They need stability. CK isn’t ready otherwise why did they over AS 3 years and $24M 2 weeks ago?? Playing QB musical chairs doesn’t work for any team that is ready to take a huge step.
*offer*
Hofer,
the offer only had $10 million guaranteed. That tells you all you need to know.
In the event that they had to switch this year or next, they were covered without taking a big hit.
Good cop bad cop article btw…
http://www.nfl.com/news/story/09000d5d827b325b/article/49ers-smith-drama-under-inspection-in-san-francisco
..Grant….even the haters are not buying it….you are losing it dude…..
The bottom line is that CK will get his chance to prove he’s ready to start in camp whether or not another QB is brought in. I don’t see the benefit of bringing in another QB to compete. At the least, AS knows the system and the personnel. If he regresses, everyone would want to see CK. Freeman would be behind the curve and the odd man out. If he did start, we’d have a Troy Smith debacle all over again. Use the resources to line up weapons for CK when it’s finally his turn.
You guys are nuts. Trent Dilfer won a SB with Baltimore. What else needs to be said?
The fact that Smith “took” us to the NFC title game should not make you think that he is a good QB. He was very good at not turning the ball over. He averaged 1 TD pass a game last year and we had the worst 3rd down pct and red zone offense. How many times did the defense/special teams give Smith prime field position? How many times did Smith make Crabs leap 3 feet off the ground to catch a short ball?
I think Grant is correct. I for one am ready for the end of the Smith era.
…and destroyed the Saints in the playoffs.
Say what you will about low numbers and “game management” but also be fair in giving him some props. That was one of THE most exciting games in Niners history and Smith was a LARGE part of that.
Again, CK will get his chance to prove he’s a starter this year. In two years, he most certainly will get a legitimate shot. It’s a foregone conclusion that unless Smith becomes an undeniable star AND decides to re-up with the 49ers, CK is the 49ers QB of the future. For those who can’t wait that long to be rid of Alex, after an NFC Championship game, the question is who are you willing to roll the dice on? Josh Freeman’s 3-year QBR is 79.0, with a big regression last year, and Smith’s is 84.7, trending up from 90.7 last year and a season with this system under his belt after, mind you, not having an offseason with the staff. Given what’s on the market, he’s the best of what’s available. Ask Miami.
@Adam
Absolutely. I’ve been a 49er fan since the 70′s. 2011 was one of the most memorable years this team has ever had.
Except Alex…and that would be 10mil…
I like this one:
http://www.csnbayarea.com/blog/niners-talk/post/Will-Smith-still-buy-magic-springing-fro?blockID=672740&feedID=5884
Ratto nailed it. That’s the real question here. I wonder if ANY of the team will buy any of this stuff now.
Is is just me or Alex really being the difficult one here?
a. He had a reasonable offer on the table BEFORE free agency even began. It was entirely within his control to keep the starting QB position. He thought the offer was insulting?? Turns out they they overbid his market value. Matt Flynn was a hotter free agent than he was and that guy has played TWO games! Alex, wake up, you are getting a good deal in SF.
b. I don’t hear Hasselback or Tebow going around pouting that their teams wanted Peyton Manning. OR Kolb or the other guy in AZ. A LOT of teams wanted Manning because it is weird to have a free agent who is one of the best QBs ever. Get over that too.
So Alex, bottom line is that the 49ers are treating you well. They offered you a very reasonable contract for your skills, in fact above market value. And whatever the stats say, you are not perceived to be an elite QB in the NFL, let alone anywhere near as good as Petyon Manning. More work to be done, son. Go back the 49ers, learn from Harbaugh, get better on 3rd down and the redzone, throw receivers open, and be more consistent. If you can do that, you will be a hot commodity in the NFL and be able to command a higher price.
I think it’s a possibility. You will probably get bashed for it in these comments
I dont think it would be a bad move
playing your best when the team is behind is probably one of the greatest compliments you can give a QB and the biggest reason we should keep smith. despite the poor 3rd down conversion rate (which obviously needs improving) smith was extremely clutch last year. when forced to take the game over through the air he was extremely successful at moving the ball down field and getting it into tight windows in the end zone. i think if he re-signs we could see a huge performance bump from him since the team seemed to really grasp the offense in the final weeks. remember vernon said that he was having a really hard time learning the offense and im sure he wasnt alone. this could have led to wrong routes and miscommunications making smith look bad. it all goes back to what meyer said on draft day about smith and i think next year we will see the offense really take off.
Well said.
Agree; Very well said.
@Grant
@Grant
(sorry for the double post everybody. But, the first paragraph is what I would like an answer for)
By the same logic, cant’ the Niners do the same thing with Wallace? Or is it strictly a PM only rule?
Plus, as I pointed out last night to msc…the Niners would lose Bowman more than likely. Plus of getting Wallace over PM…Wallace will cost a lot less than PM, so that bonus is not anywhere near as much as PM”s and the Niners can afford to keep Bowman and everybody else, plus have Wallace.
All without mortgaging the future away. But setting up a future of Super Bowl contenders for a very long time.
CK is unknown and the rule of the NFL is that a quarterback goes through growing pains his first few years as a starter. JJ has generated zero buzz throughout the league, I haven’t heard his name mentioned in any free agent discussions. If it ain’t broke why fix it.
Andy Dalton did it and went to the playoffs with a worse defense than ours. Cam Newton did it and would have made the playoffs if he has a defense behind him… It can be done. And with Harbaugh coaching I know it can be done.
OK if he wins out, I’m all in. Let’s see how this plays out. AS isn’t even a 9er yet.
Sure Bay it can be done, just longer odds.
Hofer,
if they draft another young QB who do you think they go after? Or do you think they like they young stable of QB’s and they bring in a vet. Maybe JJ? System ready?
Bay, whoever JH chooses to roll with I’m all in.
Andrew, It isn’t too far from being broke. Grant hit on all the reasons to make the switch, terrible third down/red zone conversions, and with the additions of Moss and Manningham they are in position to take more shots, which isn’t Smith’s strong suit.
Sure there may be some growing pains, but the end result could be so much better. As Denny Green once said, “Alex Smith is who we thought he was,” or something like that.
Come on Jack 14-4 is the bottom line. The odds are better with Alex improving in his second year in the system than with CK lighting it up. If CK was so highly thought of why wasn’t he drafted in the first round? If Alex doesn’t produce give CK his shot. Any QB that is superior will eventually get to play.
Andrew, the odds also don’t are that if the defense takes a slight step back in 2012 and Smith continues to play like he did in 2011, with only slight improvement 14-4 will be a pipedream. He is a better option than any free agent out there, but maybe not the best on his own team, wait on the 49ers, because right now he has no team….
lol. Brady was picked in the sixth round. Joe in the third. Unbelievably bad logic here.
And what did Andy Dalton, drafted a spot ahead of Kaepernick, have to say about that “rule of the NFL” last year when he was in Honolulu?
Also, I couldn’t really care less about buzz around the NFL if the guy is someone Harbaugh knows well and believes in. Harbaugh once said ‘athleticism’ was the most important quality a QB can have, and he also said that Josh Johnson was the most athletic QB he’s ever coached. Worth looking into if Alex wants more money.
Andy Dalton didn’t run the Pistol at Nevada. Andy Dalton wasn’t a raw “project” quarterback.
Apples to oranges.
Jack, agree with most of the reason but, “terrible third down/red zone conversions.” That could easily be the play calling, new system, running without holes, BE project that went bust, lack of separation by WRs, etc. Yes AS gets his piece of the reason not executing, but not ALL on the QB.
LSX,
Cam Newton was thought to be the least pro-ready QB in the draft because of the ridiculously simplified spread-option system he came from. He was unbelievable during his rookie year. He took the offense from #32 the previous year to #7.
Big P,
We’re not talking about Came Newtown. We’re talking about Colin Kaepernick. I get what you’re saying, but it’s still apples to oranges.
Hofer, let’s just use the Championship game as an example. 1-13 on 3rd down, of those 13 plays, 12 were called passes. Look at the play by play of the game, all Smith did was check down and play it safe.
With Moss there are a lot of times there isn’t going to be separation, but Smith should throw it up and give him a chance to go get it right? Unfortunately that isn’t Smith’s M.O. Same thing with Crabtree, Smith often won’t give him a chance to make a play unless he is wide open.
I know it isn’t all on Smith, but at the end of the day he needs to be more aggressive if this team is going to repeat last year with him at the controls.
LSX,
I don’t think it’s about apples and oranges, I think it’s about production. Newton produced despite being considered less pro-ready then CK. You made a comment about the Pistol offense that Kaepernick ran at Nevada and insinuated that he is a project because of it. Newton ripped it up during his year after playing in a Pop-Warner style offense at Auburn. He was the NFL ROTY and a Pro Bowler!
Big P,
Came Newtown is a freak talent that was drafted No.1 overall. Kaepernick is nowhere near the caliber of Newton. That’s what I was getting at.
LSX,
CK is faster and has a better arm then Cam Newton. He is a better overall athlete. Just ask the guy who has trained both.
http://www.nfl.com/draft/story/09000d5d81f54896/article/kaepernick-holds-slight-athletic-edge-over-newton-trainer-says
Big P,
Point made, fair enough. I just think that Newton’s success last year is very atypical, and I wouldn’t trust an unknown Kaep over a continuously improving, clutch-performing Smith.
@Hofer
The play calling was conservative because JH didn’t trust Alex. He wanted him to manage the game, not screw it up. With a legit QB, the play calling would have been different.
LSX,
I hear ya. I’m not trying to get into a pissing match, I just don’t think most people realize just how talented and smart this kid is. Harbaugh chose a guy with an extremely high ceiling.
@ Hofer,
you always seem to take this stance but his entire career Smith has NEVER finished higher than 29th in 3rd down conversions. And if he goes to Miami it will be the same thing. Excuses or not, results are results….
Time for an upgrade.
“The play calling was conservative because JH didn’t trust Alex.”
I don’t buy that.
I mean maybe I buy it in the sense that the system was new and there was no off-season.
But if that were true it wouldn’t explain some of the games last year where Smith opened it up some. The Saints playoff game is a good example of that.
It makes more sense to me that Harbaugh micro-managed because he felt he had to with the limited amount of time he had to install things but like Heath Evans was saying a bit ago, Smith got better each and every week. If he can’t get over 190 yards throwing then we can’t explain that last Saints game.
Something happened to get him one yard shy of 300 yards. On top of that, with the receiver corps we had? That’s actually somewhat astonishing to be honest.
Having said all that, Peter King may be right: Josh Johnson to come in to compete with CK and Tolzien for the starting spot. Depends on how (like Ratto said) Smith processes and triangulates this stuff.
Adam, I agree with you in not believing that “The play calling was conservative because JH didn’t trust Alex.”
Smith was so cautious with the ball that he only went for the big play if he was told to, or had to, ie Vernon Post.
Perfect example, first play against Baltimore and instead of hitting DW deep he checks down to Davis for 3 yards. Those missed opportunities are why Harbaugh and Baalke are looking in a different direction.
@Adam
Only when their backs were against the wall (i.e. playing from behind), they opened up the offense. So, I don’t buy that argument. This year will be a good test of JH’s comfort level with AS. It will also be a test of AS. Can he become a game changer or will he be forever a game manager?
Because he cant play. If Harbaugh thought he was capable of pushing Alex and Kaep he would be on the roster by now. The same ppl that want want JJ are the same ppl that thought Nate Davis was the second coming of Joe Montana.
The unwritten rule? maybe 15 years ago . Not anymore
Grant,
Alex was actually not the worst QB on PASSING 3rd downs. The 49ers were the worst OVERALL team though including rushing and passing.
He ranks 20th I believe in 3rd down conversion success passing the ball.
If you go to the Washington post or Stats LLC I believe they have these breakdowns.
I was talking about quarterbacks who started all 16 games.
well you would be wrong still because Mark Sanchez, Cam Newton, Ran Fitzpatrick, and a bunch of others who started almost every game (i.e. they were the starters but perhaps missed a game or two because of injury) had a lower percentage.
http://stats.washingtonpost.com/fb/leaders.asp?range=NFC&type=&rank=098&year=
Exactly. Grossman, Skelton, Kolb and Bradford didn’t start all 16 regular season games. Smith is at the bottom.
@David zing
Did Cam Newton? Did Mark Sanchez? Did Andy Dalton? Ryan Fitzpatrick?
Yes they all started 16 games . They all had worse 3rd down conversion rates passing the ball.
It is kind of an irrelevant argument anyway. If you are comparing him only to guys that started all 16 games then you are not comparing him to all the presumed starters in the league. It is a semantic argument and a very weak one. You should just compare him to all the QB’s who started or were viewed a starters even if they missed a few games with injury.
Really his ability to play all 16 games should be a reason to bring him back since so few are able to do it.
will you admit the mistake and fix the article or will you persist!?
:-)
I persist! I wasn’t mistaken, I was referring to QBs who started all 16 regular season games in ’12. Smith was at the bottom of that group.
…we didn’t just lose Manning….seems we also lost Grant’s cred….
But you said he was the WORST, not “at the bottom” , or “near the bottom” That is factually inaccurate.
Also, I would like to hear your justification for only counting QB’s who started all 16 games. Can’t you see how that eliminates a ton of QB’s that are definitely starters? How does that help your readers have the correct context? Or is that just not important?
David, Grant said he was the worst of any QB that started all 16 games, you missed that part…
How many games do the Niners win last year with the same offense and a middle of the pack defense?
But he isn’t the wort of QB’s that have started 16 games. There are several that have that I listed above, and they are worse.
Even if I had misunderstood, it is still a ridiculous group size becaue it just makes Smith look worse. In reality of the QB’s who are expected to start or who started a majority of their teams games last season Smith ranked in at around 20th.
That is a HUGE difference when you also understand that the team has upgraded the Wide receivers who weren’t getting open last season (according to reports)
Obviously Smith needs to improve as well, as does the coaching staff, and the skill players. But still, you don’t just throw all that success away for a completely raw and unproven Kaepernick.
Good work, David.
Grant, you were wrong. Among QBs who started all 16 games, Newton, Sanchez, Dalton, Fitzpatrick all finished below Smith in 3rd-down conversion rate. Smith ranked 10th among the 14 QBs who started all 16 games.
Smith was also just 2-3 dropped passes from being tied with Stafford and Eli, who have vastly superior WRs.
Smith’s QB rating in the red zone, while mediocre, was ahead of Eli, Rivers, Roethlisberger, Schaub, Palmer, Newton and Vick.
The #1 reason we were so bad on 3rd down and in the red zone was because of our overrated running game. Dead last in rushing on 3rd & short.
Now Smithers are arguing how far from the bottom Alex Smith is. Does it really matter if he’s 32nd or 28th, etc? He’s still mediocre.
Grant,
Doesn’t Smith also have the fewest number of passing attempts of all QB’s who started all 16 games? Wouldn’t that lend itself to him having the fewest number of passing yards and TD’s?
Also, it would be interesting to know what the 49ers average yardage to gain was on third downs. It would give some context to their poor third down conversion rate.
Last one Grant, do you blame Smith exclusively for the 49ers’ poor third down conversion rate? It sure seems like you do. It seems to me, yardage to gain, play calling, and execution of offensive teammates has something to do with it. I’m not saying Smith is blameless, BTW, just that it’s a multifaceted problem.
Too often on third down, Smith took a sack or checked down. He didn’t give the offense a good enough chance to convert. Kaepernick could make more happen on third down – he’s bigger, faster, quicker, and more daring than Smith. Kaepernick could extend plays and fits throws into tight windows. He could take advantage of Moss and Manningham on the outside.
Sorry Grant, I think David got you this time.
3rd down efficiency is play calling, running, passing, etc. NOT all on the QB!
You’re right, we should be talking about Joe Staley’s 3rd-down conversion rate, right? Or maybe Goodwin’s?
Hofer, The link shows 3rd down conversion rates on passing attempts only. Of QB’s that started all 16 games AS was dead last. Spin it however you want but that is a fact born out over an entire season.
um…. no you are wrong. Proven 3 times now.
David, Either way, he isn’t even in the top 20 so what is your argument? “Yes he sucks, but not as bad as you say Grant.”
David
Thanks for bringing facts and numbers into this discussion. There’s a paucity of both.
…damn look at what the blog turned Grant into…”Kaepernick could extend plays and fits throws into tight windows.”…….
……how do you know this Grant?….how many games did Kaep won in the NFL ?……this is really sad what our young writer with a bright future has become……….Alex does bring the crazies out of everyone…..
I go back to down and distance. Joe Montana’s comments on this are spot on, in my opinion.
Colin Kaepernick or Josh Johnson could be the worst QB on third down and in the red zone for way cheaper.
I lmao on this!!!
Grant,
Have you ever considered that I threw fewer passes and was poor in the red zone BECAUSE my receivers could not get separation?
With an off season and an improved receiving core, I’ll light it up… so you can shut up.
Alex Smith, you’re hilarious!!! good luck in the unemployment line!!!
@Alex Smith
So how does it feel being 2nd fiddle?
Hey fake Alex what dont you take a hike because the real Alex has much more class and he has never pointed fingers to wideouts for his opportunities.
Also You make some pretty big assumptions. It didn’t look to me like Kaepernick was near ready last season. But then again I am not around him all season. How could oyu possibly know his progress at this point?
Wouldn’t you also say that it seemed like the Niners were extremely lacking in outside passing threats? I think there is a reason why there will most likely be 3 new receivers with big roles next season.
Finally, How can you say Alex will not improve? He has improved ecvery year, and is entering his prime years after his biggest jump in production. This jump just happened to come with his FIRST legitimate offensive coach since his last jump when he had Norv Turner.
i believe its kinda his job to “assume” things… and progress every year???? reporters called his 2012 season a “ressurection of his dead career” you call that improving every year??? a gameplan for once that focuses on everything BUT Alex Smith??
Totally agree with this. If Harbaugh can make AS successful, he can make ANYONE successful. Every time you think AS makes a breakthrough with a good game – New Orleans (ok, great game) – he returns to his old ways (NYG – 1 for 13 on 3rd downs).
More upside with CK.
“Last season, Alex Smith was a game manager who played his best when he was losing in the second half, and whose best attribute was not turning the ball over.”
I am never reading another article you write.
So, instead, you’d rather have a guy who turns the ball over and can’t put the team on his shoulders when they’re losing? Yea, good luck with that…
Maybe this is why there is an east coast bias in football media… our writers have no idea what they’re talking about.
Just curious, how did Nevada do when having to comeback to win football games during Kaepernick’s tenure? You might want to check that out before you say he “can’t put the team on his shoulders.”
I remember Kap coming back to ruin Boise State’s season 2 years ago.
Nobody is saying Kaep can’t. I suggest you read my comment again. I was commenting specifically on what Grant said about Smith.
You guys are acting like just because JH moved up in the draft a few spots, Kaep is the second coming. I don’t know if you guys realize this, but Kaep was a 2nd round pick, NOT a 1st. He is a project. Get off his nuts. He ran a PISTOL offense. Not a PRO offense.
If JH thinks Kaep is good to go, I’m all for it, but I would rather have him sit 2 more years, minimum.
Well at least you’re being honest now and laying it out there like you see it. That’s a legitimate point of view. I still think they could keep Smith, make Wallace an offer the Steelers couldn’t match, and probably get Johnson too, if that was their inclination. I read Johnson was just displaced as the number 2 at Tampa, so he couldn’t cost much more than minimum.
What has Josh Johnson actually done in Tampa to make so many of you clamor for him?
I know he played for Harbaugh at San Diego, but he has been a carrier backup. If you want to keep bringing up the names of ex-Harbaugh QB’s then we should be going after Tavita Pritchard too. He was the ultimate game manager, and led that come-from behind win over USC and Pete Carroll.
@jack
“What has Josh Johnson actually done in Tampa to make so many of you clamor for him?”
You have been here long enough to know that answer.
He is not named AS. Just like Carr, Troy Smith, Nate Davis, backup of any team, etc. don’t have the name Alex Smith.
DS, I have also been around long enough to think that Grant might be on to something this time. Problem with going after Wallace is that it won’t happen until right before the draft if they do at all.
The difference between CL and those guys you mention is that he was actually picked to eventually start, and those guys were all brought in to back up. None of those guys could carry CK’s athletic supporter.
I don’t know a darn thing about Johnson other than his name gets floated as a potential 49ers starter if Smith leaves. My point was, if someone gets relegated to third place on the Bucs, he’s probably not going to cost much to pick up off the trash heap. So, I think the Niners could get Smith, Kaepernick, Johnson and Wallace if they wanted. I presume they would have needed to get creative to get a Manning deal done.
@Jack
Ok. Who is CL?
Did you mean to write CK?
Or is CL a new “the man” QB I don’t know or can recall?
I think it’s a mistake to let Smith go. He did very well last season. Even if he doesn’t improve further at least you know what you’re working with. Let Kap take the job away from him. If he can’t, then he doesn’t deserve it anyway.
Exactly let’s roll the balls out in training camp and see who wins the job. That’s Harbaugh’s M.O. right?
It seems to me you have a very short memory Grant. Yes, Alex has been bad on 3rd downs and in the red zone but that was improving towards the end of the season as he got more comfortable with the system. Perhaps the NFC Championship game serves as counter-evidence to this but I think in that instance we saw awful conditions and two elite defences. In actual fact Eli and Alex played at a similar level in that game. Moreover, Alex has shown that he is the guy in clutch situations over and over again. Against Philadelphia, Detroit, NYG (first time), and NO he showed it last year. He may not be great but he is definitely solid and has now shown the ability to win games for the Niners. Why mortgage the future of the team on an unknown unless they have shown us something very special?
As of yet neither Kaepernick nor Johnson have shown us anything. On Wallace – it won’t happen whether or not Smith is on the roster. Given that we rarely give our own players enormous contracts I very much doubt that we would give one up for a new receiver. Particularly given last years attitude to signing receivers. We have four guys who can start in Crabtree, Moss, Manningham & Williams and tbh given their past behaviour I see more of an opening for a Brett Swain/Dontavia Bogan type guy to make zero impact. Plus we need some cover on the O-line before we think about another WR
I’m confused by this notion. The 9ers spent money keeping a dominant D together… they chased a HofF QB to win and compete for a championship… and now they are supposed to play a young, inexperienced backup? That’s gotta be the stupidest idea I’ve heard. Perhaps Kaep does get to start this year because Smith’s demands are too high (and likely going up now), but Smith out-dueled the best passing QB in the league in the post season and had several 2nd have comebacks this year when the teams needed to unbottle the conservative offensive play calling. I find it mind boggling that people would think that Kaepernick gives the 9ers a better chance to win now that Smith… Doesn’t make sense… doesn’t add up. Terrible idea.
Exactly. Harbaugh states that the biggest improvement comes in year two.
Love the way you think your articles have been great, from a die hard niners fan and san francisco native, im right behind you!!! Smith had his chance and failed, he’s the reason we went to overtime and lost to the giants.. 3 3 and outs in the 4th quarter.. stack up get Wallace and let Harbaugh mold Kaepernick!!!!!
you’re so right chris… a pop warner mistake had nothing to do with that. Or the fact that the niners totally abandoned the running game for some reason. But it’s cool, smith is the reason the niners went to overtime cause without him they straight up lose. Clutch scrambles, beautiful touch throws.. lol, you want this guy to be better than brady and yet a freak mistake puts them in overtime, and a the same freak mistake loses it in overtime. To be honest and I’ve said this before… bad coaching decisions lost that game. Forgetting the running game, your m.o. all year… Leaving a guy back to field punts who was doing it like a center fielder?? come on the minute I saw that I knew he’d muff. Smith is the reason they lost… lmao, you are delusional.
a QB’s job is move the ball, get yards, move the chains…. a GREAT QB will do this in CLUTCH situations…. ALex Smith over and under threw his recievers WITH THE GAME ON THE LINE….. and this isn’t abnormal for him…. Kyle Williams wasn’t even on the stating lineup most the season… if Smith DID HIS JOB….. we would have won, not went to overtime
Chris, isn’t Eli an elite and clutch QB? Why was his team barely moving the chains either? If Williams did his job, we wouldn’t have gone to overtime. Smith didn’t play that well, but he didn’t lose the game for us.
Also, a great QB doesn’t do it in clutch times. Go look at Peyton’s Super Bowl year during the playoffs. He is one of the best ever to play. Go look at those games and tell me how he was clutch in those situations. Heck, go look at his Super Bowl loss to NO, I don’t think his pick 6 was a good big game situation.
I don’t think their approach was all one Smith. Poor receiving core and a general conservative game approach would have shackled any QB – not to the extent it shackled Alex, but still…
how does a reciever catch a ball in trafic that is not thrown to him??? searching and stretching for balls shaves off time thats neccisary to bring it in!!!
Grant you were dead wrong about Manning and your dead wrong about this. Harbaugh and Baalke giving Smith a 3 year contract is them saying Keapernik is nowhere close to being ready. If we don’t get Alex back we are completely screwed.
although they may feel he’s “not ready” i’d have faith they can make him ready…. think 12 months back when NO ONE thought Alex Smith would start anywhere, look how they transformed him… ideally yes let Colin come in later but if need be i’d have faith that he’ll get the job done!! and SAVE US MONEY on REAL players!!
…yes …Grant was dead wrong!!!!!
Grant is getting quite good at predicting what the Niners will do, or rather what they will not do! As we saw, Manning did not sign with the Niners. So I’m going to use the Grant’s Prediction Approach and go out on a limb and predict!
The Niners will not sign away a first-rounder and overpay Wallace.
The Niners will not start Kaep.
I wrote the Niners should sign Wallace, not that they will. An opinion, not a prediction.
@Grant,
Sorry, my bad. Will distinguish preference from prediction in the future.
14-4 and you want a career backup in JJ or a rookie in CK to replace AS. GC is leading this group to the looney bin!
14-4 due to 2 main reasons, DEFENSE and SPECIAL TEAMS… oh ok their was a third keep Alex Smith ball handling to a MINIMUM
Note to self; stop clicking on Press Democrat articles from 49erswebzone.
Agreed. I do get a kick out of reading what he has to say though. Pretty funny stuff coming from the Press Demo.
Grant,
I have to agree with you. Let’s start 2 unproven commodities instead of trying to resign the guy that got us to the Championship game. After all, it’s Alex’s fault the receivers couldn’t get open, plus the the fumbles on the kickoff returns were totally his doing. He isn’t clutch at all, so let’s take a couple steps backwards, shall we?
lol
what games did u watch??? from what i remeber DEFENSE and SPECIAL TEAMS won most our games… dont forget David Akers set a FRANCHISE RECORD in single season points scored, PASSING JERRY RICE!!!!!! Rice grabbed em by the 6, Akers 3
I just said Grant was right. Who needs to go back to the playoffs anyways?? I’d rather have our 2nd and 3rd strings who have a whopping total of 3 NFL pass attemps lead us to the Super Bowl!
Alex didn’t help at all year. Akers, was the reason we had all those comebacks. You and Grant are both correct.
Btw, I watched all games. And from my recollection, football is a team sport. Except in this case, QB does not validify this discussion. Only defense and special teams got us as far as we did. Alex had nothing to do with it.
oh ok… thought i sensed some sarcasm lol…. 2 thumbs up ;)
Hey Swett, that seems to be the plan in Sea!
Alex “played it safe” football is a team sport he did have the greatest season of his career, and giving up the least amount of INT’s did get us there… but we came up short…. im done supporting Alex Smith, he’s failed me too many times…. had he pulled one off against NY the way he did the Saints, history would be different and he’d be our guy
as Grant outlined he had very poor Passing stats… look how far Drew Brees got the saints with a weak defense…. Smith is a decent QB but we dont want “decent”
Chris, Pats were *ranked 31st* in defense last year and played in the SB against the hated NYGs!
Smith may be “decent”, but he was decent enough to help us to where we got. I’m not saying he is all pro…… but what I am trying to say is he is the better option over Kap, Tolz., Johnson….Garrard, or any other free agent QB not names Manning. The first 2 just aren’t ready as Grant says. and like I said in the o.g. post, why take 2 steps back when we are trying to win NOW. With an All Pro Defense ready to win NOW.
I just can’t agree with Grant’s logic.
and why is that?? Tom Brady and Plenty of weapons!!! exactly what i was trying to point out, we need a deep threat!!!
i see where you’re coming from sweet brain it would be best to bring Colin out when he’s fully ready… guess we’ll wait and see what Miami decides
The Pats had the 31st ranked defense and got to the Super Bowl. Yeah, lets follow that plan. The AFC stunk, pure and simple, Tebow was one game from the AFC Championship. The Ravens can’t hold onto a sure touchdown. I hope CK is the answer but not now. Everyone talks about Dalton, he wilted when the pressure was on the line. Newton at least played at the highest level of college football, CK played at LasVegas.
I think everyone is writing off how supreme Smith’s intangibles were this past season.
His ability to perform with the game on the line and deliver TD’s when it matters most improved ten-fold this season.
The intangibles are what you want. Those can’t be taught and are inherent.
Smith can improve on the other aspects of his game and there’s no reason to think he can’t this season. Especially with improved talent at WR.
I’m glad that we didnt become the “Miami Heat v.NFL” I would much rather have seen ASmith or Kaep. Wallace could be great, but most of his big plays were a result of BigBens ability to keep the play alive. I like what we have, and grab a few pieces in the draft and lets go with that for the year. I saw the flash of brilliance from Kaep on the back shoulder throw that resulted in Morgan getting injured. The throw itself was magnificant. If that can be regular, we will have a winner.
I kinda agree with you there. I don’t like the idea of signing some superstar who is selfishly looking for a championship. It will be Peyton’s superbowl, not the Niners’ superbowl. I kinda hate the guy’s attitude to the other players also.
Time to move on. Smith is mediocre at best. Can we all agree to this?
Go back and watch the Detroit, New Orleans, and Phili games abd tell me Alex didn’t win those games for us. The Defense had us down 20-3 in the 1st half against Phili and Alex brought us back for the win. It’s time for you Smith haters to start giving this guy some credit. He;s by far our best chance for a SB. keapernik would be a complete disaster and will be a disaster for years to come. Alex, please sign so we can move on from this circus.
There are rational people here.
Here, here!
whos to say alex wont improve? it will be his first season with same offense. repeated over and over again urban meyer ” alex will only succeed when he knows the offense well” well he does now.
Dave, you took the post right off my keyboard. Last season he was way better than ever before. In the New Orleans game he made some big-time, money throws to win the game. It’s at least a possibility that he’ll get better, maybe even a lot better. He should certainly be motivated.
Anyone who thinks Kaep, Josh Johnson, or any other unproven QB can just step in without missing a beat is kidding themselves. You guys are the same chumps that thought Nate Davis, Troy Smith, Ken Dorsey, Brandon Doman and Gio Carmazzi were the next big thing.
The ridiculous comments on here never cease to amaze me. “SCOTT TOLZIEN IS A GREAT PROSPECT WITH A BRIGHT FUTURE!” Oh really, based on what? Hopes and dreams?
@Lsx
Not being named AS. That is what they bring.
I’d agree it’ll set us back starting Kaepernick… but i dont feel it’d destroy us… why pay a BUST allover again…..
I like Tolzien!
I like all 3 Adam.
Don’t get why some have problems with that. Also never understood the AS vs. SY thing either. I am a Niner fan. I cheer for our guys. Not all that overly complicated.
I like him too, but I don’t assume he’ll have a great career just because he’s he current third-string QB on my favorite team. Not all of us are that dense *cough*TIM*cough*
@LSX
I know you and Tim don’t see eye to eye. Frankly, neither do I on a bunch of things. But I do enjoy reading his posts.
LSX: I always say that there are no guarantees in the NFL and that Kaep will need to prove himself. I just trust our scouts and JH when they trade up to get their QB of the future that they knew what they were doing. If Alex proves anything it is that there are no guarantees that a college QB can bring the sucess he had in college to the NFL. But Kaep is obviously more physically talented than alex and if we give him 8 years to prove himself I bet he can be at least as mediocre as Alex ,LOL !!!!!
as a diehard niners fan i’ll say its really tough to cheer for a guy thats been letting you down for 6 years….
The major problem Alex Smith has is a lack of confidence one would reasonably expect to get from him having to run for his life. It is fair to say that he may never get that back. Do you want to destroy CK with the same virus? I say, if he has as much potential as you say he does, build up CK’s confidence and the offensive line and you just might have a long term solution, like Arron Rogers. Put CK in there now and you may risk destroying his future by ruining his confidence.
Please do not bring Josh Johnson here. I have seen him. He sucks. The best thing is to bring back Alex. Mike Wallace maybe good but we already have Moss as our deep threat. Kind of seems redundant for the amount of money you are talking about.
the major problem with Alex Smith is that he is too slow to react. Why do you think we had 44 sacks last year despite a good running game? Ask yourself that for once.
Counter proposal: re-sign Alex and sign Josh Johnson. Sign OG Geoff Schwartz. Draft Fleener and a fast WR. Much less expensive and completes the upgrade of the receiving corps, upgrades RG to increase protection and improve the running game, create opposing DC nightmares by lining up Vernon and Fleener on opposite sides. The players believe in Alex…they know he can win. CK is unproven…not an advantageous way to go into any season, especially on a team that can get to the SB.
FYI
Sports Center says PM is not going to want to share snaps and mentor Tebow. They are looking to get rid of their project QB.
Do you guys still think PM would mentor up CK (the Niners project QB over the Broncos project QB)?
yes CK is humble.. Tebow thinks he’s the next greatest QB ever.. either way its irrelevant
Teebow is the definition of humble. But so is Kaep and Alex too.
The Niners would have lost both CK and AS.
Alex has improved every year he’s been realitively healthy. No reason to think he won’t imrove this year and on 3rd down and redzone too. Ale finally has some receiving weapons not named Vernon Davis for the first time since 06 (Bryant) If Alex comes back this is the first time I’m his career he will have the same OC who knows what he is doing. (Raye and his 3rd yard and a cloud of dust offense was a joke, he was a yes man to Singletary) while I like Kaepernicks upside, I’d be more comfortable with Alex while Kaep continues to develope.
I don’t think Alex has a lack of confidence at all. He went through 6 different OC’s and never sttod a chance woth Nolan and Sing doing jack to teach Alex how to be a pro. Now he spends 1 year with Norv Turner and he had a breakout season. He spends another year with Harbaugh and he has an even better season. this will be his 1st year with the same OC for 2 straight years. He has Randy Moss, Michael Crabtree, Mario Manningham, Kyle Williams, Vernon Davis, Delanie Walker, and Frank Gore as weapons. This will be an awesome year for us if we can kiss his but good enough to get him signed. It’s Smith or doom for us at this point.
So, the answer is to have 4 wide receivers and an absolute question mark at the quarterback position? Alright, I’ll bite. this works out how?
I can’t believe how wrong the logic here is. Alex Smith won that game against New Orleans, not our D, not our running game, he was the main reason we beat Brees and company. Now, we finally have a complete offense that any quarterback could want and we want to add another receiver and go with a quarterback with no experience. I don’t believe that Moss and Manningham came here to roll the dice with a rookie signal caller which is what Kaps would be. Alex is my qb. he earned the right to come back and be the leader of this team on offense, because that is exactly who and what he is for SF.
Totally agree with Doug, Alex gets another year … he earned it with his performance agains the Saints. I look forward to him at the helm in 2012! Niners Forever Baby!
NO had five turnovers in the game. we didnt beat them, they lost it. Just like we lost to the Giants.
Im pretty sure we beat them and NO didnt beat themselves, pretty even game all the way through, considering it was the best offense vs. the best defense. That was a classic game in NFL history, dont discount it based on Alex, you gotta appreciate every moment of that game.
I’m not going to get into each turnover but look at the tape the 49ers brought the wood on defense. This defense knocked people out of games week in and week out.
No Way!!! Lets just expect Smith to get slightly better this upcoming year considering the fact that he is comfortable with the playbook and will have the same Off Coordinator for the first time in his 7 year career. We add Randy and Mario, which is a huge upgrade from last years WR’s (the weakest part of our team). The progression of our Newer/younger team members; Coach Harbaugh,Hunter, Bowman Culliver, Brock. Everything else Similar to last year=Superbowl
Did we want Manning? Yes! Would it have made it easier to make it to and win the SuperBowl? Yes, everyone was calling them the front runners if Manning chose the 49ers.
Will the 49ers till be one of the top 5 teams favored to win the super bowl if they signed A. Smith again if not top 3? Absofrickenlutely! I would put Money on it!! And I probably Will!!
hahahaha i swear these articles are ALWAYS the opposite of what really happens! more an more this is lookin like jeff kaplan from the webzone. p[lease stop writing whatever the opposite of everyone else is saying. press democrat lost much credibility over the past few months. an anyone realize power running teams obviously throw the ball less. guess not
I agree with signing johnson and wallace. CK and Tolzien were drafted/signed for a reason. Alex is a stop gap. Wallace is a top flight WR. This makes complete sense. Why waste salary cap space on Smith when we can get the best young WR on the market today?
HH makes a great point. Alex had 3150 yards passing and 17 td’s which isnt great but only 5 int’s is great. But he didnt need to throw for 5k yards with Gore getting 1250 yards. With our offense Manning wouldnt be throwing for 5k either. Thats not what Harbaugh does.
Well, Manning has never thrown for 5ooo yards before. He will probably be able to get 4000 yards in Denver. But I agree, I don’t think we are a throw heavy offense anyway. Maybe we throw a little bit more in 2012, but that much more. It will still be a balanced team that has an offense line that was built more for the run more than playing with the pass. Look at Tennessee’s offensive line. They were made to be a pass pro group, as shown by their ability to limit sacks in 2011, but their inability to run block with Chris Johnson. Football Outsiders had TEN’s line as top 3 in pass pro, but last in run block.
We are not signing Wallace. Lets get that straight right now. We wouldnt have signed Moss and Manningham if we were.
So because the TEAM was bad in the redzone and on third down means Alex Smith was the worst? The year before last he was the second highest rated passer in the red zone. Sounds like a team issue to me. I think, no I know that Alex will improve throwing to Crabtree, Manningham, Moss instead of Crabtree, Ginn, Williams and being in the second year of a system that Harbaugh said takes two years to learn. A lot of this offense is designed around adjustments at the line of scrimmage and I don’t think Kaepernick ready to take on that kind of responsibility. This team was a punt returner away from the Super Bowl and to suggest that we should dump the qb that led them there in favor of a first year starter is laughable to me.
Tkamb, you can’t rationalize this 3rd down efficiency issue with those that can’t stand AS as a 9er QB. The new system and learning the playbook had a lot to do with it, but they are in blamer mode.
There is a *direct correlation* between AS leaving negotiations with Mia yesterday and PM choosing/signing with Denv. If CK starts this year or next, then so be it – best man wins – but in the meantime, AS will sign a contract with the 9ers by EOD tomorrow.
red zone
why is that Jimmy ray can make Alex one of the best red zone and Roman can’t? (yet).
defense..
listening to Greg cosell niners D won’t put up the same numbers. dig it up
harbaugh
“won’t master the playbook til the 2nd year”
something along those lines.
like most forums quick to throw players under the bus.
I don’t know who makes me sicker, the anti Smith fans or the Sportswriters! Smith leads us to 13-3 record with five picks and had the Championship game won except for two fumbles by a return man. If that wasn’t enough to win over the fans then he never will. I wouldn’t blame Alex if he signed with someone else just to get away from all the idiots in the Bay Area! I’ve seen almost every game the Niners have played for the last 61 years and I have never been more disgusted with the fans and most sportswriters as I am right now!
You’re not alone tex I’m right there with you.
sign Smith, see if Michael Bush would be interesting in being our battering ram and then address RG and anywhere else in the draft. We don’t need Mike Wallace.
We can get somebody better and cheaper than Bush in the 3rd round of the draft.
Think about this though. Alex works the best out of the shotgun. You put Alex in the shotgun and put 4 wide out there with CrabtreeMoss, Davis, and Manninham. Who gets double teamed? This will be awesome if we can get Smith back.
Either offer Smith similar money to what it would take to sign johnson or sign johnson and wallace. I am sure somebody in the front office is considering this especially since Alex is not seen as the long term solution.
We just signed Rock Cartwright. We wont sign and nor should we sign bush.
Come on guys … settle down!!! Alex is the answer for 2012. Kaep is huge, I love his potential, but let’s give him some more time. Alex had a good … not great year in 2012 … With a brand new system, a shortened off-season and injuries at WR (overall a pretty weak unit). Give him another year, and he could have a great year … top 10! Josh Johnson is receiving totally no interest … why is that? I don’t want to hear any replies about Alex before Jim … they are irrelevant. Last year was good, with a lot of things going against him … this year should be way better! Don’t you think? He earned another year in my opinion as I watched him (in person mind you)round the corner in the Saints games and trot into the endzone and confirmed it with the Catch 3! Niners Forever Baby!
Couldn’t agree more and glad you had the stones to write it.
I can’t agree more.
Peter King just tweeted this: “Hearing Alex Smith is very serious about Miami–if they’re serious about him.”
He will probably be a Dolphin by Wednesday.
Ultimately it is AS’s decision but I think TC is call the shots by trying to get the most dollars out of the 9ers. TBD.
Alex Smith will be back, Miami sucks and he knows where his bread is getting buttered. Honestly, people here are insane!
Here’s something to keep in mind, everyone lauded Baltimore when they displaced Trent Dilfer with Elvis Grbac, how’d that work out? He might not be the sexiest quarterback in the NFL, but Alex is our QB. Why wouldn’t you want a guy that has character, has been down and out and never thrown anyone under the bus. Be careful what you wish for.
Peter King just tweeted: “Hearing Alex Smith is very serious about Miami–if they’re serious about him.”
I said yesterday AS is gone, PM wouldn’t sign with the 9ers, and MH would sign with the 9ers. Two out of three ain’t bad! lol
I love Trent Dilfer’s honesty. If you ask him, he’ll tell you he owes his ring to Ray Lewis.
thats GREAT it’s time he parts ways…
thats GREAT! its time we part ways with Alex
please please please Miami – sign him!
I so want a QB who can throw for 300+ yds at least 1 game year, or there’s no sense getting Wallace.
Imagine Davis, Moss, Manningham, Crabtree all fighting over getting a slice of AS’s 200 yds per game :(
You’re not the droid I’m looking for.
Umm… so where is that mysterious QB coming from? Any ideas?
The Miami Dolphins are Glenn Close and the 49ers are Anne Archer.
I don’t think Alex is going to Miami…
Well, unless he wants rabbit stew, but I highly doubt it…
Actually the Niners are starting to look like Kathy Bates in Misery.
Disappear at weird hours, cut the feet out from under people, while professing their love, etc.
See what I mean?
The only way Smith winds up in Miami is if he makes a decision based on hurt feelings. There is absolutely no upside to going to Miami over resigning here unless the Dolphins give him a stupid contract offer to buy him off. I think he’s angry and upset, but I highly doubt he’s going to move his family across the country, to a terrible football team, to learn a new offense and teammates, because he feels let down by the Niners pursuit of Manning.
Anythings possible I guess, but I would be shocked to see it happen.
@rocket
Miami is not horrible. Is Nolan still around? Imagine the entertaining press conferences if he is and AS did go there.
Miami is in the same division as the Pats, right? So that might make it hard to win. But not impossible by any means.
DS,
The Dolphins are a bad football team with a new HC, who just traded away their best offensive player. There Oline is crap, they have very weapons in the passing game, and Reggie Bush is their #1 RB. It’s not a good situation at all.
I agree the Nolan press conferences would be must see viewing but he’s moved on to Atlanta.
@rocket
The Dolphins have a nice defense. Nolan did his job well with that.
Just ask Stan, or the Raiders. The Raiders went to Miami leading the NFL in 20+ yard plays. By the time they got 1, the score was way out of hand in favor of the Dolphins in the 4th quarter.
So, it is not so unthinkable that team (Dolphins) can win 10 games next year with AS. Don’t know if it will be enough to beat the Pats, so it might be a wild card spot they are fighting for. But, the Dolphins are not all horrible in all units.
Even towards the end, that QB made some nice plays for them. And I think AS is better than Sanchez or Fitzpatrick and would be the 2nd best QB in that division. So playoffs are not impossible with a good D and the 2nd best QB in the division.
I’m in a different time zone, just got up and read that David Garrard signed with the Fins.
Really sorry you had to wake up to that. Yes, Alex might be back again for an 8th year. :-/ Go back to sleep…
….signing wallace is even dumber than signing manning…..you wanna pay a guy that is only known for deep speed #1 WR $$$……also give up a 1st round at the same time…….
@1niner
Wallace is known for a lot more than that. He is a great teammate. Works hard. Catches the ball! And demands 2 teams. If a D does not 2team Wallace, and they give up a TD, they are looking really stupid.
Of course if a team does not double VD and gets beat for a TD, they look pretty stupid.
And, for the time being, if you don’t 2cover RM , you look pretty stupid.
What happens when all 3 are on the field at once? That would be your base offense in an ideal world. Constant Dime packages, and the Niners can run forever against that.
That is worth a #1 and some money. Hopefully the Niners can afford him.
We’re screwed.
Without even getting dinner first, Fred!
It’s a travesty of monumental proportions.
Keep Alex and sign Bowman to an extension, get Fleener in draft if available or Stephen Hill!!!!
Nice! A Bowman Mention! I have worried about him for a while too. I think they have to extend Bowman now or perhaps trade him this year for a serious weapon and resign Grant!
Just imagine the 2nd year on this defense Willis and Bowman are gonna put some harder hits with anticipation, wow cant wait, so extend Bowman before his price goes out of the roof, only has 2 years left on his rookie contract.
We’re in big trouble.
Signing Wallace for 8 mil a year AND giving up our 1st is a BAD move. The niners would be overpaying for a WR who isn’t even a top 5 WR in the NFL, barely in the top 10. If it was A. Johnson, Megatron, Fitzgerald, AJ Green, Bowe, DJax, VJax, I’d consider it. I’d much rather go with the WR we have, keep our 1st and draft Fleener if he is there or a RG.
“Kaepernick is improving rapidly.”
It’s statements like this that have me concluding sports media in the bay area are something I can do without, especially you Grant. Just a ridiculous thing to state as fact. Journalism at it’s worst.
You’re right. Kaepernick regressed, which is why the Niners low-balled Alex Smith.
Yeah Kaepernick is improving so rapidly that they offered Alex Smith a 3 year contract and went after Peyton Manning. They’re really confident that he can start next year for a team with Super Bowl aspirations.
Show me how you assess CK improving?
Understanding the offense, footwork.
Grant,
re-assess the situation. What is your gut feeling as to whether Smith comes back or not?
Still about 40%? Do you think his interest in Miami is genuine or do you think it’s posturing?
Peter King says it’s genuine, so I think it’s genuine. I’m sticking with 40%. I think Alex Smith will look bad nationally if he comes back to the Niners. I think most casual fans feel he should stick up for himself and tell the Niners to get lost.
Footwork on the sidelines??? Ridiculous
“I think most casual fans feel he should stick up for himself and tell the Niners to get lost.”
I agree!!! And “get lost” is a nice G-rated way to put it. I don’t have a great diplomacy filter for this kind of BS though, so…
Anyway, I love my Niners but these guys really played nasty this time and deserve a cold shoulder or a hot finger, whichever is preferred.
Dollars help make anyone’s spurned ego a short memory. AS didn’t care what the media said the last few years being the joke of SF. JG thinks the 9ers should call and get the deal done. Hmm.
lol…..understanding what offense…you mean in practice……and are you serious about footwork……..lmao……this is hilarious
…..this has to be symptoms of being wrong about manning coming to ninerland……..if i didnt know i could have sworn bay or jordan wrote that comment……
You can’t make business decisions personal if you’re an NFL player. What good does it do Alex Smith to tell the Niners to go F*&^ themselves if it lands him in South Florida on a bad football team that will probably draft Ryan Tannehill in the first round?
It’s one thing to be angry, but it’s another to be stupid, and being angry and stupid is not a good way to go through life.
Come back to the Niners so they can turn their back on him for a fourth time in the near future when they turn the team over to Kaepernick? Tannehill would at least take longer to develop than Kaepernick, who’s already a year into the development process.
Grant,
Well it could work out that way, or Smith could improve in his second year and force them to change their view. If he plays well, they’ll roll with him. If he doesn’t, they’ll move on. It’s up to him, and it would be up to him here or Miami.
He’s at the practices, he has eyes. He’s giving you a report.
Are you at OTAs and camp? What do you have to refute Grant’s report on CK?
If you’re out there, tell us what you see.
him and Reggie Bush go back to the high school days!! I say Alex is a good fit in Miami
And they could draft Michael Floyd in the first round. That’s not bad.
And then he could turn Floyd into a first round bust…
Grant also said CK was bad at the short passing game…..can’t recall date….but he did say CK stunk at practice……now CK is a pro-bowler according to Grant…..ha ha ha
No, I just said Kaepernick couldn’t possibly be worse than Smith on third down and in the red zone. He’s cheaper, and gives the Niners a chance to go after Wallace. So, the Niners should go with Kaepernick.
GRant is in the locker room and at practices. Hes always around the players and team. I dont think he needs to answer to you, ghost, on his credibility. If you dont like it, leave. And grants not the only media person or football person that has stated that CK is improving.
Of course CK is improving and working hard at it. What do you guys think,that the coaching staff have not been working on Kaep every day since he was signed and that Kaep has been sitting on the couch eating bon bons ?. Get Real !
See, its not the question of Kaep improving, its how Grant can state he is “improving rapidly.” Understanding the offense and improved footwork is what Grants says. If that is true, how does Grant quantify “understanding the offense”? Does Grant have an example of this from being in the locker or a quote of a coach or player? Grant needs something tangible to give a valid statement.
It’s very logical to conclude that the 49ers are very pleased with CK’s progress. Otherwise, why would they go down a path on which the whiff on Manning and could also very well lead Smith out of town? In fact, if Baalke is as on top of it as he seems, there’s really no othe conclusion to draw. That’s how Grant can say what he said. It’s called critical thinking.
Last time I checked a QB improves with more snaps. Are we talkin’ practice, practice.
I think its very narrow-minded of you Grant to look at purely stats to judge ANY player, but especially the QB position. Stats never tell the whole story. Do the stats tell you how conserative our approach was on 3rd downs? Do those stats tell you we didnt have our entire playbook installed, therefore hand-cuffing the offense in some instances? Do those stats tell you how inept our O-Line was in pass-protection for much of the year? I think you see where I’m going with this. Its never as cut and dry as simple numbers suggest they are. They’re is no “Money Ball” for football.
Careful there Bee the establishment doesn’t like you using that much logic in these discussions. Pure gut emotional reaction is what’s asked for here.
you’re right! The stats don’t tell you how most AS passes are thrown behind and don’t lead the WRs, they don’t tell you how afraid he is to fit the ball into tight pockets and how he unnecessarily goes to his dumpoff throws instead of hitting his main target.
Gut feelings again?
Grant,
I always felt you wrote what you thought fans wanted to hear, in order to remain popular. With this article, you have proven me wrong and won me over. You are 1,000% right. Smith IS Steve DeBerg, and there are many other options that can get us a 29th ranked passing attack for much less. And that was with the #1 ST and #1 D in the league!! If we had average of both, we’d have had the lowest ranked passing attack in NFL history, personally navigated by Alex “checkdown” Smith.
Yeah that makes sense, if our defense/st allowed more points we totally would have thrown for less yards.
Anyone who cites the “29th ranked passing offense” without acknowledging they ranked 31st in passing attempts instantly discredits themselves. It’s the kind of ridiculous spin we see from politicians and corporate press releases.
The 49ers ranked 16th in yards per attempt. If Smith had thrown as many passes as Stafford, while maintaining his 7.1 yards per attempt, he would’ve thrown for 4700 yards. Without Calvin Johnson.
Yep. Haters love blanket statements.
What will be hilarious is that the haters will have gotten what they wanted all along but it could very well cripple the team if they bring in Garrard or run with CK and he’s not ready.
Careful what you wish for I guess.
*hilarious in an ironic and terrible way*
Oops, wrong thread.
Meant to post this in response to Smith going to Miami.
I don’t follow the logic. He would of had 3X as many TD’s and Int’s. Neither of which is very likely, even for Manning.
No, he wouldn’t have had 3x as many TD or INT. The logic is obvious: he averaged 7.1 yards per attempt on 445 passes. Had he been allowed to throw another 218 passes, as Stafford was, there’s no reason to believe his yards per attempt would’ve gone down.
Shaj,
What year was it that DeBerg made the playoffs?
But I believe DeBerg did lead the League in passing one year,on a horrible team that was being built up by Walsh. Walsh drafted Montana to take the place of a QB who had all the stats but who Walsh said was good enough to lose the big games ,or something like that.
Smith reportedly very interested in Dolphins.
http://twitter.com/#!/si_peterking
good, bye bye
I must admit I have my fingers cross they take him.
Schefter says Smith returning to Niners would be smart move.
After the last few days of the Twitter/Manning circus I’m not believing anything until it comes from an official source.
King, Schefter, La Canfora, Glazer, Sando, etc. can all collectively kiss my …… with their “breaking news about nothing” tweets. :-)
Yes, I’m bitter today, lol!
Peter King also recently tweeted that Tom Condon has been speaking with the Dolphins today….
Sorry, not taking the bait unless it’s official.
Already had my hopes dashed once this week, not falling for it again.
Contact Andrew Luck behind the scenes and convince him to force a trade to SF! ;)
With the first pick in the 2012 NFL draft, the Niners give up their next ten 1st round picks to select Andrew Luck of Stanford. ;)
LOL, just call Wash to see how that works.
hey now were talking!! lol
Grant screw what these people think your writing is awesome! love the idea im on the Colin Bandwagon
Well we didn’t get PM, but I am more impressed the Niner brass went for it. They didn’t care about AS’s feelings. It’s Football, a nasty sport. I like AS. I think he will improve. He can manage the game. I give him props for exploring other options. Niners were always in good shape either way. PM may have wanted to be the savior of the franchise and he wasn’t. He was the a piece of the puzzle. i’m with GC. Go with Kapernick. Let AS walk, maybe to TN, and then we get Hassleback. Go after Mike Wallace and now the Niners have weapons. They can develop Kendall Hunter more, to give Gore rest.
No matter what Niners, are contendars. Even if the schedule is harder. Giants won it all and they were a wild-card. Niners need more consistent QB play. Whatever it takes to make that happen, it doesn’t matter who is under center.
Thank you. Only approach, and it fits with the ‘team first’ Harbaugh mantra. Walsh didn’t ask Joe about Steve.
OMG more Josh Johnson non-sense. Its all about ANYONE but Alex now is it not?
Tuto, Peter King tweeted this morning that Johnson will end up in SF if Smith leaves.
It’s easier to resign AS and blame him if the team isn’t successful by winning a SB. If CK or JJ take over the reigns, I don’t envy them.
You know what will happen: complete role reversal for the lovers and haters. Jordy and his posse of haters will end up defending whoever it is and the others will flip to the dark side.
Gonna be hilarious. So there will be JJscuses and… God I can’t even imagine.
Can’t please everyone – especially extremists.
Might be fun to watch though! :P
It will be like the Starbelly Sneetches.
Adam, you’ve got that right? I’m licking my chops!!
Ha! Sneetches. Took me a second (or a few hours.)
Nice.
Peter King, Mr. East, Mr. New York, Andy Robustelli and Alex “Big Red” Webster pass away and he won’t make a mention on his column. He has a paragraph on Monkey Davey Jones passing and he dedicates a page to his coffee and booze each week. Two 49er greats pass away and the Bay press relive their careers even though most fans never heard of them, John Henry Johnson and Joe the Jet Perry. Peter King Nah.
Grant,
Nice “Star Belly Sneetches” reference. Do you have kids we don’t know about?
I have a two-year old nephew.
I know this is getting ridiculous! We’re winning! Alex Smith is winning! Yet people are still throwing the man under the bus. So sad and pathetic.
It’s the Charlie Sheen thing… err… maybe Charlie Sheen in reverse.
Oh never mind.
This whole article is hilarious. Yeah just throw anybody back there. That is always the right way to roll
Its strange that at best a marginal QB has so much support. The 49ers can improve their team by exchanging qbs, and adding a talent such as Mike Wallace but would rather imagine that Alex will finally have his break out year.
Strange times.
I dont know..CK looked very raw last preseason. The critics were right that he takes a long time to unwind that arm and throw. He’s not a dart thrower..more a javelin. Too long. Even I would toss Alex a couple more mill…
Stan, careful…there are those that will start attacking because your logic is *very* realistic.
Alex looked terrible in preseason too. Had a pretty good year though.
How is CK so great all of a sudden. How many have seen him on the practice field. Here’s a listing of the WAC conference he played against each year; Cal St, Hawaii, Idaho, Louisiana Tech, New Mexico St, San Jose St, Utah St.
Not the Big Ten or Pac 12 or SEC. Big Ten is probably Big 12 or 13 or something. Point is competition, Newton and Dalton went up against NFL type players. You want to throw him in…….okay.
PS he did beat Boise St.
And he dismantled Cal.
And he also helped knock Boise out of the BCS.
Now the miners are stuck w/ signing a mediocre qb for probably 10 million a tear because of Miami. We won’t sign wallace.
Peyton must have signed for money! He chose the worse team out of the three.
At this point, why wouldn’t Wallace sign with Denver, who will still have the cap space to do so. If the niners did sign Wallace, what would the dynamics be with four top receivers (Crabs, Manningham, Moss, Wallace) on one team fighting for play time with Alex Smith??? That situation could get ugly….
Totally agree! They’ll all be fighting over ASs 200 yds/game
I agree Grant. The major problem that Smith supporters have is that they think that he is responsible for the 13-3 record because he was a “game manager”– god i hate that term. At the very least, CK can be a game manager in this league. Because AS was a manger, he never was confident enough to squeeze the ball in, couldn’t throw deep, couldn’t convert on 3rd downs and the redzone efficiency was horrendous.
So far GC you have not irritated me as much as your dad has. Do your own thing, not his.
My dad thinks the Niners should re-sign Alex Smith.
that would be the most conservative way to go!
GC, does LC think they are running BW’s or AD’s blueprint for winning in SF? Possibly a combo?!!
My dad thinks Harbaugh’s personality could be the polar opposite of Bill Walsh’s. The Cohn Zohn feels he’s more like Al Davis than Walsh, but we’re still doing our research.
Still, I’m not sure Walsh would have handled this Smith/Manning drama much differently. Walsh was cold with personnel moves as well.
It’s the most logical move because it would give CK7 more time to develop. As I’ve stated, Alex would be a tool to come back to SF now. Josh Johnson would also buy CK7 more time and at the same time compete with him, something the Niners would not give Alex.
Ceedub, TSmith is a cheaper option than JJ why not him and CK can sit another year? Ludicrous! Either start CK (who isn’t ready yet) or sign AS – those are the options.
@Reecan,
Really if Lowell or Grant have the ability to irritate you, that is pretty sad. Maybe you need to reevaluate your life , if you take this so seriously.
A different take:
JGlazer saying on NFL Net that the FO made a mistake not signing AS. Hmm.
He thinks the FO should call AS and tell him “let’s get this done”!
JG thinks AS can be a legit QB.
JGlazer is a joke. He’s known for fantasy football not real life.
He and AScheft seem to get the scoop!
Who the f is Jay Glazer? Just another talking head. I will stick with just believing in Harbaugh and company. They have a plan and know better than anyone else what to do.
Get the scoop yes, helping make football decisions, no.
Hofer,
look back at all scenarios that involve Smith leaving. Several scenarios that pop up. Flynn, Manning, CK, Matt H. Look them over both last year and this year. The second the topic comes up, you can’t find middle ground at all. You say nothing positive. It’s like you think AS and his league low production and stats are the best thing since sliced bread for the niners.
PM is gone now. But if and it’s a big if, he was healthy and still had some game left in him, it could have made us dominant. Yet there you were with your negative spin. EVERY time. Why? Why are you so all in with Alex Smith? Year after year after year? At least I can tell you why I am not sold. I can point to his stats and tell you that. I can point to specific things in his performances that I have seen historically to show you why I feel the way I feel. You however acknowledge the shortcomings but always blame coaches, system, receivers, offensive linemen…. you get the point. Just curious why? Why does Smith get such a long rope?
@bay:
Just curious why? Why does Smith get such a long rope?
The more relevant question is why 14-4 (and the comeback wins and the low turnovers, etc.) doesn’t buy him more rope with guys like you and jordan. The continuing irrational antipathy is borderline pathological.
Peyton was a nice fantasy, but it looks like that’s not going to happen. Back to reality. And the reality is that Alex Smith, going into his second year in Harbaugh’s system, gives the 49ers the best shot at winning the Super Bowl next year. There is no rational, factual basis for thinking Kapernick is ready or that he will outperform Smith in 2012. There’s just wishful thinking. Same with Josh Johnson. And, really, Josh Johnson? Really?
Stop letting your irrational dislike of Alex Smith control your thoughts on the subject and look at the situation objectively. Blind hate may be easier than accepting a difficult truth, but it doesn’t mean you have to give into it.
Claude says, “The more relevant question is why 14-4 (and the comeback wins and the low turnovers, etc.) doesn’t buy him more rope with guys like you and jordan.”
My guess is the same reason that it didn’t buy him more rope with Harbaugh and Baalke, there are better out there, and maybe even in his own locker room.
@Jack:
I don’t know that you can say that Harbaugh and Baalke share the same view on Smith, other than the view that he’s not good enough to make them ignore Peyton Manning. And Baalke likes Smith enough to offer whatever contract the 49ers offered. By all accounts, that contract is still on the table.
And who are these better QBs you say are out there? Kapernick? Johnson? Tebow? Garrad? I don’t see any reasonable basis for assuming that any of them can outperform Smith this year.
Claude,
+1, as usual, with two exceptions: your take on JJ and CK’s readiness.
If JH brings JJ in, I would have confidence that there is something there. Enough to at least provide competition for CK and a good backup, who knows the system, in the case that CK wins the starting job.
Which brings me to my next point: I don’t think Baalke goes down the road without having a plan for whiffing on both PM and AS. The only sensible conclusion is that he and JH feel CK is at least a workable option at QB. They may have brought in MH if PM had gone to the Titans [man, that would've tested my trust in JH/TB], but other than that, there really aren’t any viable QB choices other than CK. So, they must feel that CK is ready to perform at least passably in the near term, and much better than that, sooner rather than later.
Jack Hammer,
Are there better out there? Sure, but none are available. We are talking about Manning one of the best of all time as the guy they were going after. They didn’t go and secretly try to bring in Josh Johnson or some other middling player to take his job. It was a first ballot HOFer.
If the 49ers felt that Kap was ready, I’m guessing they wouldn’t have offerered Smith as much as they did and surely wouldn’t have gone after Manning on a two year run for a Championship.
What this appears to be, is the Niners like Kap, don’t think he can be the guy this year, but see him as a starting contender in another year. That’s why they don’t want to committ long term to Smith and would sign a stop gap if Smith signed elsewhere.
@Claude
The more relevant question is why 14-4 (and the comeback wins and the low turnovers, etc.) doesn’t buy him more rope .. ?
Answer #1: Much of the credit for the 14-4 record goes to the defense, special teams, and solid coaching
Answer #2: JH didn’t trust Alex Smith throughout the year and played it close to the vest. JH asked AS to manage the game and not make bone headed mistakes. That speaks volumes. If AS comes back, lets see if JH has more faith and puts more trust in AS to open up the passing game more. Will this be the year that Alex graduates from being a game manager to game changer?
Answer #3: The length of the contract offered to AS clearly indicates that the organization doesn’t see AS as a long term solution and want the door to be open for the heir apparent (be that CK, Tolzien, or somebody else).
@NickRow:
Will this be the year that Alex graduates from being a game manager to game changer?
Yeah, if only he had managed to change the game in the divisional game against New Orleans. Or in the game against the Eagles. Or during that 4th quarter drive against Detroit.
Yeah, if only Smith had shown something different in 2011. Then he’d deserve more rope.
@Claude
We’ve seen flashes but next year, we expect consistency. Consistently good that is.
Claude no matter how you feel, ownership disagrees with you.
Claude, I was referencing the chasing of Manning, and the possibility they may feel CK will be fine if they have to go to him a year early.
Rocket,
The only FA QB better than Smith was Manning, and they went after him. I think they also feel very strongly about the future with Kaepernick which is why Smith hasn’t signed yet.
Sure they want him back, they want the best option for the next year or two, and he wants more security than the 49ers are offering him.
Where else is he going to go? No one else wants him to be their starter, and he doesn’t want to be a back up.
@bay:
It was a simple question. Why did you feel the need to dodge it?
Claude no matter how you feel, ownership disagrees with you.
They do? How so? I suspect their position is closer to mine than yours. I’m willing to trust the judgment of Harbaugh and Baalke, especially Harbaugh. You apparently are not. And I know that you would not have sent Harbaugh to speak with Smith this afternoon.
I don’t think that Smith is in the driver’s seat, we don’t have to offer him another $1.00 more, he knows that he is under center for a very short time, unless he turns into Steve Young, which is highly doubtful, hell I would take Jeff Garcia over him. Let go with Kaep, perhaps bring in a veteran for insurance. Smith should hold a clip board for Uncle Norv in San Diego.
Making inane comments like you’d take a 42 year old quarterback who last played a game in the UFL over a guy who out-dueled Drew Brees in the playoffs does not reflect well on your credibility.
I meant I would take Jeff Garcia in his prime over AS, not now
tkamb, Garcia was actually on the Texans roster for the end of the season and playoffs.
Neal, I don’t see the point in bringing it up then. Theres a lot of qbs in their prime I’d take over Alex, I thought we were discussing current options.
Jack, I know which is why I said last played a game. He just sat on the bench for Houston.
Id take the 42 year old QB!
Alex needs to give the Niners a “one-fingered” salute and sign with Miami. Who in there right mind would blame him?
I hope he does, but he can’t pull the trigger.
I will lose respect for Alex if he comes back to SF. They kicked him to the curb. The very sight of Balke should be enough for Alex to projectile vomit 50 feet.
Or he may roll right and run into a wall.
Classic
He certainly couldn’t pull the trigger against the Saints or Lions.
because no one wants to go to miami
It’s just business. Steve Young said that in the NFL perception is the reality. The perception of Alex is that he’s not taking a team all the way. When Steve won a SB my how the perception changed. There’s a secret that changes everything, makes the ugly beautiful, the dumb smart, and that secret is…………..Winning.
I wouldn’t blame him! Man up Alex – show if you can do it without JH system and a great D carrying you!
LOL Neal. +100
I wouldn’t be surprised if the niners don’t sign a QB for about a week. I’m not sold that the front office has accepted that smith is the best option at this point, especially with other FA’s out there. The FO looks at what will be available next year as well as this year. They might not want to tie up money in smith if something is on the horizon.
Anyone remember those NFL Network fools La Canfora and Lombardi saying the best Alex could hope for from another team is 1 year, $3-4 million as a backup? Now he’s reportedly in serious negotiations with Miami on a multi-year, $8 million a year deal. And Smith should be worth far more to us.
Grant, I agree with you on most of that with the exception of Josh Johnson. I just don’t see why. I don’t know why you would want to waste the money on someone who isn’t an upgrade. I think you’re completely right on, however, with the reasoning behind Kaepernick and picking up Wallace.
Johnson would be cheap competition for Kaepernick.
I expect the Niners to bring in Johnson now to compete with CK7. It’s the right move since Alex won’t be coming back. I can’t imagine Alex coming back to play for Balke. How many times can you keep turning your face as he spits in it?
I’ve got to say, while I kind of want the 49ers to sign Smith, if they don’t, it’ll be exciting. Pretty much everyone believes that CK’s ceiling is higher than Smith’s, the question is if he’s ready now, or not. Bringing JJ into the mix will make for good competition and another viable option at QB.
Smith is the best competition for Kaepernick. Bringing in JJ would be like giving CK the starting gig.
I agree Grant
Signing Johnson would put CK under the burner more than it would AS if he is here.
I think Grant makes a very logical point – third downs and red zone are the toughest area, but how much worse can a rookie be than Alex was?
However logic meets philosophy. JH stated clearly that he thinks a QB grows year over year in a system, so its his mindset that AS will improve this year and the year after. Going to CK is going backwards, and you just wouldn’t do that after being so close to a SB.
Also it’s easy for outsiders to suggest change because we don’t have to live with the responsibility. The Niners won’t be taking a big risk on the QB this year, because the offense wasn’t why they were 13-3. But it would be foolish to gamble with it when 10-15% improvement in scoring will be huge next year, and that’s not a lot.
If the Niners sign Wallace, Moss is history. Can’t see the guy taking up roster space unless he is 90%. Having said that, I think Wallace is too expensive and the Niners should spend their money elsewhere.
Grant I never had a problem with your posts until you started shooting blind ignorance into sports articles, “Alex is the Steve Deberg” I mean really man is that how little you think of our QB. Ill blame your ignorance on youth, you clearly dont know how to breakdown film, which is why I take the time to post on here and correct your misinformation, Im not an Alex Smith lover by any means, Im a realist, I saw what Alex didnt have in 2005 and attributed the teams woes on the TEAM, not on Alex like most haters. CK will probably be ready at some point but theres no reason Alex cannot improve a second year in the system with WR that can hopefully run routes correctly and get separation. I dont ever argue with idiots because they only drag me down to their level and beat me with experience. But you as a sporst columnist should really do some homework when breaking down Alex Smith youd find hes far better than 23 other starting QBs in the league its not rocket science buddy its just football. Grow up and start writing accurate pieces and youll gain the respect of sports fans that have a clue
Big difference is AS never had the best ever QB guru BW to tutor/mentor him but SD did!
please people dont bother correcting my syntax, I typed this on a phone and in a hurry, dont need stupid comments referring to my grammar. I dont write for a living :-)
Thanks god you dont write for a living or GM a football team.. But you should find a way to get paid for all those hours of game footage you break down.
Long time niner fan first time peanut gallery.
Grant I hear you but i would like for Kap to have another season as a student of the game. Alex has and will get better but i have seen nothing that says he cant get better. As for the hate posts they sound like they have nothing better to do. Stick to football and leave the guy alone!
Thanks for writing.
Consider this: If they signed Josh Johnson instead of Smith, Kaep could get that year on the bench if he needed it and the Niners could significantly improve their offense by signing Mike Wallace.
The biggest benefit there is the JJ is already system ready and flourished for Harbaugh in the past….
Grant,
You probably are aware of this, but it’s not AS, or CK/JJ + MW.
The comparison is AS + No.1 draft pick + FA signed with money that would’ve paid JJ, or CK/JJ + MW.
Fair enough, I’ll still take the Mike Wallace package.
Good point, i just dont know much about Josh Johnson and the unknown scares me. I know how bad and/or good Alex can be.
Bay,
Why do you hammer Smith maliciously for not having any options, then turn around and say how good a fit JJ would be? As far as I can tell, nobody is looking for him, at all. It seems like a bit of a double standard.
Grant,
It sure would make the off season interesting. CK is the future, it wouldn’t be the worst thing to get a head start.
Someone mentioned a salary of $8M per year for MW. Is that what you’ve heard? That seems on the low side. I don’t see the Steelers letting him go for that little amount of money. I also wonder if the Broncos are in play for MW. They’re way under the cap, aren’t they?
It may average $8 milllion per, but they’ll probably have to front load it to make sure the Steelers can’t match. So, the cap hit in ’12 would be around $12 million, I believe.
If they can bring MW in for $8M per, I say do it. That’s only $2M more per year than what JM is likely to earn with bonuses in Washington, isn’t it?
That’s correct.
I may disagree with some things you say Grant, but you’re putting it out there. You’ve gone through changes and you’re becoming original.
Word…+1…simply put and totally correct.
…as for a guy that has the time to make more than a few posts a day…get job, move out of your parents home, and get a girlfriend…
GC, why didn’t TB trade JJ last year when he was still worth something a la KKolb? No one and I mean no one has mentioned JJ for any of the open QB scenarios – MIA??? I just don’t see it…
Well, Jim Trotter believes Smith will swallow his pride and return to the Niners. We shall see.
Dollars verus Pride? Hmm.
If the 49ers win, AS’s pride won’t be an issue.
I think hell be a niner next year too, Grant. No one wants to go to Miami. Anyone that think JH owes an apology or that there’s some reparation due, they’re naive.
“Well, Jim Trotter believes Smith will swallow his pride and return to the Niners. We shall see.”
That’s what the NFL net crew thought at lunch – with the exception of Jamie Dukes. Dude hates Smith you can see it in his eyes every time the topic gets brought up. Totally funny to see Rich Eisen just giving him the business.
I always think Dukes is gonna have a couple mini-strokes when the Smith topic comes up.
Anyway, Evans, Warner, Mooch thought the thing to do was to swallow the pride and head back.
I’m not sure I agree. But… whatever. Put a team on the field, let’s go. Tired of all the drama.
Joey Porter picked his top five SB contenders and didn’t mention the Niners. On NFL Network.
Grant, wholeheartedly disagree with your assessment of Smith. The WRs are garbage, except for VD (who is not a WR)…Crabtree’s skills are better suited to be a setter on a volleyball team. He’s tied at #10 with the most dropped passes in the NFL. The coaches decide when to pass, when to run…not Smith. He will only be better this year and if he continues to improve even on a linear level…he will have a good season instead of average. People call him a game manager until he leads a comeback…then he’s expected to do that…game managers don’t lead comebacks against Brees and the Saints pass rush.
i agree. this team with a good rg and walalce should contend even if trent dilfer was back there. The fact they drafted Kap must mean he is their future. Smith can only function if everything is right. How often does that happen in life? we need someone who can make those around him better. give kap and scot a chance. If Harbaugh wants to prove he is a great coach, and do a reclamation project, how about getting tebow and letting him sit for 2 years learning to throw? Want to bet he will be coach of the year again?
SI’s Jim Trotter, a better Alex Smith source than Peter King, tweets:
“alex smith is not one to let pride get in the way in this instance. believe that.”
“he’s not going anywhere.”
And to responses about reports he’s serious about Miami:
“we also heard manning was serious about sf, right?”
Grant your worse than Tim, one day your for Alex the next your not, make up your mind already.
…its pathetic…..
You guys still don’t get it. He doesn’t have to be for or against anyone. He can give his opinion and… there it is.
And in turn, he asks you for yours. He doesn’t have to be a fan of the team, doesn’t have to be anything at all.
Why does it matter?
Why would it even matter if anyone (including Grant) changed his/her opinions?
I get on a binge where I love sushi and then sometimes I’ll be tired of it and stay away for a while… am I evil? :P
@Adam
Ask the fish.
: – )
I am very consistent and always have been and only those who have trouble with reading comprehension would not understand.
Grant, does AS have an offer from the Niners again or is the original one still there?
Give AS some respect. If nothing else, he is not riding his dad’s coat-tails…
What am I going to do with my Alex Smith jersey? If the 49ers go with kaep this year, they will be lucky to win 10 games. Alex smith with an off season, mini camp ota’s, training camp and an upgraded receiving corps should pit Alex around 4000 yards, 30 touchdowns and 10 interceptions.
Its a fact that Alex will have improved numbers this year…
It’s business – it’s OK for the FO to be ruthless by investigating PM but when AS signs with the 9ers he is swallowing his pride?!! No it is BUSINESS either way! Oh how the tide turns…
I agree, Hof. I think Alex returning means he understands the situation and knows that it’s the right business decision to make. Why choose a crappy team out of spite when you can go to the team where you are familiar with the offense and know they’re already good enough to win a championship?
He’s not putting his tail between his legs or crawling back – he’s doing what’s best for Alex…
9ergirl, 100% agree – as usual…your post is the BEST of the day!!
49erGirl,
It’s also best for his family. He has a young child and a wife who’s from the Bay Area.
Yeah there should be no hurt feelings. This is a business first.
How does that saying go? Happy wife, happy life? Alex’s wife will pull the trigger and put her foot down. Damn it, she wants to stay in California. Look for Alex to return regardless of him being labeled an ‘invertebrate’.
Yeah,whats best for Alex is putting his tail between his legs and crawling back,we agree. Or he could show some backbone and go to Miami,if they still want him now that Teebow is avalable,lol.
NickRow,
Are you saying that Smith shouldn’t consider what’s best for his family?
Tim,
You are a kook. You constantly go on and on about how much you respect and like AS, blah, blah, blah, only to slam him in the next breath. How is it AS is going to have his tail between his legs if he comes back to the 49ers? I just don’t see how it’s humiliating to be put on hold so the 49ers could look at PM. Christ, if the 49ers didn’t look at PM [after he called them, BTW] it would be irresponsible. Smith may not like it, but he certainly must understand it. And if Smith judges the 49ers to be the best place for him and comes back, it’s a business decision. Just like it was a business decision for the 49ers to look at PM.
I’m all for Alex coming back but I think his caddying days are over.
@Andrew
I think AS will do it…..for a tip though.
Grant,
I am at the point where I’d like to see the team move on and move forward with the offense. I’d love to see CK start (if he’s ready) and bring a fresh face to the team. I don’t know that Josh Johnson makes sense since he’s not much older than CK and would probably want a long term starting job.
It’s been a long, grueling road with Alex Smith and now that the PM sweepstakes are over, I’m looking over at the path back to AS and just don’t want to go there again. It’s like having a bad marriage, ready to get divorced, but then deciding it would be best for the kids if you stayed together….only to find out years later the kids always thought “why the heck didn’t you ever get divorced – all the arguing made us miserable!!!” I don’t want to find out a few years from now that CK is the real deal, but we let him waste away on the bench while we stayed Smith just a little longer.
Reality is I don’t think the Niners are willing to part ways with Smith just yet, and I think he’ll be back in 2012. I’ll cheer just as hard as I did last year and expect to see dramatic improvement in 3rd down conversions and TD’s in the redzone. Alex will have my support in the beginning (consider it the time period where couples therapy comes into play), but it’s going to be short lived if the offense struggles to score and/or 3 and out becomes the common theme. If the crowd starts chanting “We Want Colin!!” can’t say I’d refrain from joining in.
I’d love to see them add Wallace if they have a QB willing to take chances throwing it to him. Of course, the Niners value draft picks and probably won’t give those up to sign him.
9ergirl, hear ya but business is business…bottom line! lol
49erGirl,
What if the exhusband-to-be beat the Saints with, not one, but two incredible late fourth quarter TD drives in the 49ers’ first playoff game in years?
Same ex husband to be only gave me 1 meaningless third down conversion the next game.
Would say he couldn’t keep it up consistently.
Don’t get me wrong – I will always have a fond place in my heart for Alex for what he did in that Saints game, just not sure if I can handle the down cycles in the relationship.
49erGirl,
If you look at the numbers in the Championship game, “Eli the Luck Sack, er, I mean, Eli the Elite” performed worse than Smith. On top of that he had two sure INT’s erased by Goldson colliding with Brown on one, and Rogers on the other. The passes were so bad, either the CB in question, or Goldson would’ve made easy INT’s. Unfortunately, it didn’t happen that way.
Thats the story of Alex’s career. Looks good in one game, cant follow it up the next.
to follow up 9rgirl on the point of only 1 meaningless 3rd down play in champion ship….
lest us not forget those nice TD passes to VD and one of them looking off the safety for a catch at the goal line….
it is funny…some remember only the bad …. i guess i tend to let the bad go and believe in the good that happens….something that players on islands need to become accomplished at…..like CBs
and there was some breakdowns in all three phases of the niners loss to the giants….depends on what one wants to focus on….i just look like an omelet
naw, i mispoke….i look at the bad as well and dwaddle through it for sometimes too long….
also semi-deep passes to VD
i think he could do the same with wallace as well…..a wallace who can adjust to passes thrown….
I’m not married to Eli in this situation, ex….just Alex.
49erGirl,
True, I got off topic.
I agree with Niner girl, it is time for a change, and again AS is like the last ugly girl at the dance and we have no other girl to dance with. Alex really needs to go. , hey I want to take you to the prom but I am going to ask somebody else out, who is alot prettier then you but if she says No, I will go with you.
assuming peyton follows thru with denver
i am not ready to move away from AS yet…..i have stated my opinions about what AS needs to do going forward….i am not ready to move away from AS because he did execute the system JH put in place and he did it well…sure there were some glaring issues that arose … but it was fairly solid none the lesss….if AS didn’t have some of the comebacks like against philly which if looked at rationally became the linchpin turning moment of the season…yes i get it that justin created the final event of that game but it was the passing offense that got the team all the way back …. he had two game ending must have passes to walker against detroit and VD against NO….. he does do things he shows those flashes….so no i am not ready to move away from AS….unless peyton turns down denver after all then hell i just sit back and wait….
AS being a product of the system and using it as a cop out he is not any good on all fronts (physical and mental) just rings hollow for me…not that u said this …. i just threw that comment in as well….
selfishly, if there clearly is no better QB solution for the coming year then i would want to see AS in year two…
but heck why not bring wallace in….if niners really could structure contracts to bring peyton in and still not have the RG and draft picks under signature….then i can’t imagine they could do the same for wallace on even a longer term contract….it would seem a better tactic then picking up fleener in the 1st round….
expose AS if there is any exposing to be done…..then move on….but based on this year there were too many variables surrounding the rcving core(i.e. some ill-timed injuries that ended up not being adequately addressed going into the playoffs) to really make definitive decision … although i get it there was some miscues none the less…even though on some signature plays where fans blasted AS for example the one wheel route in the championship i didn’t agree with how they interpreted the development of that particular play….
so again, selfishly, no i am not ready to move on from AS because there isn’t a clear cut person better than AS other than peyton….
get some offseason workouts in and some training camp reps in….something that was squeezed a bit last year….
@49erGirl: I see your divorce analogy but in this case it’s more like infidelity in the marriage among the Niner “Faithful”. No one was bickering on the team. But us bloggers were and are still bickering at nausea, like the children of this marriage. Singletary yelling at Smith; now *that* was a divorce. That’s over.
Harbaugh trusted Smith and gave him the playbook on the one day hiatus from the hold-out. AS did everything that was asked of him and blew away everyone’s expectations. Could he and his teammates been even better? Yes. Could they be better this year with familiarity with the playbook in year two? Yes.
The point that JH traded up to get CK is not that strong when you recall he was the sixth(?) QB taken in the first 40(?) picks! The Niners only had David Carr under contract at the time. Of course JH was going to take a QB! Six were already gone and the leftovers, if he didn’t trade up, were Ryan Mallett (with all sorts of baggage), the kid from Delaware (who didn’t even show up for his Pro Draft Day), and MacElroy from Alabama (who had a great college career at Alabama similar to Ken Dorsey’s 38-2 record at The U).
It took Steve Young more than one year under Montana (not Smith) and Bill Walsh (not Singletary, Nolan) to be a star. It took Aaron Rodgers more than three years under Brett Favre (not Smith) to be a star. It’s taken Smith more than six healthy years under Dorsey, Dilfer, O’Sullivan, Hill, you get my point. Be patient and let CK grow into a star under Harbaugh and maybe Alex Smith.
We all want the Niners to win and Smith got us a knee cap away. It’s not time for a divorce. If AS chooses to sign with Miami it’s because of infidelity and the CK era begins. My guess is AS, as well as all 52 other Niner players, knows the NFL is cutthroat and “fidelity” is a foreign language not spoken in the league.
am going to assume u might have meant
‘six less than healthy ….’
“…It’s taken Smith more than six healthy years under Dorsey, Dilfer, O’Sullivan, Hill, you get my point.”
otherwise i guess i am the donkey
I’m referring to Alex’s health not the (ill) health of the John York Niners. AS was injured for one of those years. Jed took over, JH was hired, AS had a good year, The SF 49ers are now healthy. Thanks for seeking the clarification. You are not a donkey, they play in Denver.
I agree with Grant about Kaepernick. He’s got the arm to throw deep to Moss (or anyone else). He’s a big threat running the ball, but we all know how dangerous that is. We don’t know much else about him. Does he have the vision, the calm-under-pressure demeanor, an unflappable confidence? On the other side of the coin: Smith has the smarts and is very well liked by his teammates but he just hasn’t shown the physical skills. I mean NEVER a 300 yard passing game? Alex Smith threw way too many “deep” passes wide out of bounds when Vernon or others had beaten their coverage. He couldn’t get the job done in the red zone.
Non-the-less this is a tough decision because Alex COULD improve with all the familiar faces and system around him. In fact he probably would get better and perhaps continue to hold down the turnovers. Ideally one more season of Kaepernick learning the system and Alex “managing” the games. But Alex wants a long term contract which would be foolhardy for any team at this point. I mean if he had another solid season then maybe.
On another front I feel Frank Gore is looking very vulnerable. He has persistent ankle trouble and we should expect him to miss many games again this season. Kendell Hunter is a good replacement but the niners would benefit from acquiring a large, powerful rookie since we’ve already got the shrimp slot twice filled.
And finally, 49er fans are expecting great things THIS season which makes us ripe for agonizing disappointment if we don’t “get to the Superbowl”. Some of our key players like Vernon Davis, Frank Gore, Brooks, etc. have been battered for years now and they won’t stay at their current levels much longer. So what will happen to the team if we don’t get to the mountaintop this year? Will the fans and media go nuts?
The NFC West is not the soft devision it recently was. Both Arizona and Seattle beat playoff teams late in the season. SF lost in Phoenix. The new schedule has us playing New England, Green Bay, the Giants, and New Orleans. This list is the cream of the NFL crop and San Francisco will need every resource and every bit of luck to make it INTO the playoffs.
Whether it’s Alex or Colin I expect the fire to be lit in this team and it should be a very entertaining season.
@Zygoma
How many QB’s in the league can run for a 27 yard TD run for a late lead?
Then back that right up with a perfect strike to VD that had it been thrown any earlier/later/different spot, the Niners don’t score a TD there.
The answer? Not many. And nobody who got past the divisional playoff round last year could have. If that is not enough proof for you, I don’t know what is.
@DS
The only way the conversation changes is if Alex wins a SB. Which they can Never, Never take away.
Andrew
Had the Niners won this past year, you know what the haters would say, right?
“The defense won the Super Bowl, and was the reason why the Niners were so good.”
Completely neglecting the fact that neither the holy one himself (JM) or his follower SY managed to win a Super Bowl without a nearly equal great defense. JM didn’t have a bad defense. Not once. And SY’s defense was pretty freaking good as well.
do agree gore does look a bit vulnerable….that was the other thing that occured last year going into the playoffs that may have affected the overall results….there were times we had to wonder why the niners didn’t run the ball more effectively….
we don’t agree on the absoluteness of your resolve about AS….
Grant. Why can i post a few messaged and then i get blocked?
Good question. I think I fixed it.
The JJ stuff is driving me nuts. The guy is a backup for a team that had a loosing record last year. A back up!
Yes he succeeded in College in a lower division. You know who else was a success in college? AS and CK.
So lets assume that AS does suck like some of you believe. And that he is just a good back up. Why in the world would we change one back up for another? Sure he can compete with CK for the starting role, but you know who else can? AS and Tolkien.
Nonsense!
tut, because the blamertudes can! JJ is the flavor of the month led by Jordo.
In the case that the 49ers lose Smith, there would be little downside risk to bringing in JJ. He’d be cheap, he’d provide competition for CK/Tolzein, and, if CK won the QB job, he’d be a good backup, who already knows the system.
Keep in mind, it’s no crime to be stuck behind Josh Freeman. True, he was horrible last year, but everything was bad in Tampa [I guess I just made a Free-excuse, or something - Alexcuse, what nonsense]. If JH brings in JJ, I’m on board.
I realize what you are trying to say with this article but I just want to remind you that YOU GET WHAT YOU PAY FOR! Bringing Mike Wallace or any other offensive threat will be pointless if CK7 cannot comprehend the offense or dissect defenses. Yes A. Smith will cost more to keep but I would rather spend on him with the DEFENSIVE Unit in tact and hope we can repeat what the Baltimore Ravens & Trent Dilfer did when they won the SB
You don’t throw Passes when a Run play is called. Whether that was by design or whatever, that’s on the Coaches not on the QB.
You need to see what Smith can do, look how many Passes were thrown in the Tampa game. Kappy doesn’t go in for some snaps all those Passes would have been Smith.
This was a dark day for our franchise. It’s been 17 years since we won a Super Bowl. Our odds of winning Super Bowl went from 90% to 20% in one moment.
Remains to be seen if CK can out perform Alex.
Who’s got it better than us? Denver!
Crab, we were a couple of fumbles away from the SB when no one expected more than a 6-10 season. Relax! JH is running the show!
Hofe -Harbaugh’s the reason we have a 20% chance to win Super Bowl. No Harbaugh = 0% chance!
Grant, you’re falling for what a lot of fans do which is IRRATIONAL hopes for the untested “promising” player. You’re taking a SIMPLISTIC analysis of data and making your point. Instead of an objective analysis of the situation.
I’m no Alex Smith fan. But I’m a believer in keeping what you have until you have a pretty sure better solution as an option.
The summary question is if you think Alex Smith with a season of Harbaugh/Roman’s offense under his belt and some playoff confidence IS NOT AS GOOD AN OPTION as Colin Kaepernick or Josh Johnson. Both whom are big question marks with some raw talent.
As to your points about Smith’s deficiencies. The 3rd down problems.
If you do some film review (and unfortunately we don’t have the 22 camera angle shot available from the NFL), most of the sacks that Smith took were because of break downs on the offensive line (either beaten one on one or miscommunication). By my guesstimate, I’d say 1/3 or so of Alex’s sacks were his fault for holding on to the ball to long.
But the biggest problem on third down I’d say was the glaring putrid state of the receiving corp. Most of the time they just didn’t get open (especially Edwards) it was either hope Vernon Davis got open deep or check it down. There’s a reason why Alex Smith’s passing stats show that he’s much better against the blitz (when his line holds up), it’s because it means there’s less coverage and probably going to be someone open. But when there’s no blitz then there’s full coverage and it’s up to the receivers to get open and not for Smith to read a hole in the coverage.
Remember not all third downs are created equal; meaning third and 10 is a far different scenario than third 4. Also, as much as we loved Harbaugh/Roman’s creative power run game, there were stretches of games when it was shutdown. The run game wasn’t consistent. And when the run game get’s shut down you have LOTS OF THIRD AND LONGS. Given the number of checkdowns Smith had, I’d say there were plenty of third and long situations.
So let me ask you: would you take Alex Smith’s performance last year (efficient, controlled but not big yardage) or would you GAMBLE this team’s brief window (because key components of the stellar defense are getting up there in age) for complete unknowns at the Offense’s KEY position?
And is a quantum leap of an assumption that Alex Smith with a full year of the Harbaugh Roman Offense and a full offeseason of preparation can even modestly improve over last year? And it goes both ways, the coaches understand Alex better and what he can and can’t do and therefore should be able to even further craft their offense for him so that the offense gets even a little better. Again not a huge stretch of an assumption.
why does my name/handle disappear with my posts?
signed,
allforfunnplay
if you have anything under “website” your name is invisible.
Hmmm. If it’s all about money and spending it on high price players then go take a trip to Philly and ask them how the “dream team” experiment worked out. The team and Harbaugh respect Alex and they can win with him. He is not the best QB, but he is by far the best in gluing the team together.
Seriously, do you guys have any sense of what it takes to put and keep together a team? Here is something for you to consider. A weaker and far less talented team will win a higher powered and talented team by believing and working together.
It is understanable that the Niners went after Manning. However it was completely pathetic on how they tried to keep this a secret and play both ends of the solution. We as fans would want to be treated fairly and have know the situation upfront, should they not have one the same for Alex and the players?
Grant, have you not considered how the locker room can get divided by having the coaches and all the way to ownership tout that it is all about the team, blue collar fiesty and nastiness, have everyone adore and wear the blue collar shirt philosophy and then cateer to a finesse player who would want to have it his way? You cannot do an abrupt change without others questioning your strategy and expect better results. This can easily turn into a divided locker room and turn against the team and fans.
Be careful for what youi wish for, you ay not like the results or the ramifications.
Good point Mtl
Would PM have been a “blue collar QB” like AS was?
If not, then the teams whole identity from last year would not be here (or work) this year. The whole attitude would be different. And out attitude was the best in the NFL. If that changes, the likelihood of it being a bad change is worse than it being a good change by quite a bit.
Now that Denver overpaid for a sick giraffe…Have the niners made any comments? Anybody hear something?
Classic Stan!! LMAO.
Lol Stan the MAN
Stan, you rads will be playing denv twice a year! lol
Wooo. Stan is a raider fan??? Now wonder! Since your here on a teams blog that matters. Why don’t you just jump off of that pirate ship. And come on over to the land of gold. I won’t tell anyone. But now that I know your a raider fan. Your comments really have no bite. Nor does your opinion. I hope hof is joking.
@Stan
This is bad news for your Raiders. Tell us how you really feel about Manning going to Denver while the Raiders are stuck with Palmer minus multiple high draft picks?
You mention Giraffe Stan, Peyton is listed at 6’5″ and Alex at 6’4″. When they played against each other several years ago and walked off the field side by side Peyton towered over Alex. Peyton was alongside Elway and he towered over him.
I’m sitting here wondering if I’ve ever heard an inflammatory statement that was delivered in a respectful manner. The sign of intelligence is language. You can make a point without throwing molotov cocktails. Try humor or sarcasm. But if you want respect, you don’t say something ugly about someday’s mother or compare ANYONE to Steve DeBerg. That’s low.
Or that AS caddied for JH? Who cares?
JH and Alex care ! :)
Thanks Grant. Much appreciated.
Grant, your reference “throw the ball at the feet, over the head or to the side ” is really unfair to Alex Smith. He is currently a much more accurate, skillful passer than Kaepernick or Josh Johnson. Does everyone have selective amnesia about the perfect passes that he threw in the post-season to Vernon Davis?
LOL,why not try to watch a few games before you use Alex and accurate in the same sentence.
Your dad using his blog to promote you so much is not a benefit to you. I hope you realize that. Make a name for yourself. I actually unsubscribed from your dad’s posting cause it got so ridiculous. And his odd fascination with telling Bay Area people that they know nothing about pizza. Tell him to put a sock in it. He’s dragging you down with his career. Sorry for the #REALTALK.
Sorry, I don’t trust people who say “REALTALK”
Haha. It was actually tongue and cheek. I’m a marketing professional :)
Cheers. Realtalk.
Its a business. 2 months ago, no one would have ever thought Manning could be a possibility in SF. You take a shot at improving your team when it becomes available. We can only take what we are given. Alex was the best option. Then all of the sudden he wasn’t, but as of this morning, that didn’t pan out. Now he may be again. I don’t work for the 49ers, so I must trust in Harbaugh and Baalke to make the correct decision, and I certainly do, based on last season, on and off the field. Kaepernick may very well be the guy, but my money’s on whatever decision they make, for now. Of course, if Alex bombs this year, it will appear in retrospect that starting Kaep was most certainly the right decision, at a tenth of the price. I know if I’m buying a car, and they both can only drive 100,000 miles, I’d rather spend a thousand, and not ten thousand. However, we can only live in the present, and we have no idea how long the cars will run and what kind of mileage they’re gonna get, so to speak. I don’t think there’s any doubt that at the current time, Kaep is the future. BUT. Next year, 2015, who knows what kind of player might be on the table? Things happen. Best player at the time, in my opinion. Take what is given. I trust the FO to make the best possible decision at the time it needs to be made, and Ill be behind that decision, safe in the knowledge that I don’t work for the 49ers, and they might know some stuff i don’t know.
How many passes did Crabtree drop in the Championship game? VD dropped a bunch too(not in the Championship game) and one big one was laid out perfectly in the endzone and bounced right off his hands. We’re screwed if Alex goes to Miami folks. Dont know what you got till its gone.
Deion Sanders tweet:
“Manning to Broncos!! Bad move just my opinion. Outside no dome very cold winters inexperienced receivers. I would have chose 49ers. Oh I did,”
“Think! Do u go to the Team that went 2 the NFC championship with great defense ,running game n Moss or Denver?”
…he dissed us or didn’t even give us credit during his hall of fame speech…
Manning to Broncos and Smith still having talks with the Dolphins
Hey Grant – you got some props in this article…sorry if it’s a duplicate – don’t know if anyone else posted it already (haven’t read through everything yet).
http://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/sports/Niners-May-Suffer-Consequences-of-Manning-Pursuit-143331366.html
Well, hey!
a little humorous what they cited grant on was an atypical comment from him on the AS front…
Grant. Your article is perfect. Alex has never been more than a JV player impersonating a QB and he actually believed what Harbs said about his being “elite”. CK is 6’4″, 235, and is faster, stronger than Alex with a cannon for an arm. He’ll be our own version of Cam Newton with a much better supporting case. The Super Bowl is within sight. Let Alex go and let’s start our new dynasty.
So, you’re saying that Joe Montana was no more than a JV player? Is that what you’re saying? You better compare Smith’s last year with Joe’s career average.
I only say this because the first 6 years should be omitted by Coaching ineptitude. Unless you think Nolan and Sing were Hall of Fame Head Coaches?
That “Cannon” was as accurate as the cannon used by the Myth Busters..
Did I or did I not say that Denver looked like the obvious choice for Manning?
Say what you want about them “backing into the Playoffs”, they were there. They’re EASILY the team that was a QB away from anything. Tebow is NOT their answer and they wanted… no they NEEDED to get Peyton Manning and they had the Cap room to not only sign him but protect him and get some more of their Defensive pieces in place. Manning was never going to win a Super Bowl in San Francisco.
I’m just glad that’s behind the team now. Smith has every right to kick Baalke and Harbaugh in the teeth by signing with Miami. Baalke is probably guilty of withholding the Terms Agreement sheet which kept Smith on the hook should Manning go elsewhere. That was extremely low class.
I hope Smith doesn’t sign with Miami, but at the same time I hope the kid gets his. He deserves to. He put up with a lot of shenanigans from day one.
I hope that if he does re-sign with our team that the haters can STFU about him. Dude just went Snake Plisken on your SAs’ and is more tenacious than a Tribble. Just get over it already.
Steve Young will now backtrack on his Peyton Manning lovefest and start in on why Smith should come back to the 9ers and blow off this dalliance with a broke neck QB.
as I was reading your post Young just said he loves Alex Smith.
Young is one confusing man undercenter.
At times, he seems to bash AS. At others, he seems to praise him. Not a lot in-between.
Young and ME,seperated at birth ! lol.
@Tim
“Young and ME,seperated at birth ! lol.”
Well you sure got the short end of that stick.
:- )
The word I would use in Steve’s attitude toward Alex is tentative.
Hey don’t go stealing my thunder. I predicted he was going to Denver. And when. You take a back seat now cead. :-)
I do think the Cohn’s tend to be more sensationalistic than other beat writers, and maybe this isn’t my cup of tea, but it’s no reason to come and be hateful or disrespectful. Civil discourse is good stuff though. That being said, **** everything **** you **** you **** you, you’re cool, **** you, I’m out.
ROTMFFLMMFAO!!!
Here’s why that idea is stupid on many levels:
1) These things don’t happen in a vacuum. To wit, just as the Niners couldn’t know that they would land Manning when they decided to diss Smith, signing a sheet for Wallace that the Steelers won’t match will take longer than Smith’s decision. So its a leap of faith and you could end up with NEITHER.
2) Wallace is a true talent, but not at a true impact position, touching the ball only a few times a game.
3) We just signed Moss and Manningham. Signing Wallace would mean we just went after 3 receivers, two of whom are almost strictly deep threats. It would be giving up on Moss before his tryout, and telling Manningham that regardless of what he was assured, he’ll have to compete hard just to crack the niners 3 wide formation (which they don’t even use often).
4) It isn’t a trade of just Smith for Wallace. It is Smith plus a first round pick for Wallace (if it works, see #1).
5) This presupposes that there is no way the niners can sign Smith AND do an offer sheet for Wallace, and I don’t necessarily buy that. Cap numbers are simple to manipulate.
6) If Wallace had even been a consideration they likely would not have moved on Manningham at all.
Nice Post.
yep food for thought….
..only if Grant could have thought of that…..
Poor sport?
Wrong post…what an off season ehh?!!!
I see AS improving next season because the 49ers have at least one guy, and hopefully another from Pitt, that can get separation. They didn’t have that luxury last year and defenses could stack 8 in the box. This resulted in, the all too familiar, looking off #1 & #2 and throwing at Frank’s feet or over his head. He should have more time to make reads this season. My 2 cents
Can he read defense ?
CP is not from a structured offense school. Please watch those games that he played last year again. See his eyes and tell me if he was ready to read the defense before he made his move – passed or ran. That is why you need a QB who understands the system. There is not many Peyton Manning out there who call their own plays. The system made Montana, Young, Brady and Brees. Brees was let go from San Diego but has done well in New Orleans ? Why ?
Young was with a bad team in Tampa and the LA Express. He was a good QB in BYU. I loved to watch him play his college ball. What happened then ? Manning didn’t do well in his first year but did much better in the following years after the Colts started to have some decent WRs and a running game. Manning is definitely much better than Smith. But if put him in the SF uniform in 2005, would the 49ers go to Superbowl in 2005/2006 with Manning ? The 2005 49ers was a very bad team.
Rodgers sat 3 years under good schooling in Green Bay. The Green Bay system made Flynn look good. Remember what New England had when Brady went down a few years ago – Matt Cassel. How much did the Chiefs pay him to lure him from New England ? Big bucks, right. What happens ?
Matt Cassel did well in New England because of the system not because of Matt Cassel. Kansas City does not have the right system for Matt Cassel. That is why the Chiefs is still looking for another QB. Kevin Kolb looked decent when he was with the Eagles. He even had the best WR to support him. What happens to him last year ?
CP needs 2 more years. The idea of giving Alex Smith a 3 years contract was about right because by the time the contract is up, CP may be ready.
If you think CP can come out better than Smith today, good luck.
@wing
Some nice points.
QB’s need other players around them to be as good as they are. If they don’t have them, they won’t ever be good. And those QB’s you bring up (Cassel and Kolb) had a lot better offensive firepower at their expense than AS has ever had.
Classic Smith excuse. see Brady, Manning
@jsand
Does Peyton or Brady do what AS did in the last part of the NO game?
Run for a 27 yard TD, the throw a perfect pass on basically “now or never” situation in the same game?
Nope. AR might, but he sure didn’t do it this playoffs. Despite the refs trying their best to give AR and the Pack another chance over and over again.
I ignore everything Grant has to say about football strategy ever since he predicted the 2011 49ers would beat down the Ravens on Thursday Night Football.
Grant, you started out solid with this blog, but then you took a right turn into a weird place… but I like you a bit more than your pops, so there’s that.
Waaaaaa! You should be your own man and pick the games you like anyways. Sounds like your learning that being a follower isn’t as grand as a leader. Good for you young man.
I have little idea what you just said, but thank you. I didn’t “pick” any game…
Peter King is reporting that Alex’s agent is in contact with the Dolphins this afternoon and…”Alex is serious about the Dolphins if they are serious about him “.
I still think he signs back here but if he signs with Miami my respect for Alex just went through the roof and I already respected him a lot.
Only you would say that last line of yours Tim, and have me believe you actually think that.
lol
All I meant was that if he shows a real backbone and tells the Niners to shove it and does go to Miami (if they still want him now that Teebow is available),then I will respect Alex even more as a person than I already do…and you know I always have.(as a person,not as a football player).
Now that Manning is going to the Broncos, I think Smith should sign with the Dolphins. I like Alex and thought he was throwen under the bus. Problem is I dont think CK is ready and not sure about Tolzien either. Niners could be in trouble.
@undercenter
How do the Niners benefit off of AS doing that then?
I want the Niners to win. All the time. If I was going to change my mind about them, it would have happened when Erickson was hired to replace Mooch. And in his 2nd year with “his” team, the Niners finished with the #1 overall pick in the draft. Just 2 years after the most exciting win in history and losing to the team nobody else beat that year in the playoffs.
why should AS go to miami when he has a chance at a SB with niners….players dream of being in the SB and winning it….whether they are the leaders or the followers….why should he deny himself that possibility because of a little adversity….so screw the backbone crap….he has already demonstrated backbone…..
@jg
I think it is important to note that the Niners/GM/HC Miami or anybody in their organization have said anything about AS not having a backbone.
That is all made up here on a blog. And, as I have said many times, I don’t think JH/TB/AS or any other football organization comes here for advice.
OK,then call it “growing a pair” :)
“What makes you a football guy is you pick up BW’s dry cleaning”
Great quote from MLombardi. He is basically saying it is business when discussing TT may now be of interest for the Jags.
Grant,
I agree with you. While I believe Alex Smith is better than Colin Kaepernick and Scott Tolzien at QB, is he 7,000,000 dollars better? To be fair, Alex Smith staying with the 49ers or leaving to another team doens’t invoke any kind of emotional response (although losing PM in a bid did).
Alex Smith is a great game manager, but with the NFC West still rebuilding, I think it’s safe to say we can win the division even with CP or ST at quarterback.
And as we all saw in the playoffs anything can happen.
If Alex Smith does resign, then he really needs to work on his game. He is too risk adverse.
…and CK should be better than Alex before too awfully long if he gets some experience. And if he were to be forced to start this season he certainly would get experience,lol.
vs 70 million dollars better….
SI’s Peter King tweeted:
Great line by @JasonColeYahoo. Called Alex Smith “the NFL’s version of Charlie Brown.”
Awesome!! i gues the NFL is Lucy
I admit it…. I get on this page because of the characters it has on it. It is my “daily soap” if you will. Teaching these children what the difference in opinion and fact is will never happen. This blog isn’t successful because of only Alex smith. It’s because it’s a train wreck of ego maniacs that don’t know what an opinion means. I love this *hit! Wheew
What do you think an opinion is? Was you last post an opinion or a fact?
tuto – Who’s that avatar pic of? Just curious.
Its me.
tuto – Right on bro.
Lol unless it’s factual like say a contract that already signed for example grant posts his opinion on where the team should head or what the teams good and bad is. People that come on here and complain about anyone else’s opinion about smith are worthless. Everyone on here post more opinions than facts. It goes like this… Retort with your own opinion. Not by whining that all anyone does is hate Alex smith. I’m a vet on this blog bro. I’ve seen it all. And I’ve seen guys like you poke fun and disappear. Remember it’s an opinion based blog.
Poking fun? Just asked a question. It is just that the previous post you made was nothing an opinion and that a fact, JK so is mine. I asked what you thought was an opinion.
When someone says that Grant is a hater…That is an opinion. When some opines that he is not… guess what that an opinion too. Your post is an opinion and so is my own.
Guess what everything everyone ever posts here is an opinion. Even stats when interpreted are opinions.
Unless someone has a doctorate on the subject matter.
Forgive my punctuation mistakes.
It might be time to give Kaepernick a try, but the deficiencies in the passing game were not all on Alex.
- The receiving corps was so decimated by injuries, they actually had several no receiver first and ten sets later in the year.
- Pass blocking at Right Guard was (and is) a problem.
- Morgan-Smith combo had much better route adjustment intuition then Crabtree-Smith. Once Morgan was out, Smith had to limit his passes to situations where it was plain the receiver was open.
- The 49ers only installed about 35% of the offense last year. (If one really wants to see the Roman/Harbaugh offense in full splendor, see Standford’s 2010 bowl game.)
I love the Kaep pick. I expect him to eventually take over even if the 49ers got Manning. Just might be a year ot three sooner now.
If its true that smith is serious about considering the dolphins. ” which is a joke” he better watch out with who’s he’s dealing with. The FO doesn’t fold for anyone. I really want to see what the contract says.. I’m starting to believe it has nothing to do with money, and everything to do with smiths performance and longevity on this team. I wonder if there is a part that says they can cut him whenever… This is getting good. Although when he signs we may never know what the deal is, but the longer he plays these games the more the FO is going to stick with this original contract and we will know. Again.. This is getting juicy. Until around 5pm when he resigns.
Yup right when we think he is not going to sign is when he will.
Grant, I absolutely agree with you on this… Let Kap get the nod…If they are interested in “longevity” they will do this!!!
Grant: Why are you so anti-Alex? The thing you are forgetting here is that the thing Alex did well last year….(Play great when he is down and win!) is the hardest thing for a QB to do. I don’t understand why you feel so strongly against Alex.
Because its his opinion. And the majority of fans would also like an upgrade at ANY position. It’s just happens to be that qb has been that position for a long time. One OK year doesn’t cut it, if your being an ego maniac and not signing the contract. Although he will be back. Smith is playing with fire. He’s not as good as he thinks he is and apparently as the 9ers think he is. Excuse fans for wanting what’s best for their team
…what majority?……in your dreams haters!!!!
oneniner says:
March 19, 2012 at 2:37 pm
…what majority?……in your dreams haters!!!!
Hey foreign boy. Trust me. The majority of 49er fans wanted manning. Which means your the minority. Don’t fool yourself again. Wait! Your to dumb to even fool yourself. Wheeeww
Schefter reported Raiders reached agreement with Shawntae Spencer.
good for shawntae
Yep,he was a good Niner and didn’t complain in the media when he was passed over by younger guys. Sad he has to be a Raider .
No Tim
Sucks the Niners didn’t get any draft picks for him.
DS:
The draft doesn’t go to that high a round anymore,it only goes to the 7th round. :)
Not bad Tim
But then of course, Dwight Clark had he been around now would never have been picked up. And does “The Catch” or something similar happen?
I know. Comparing DC to Spencer. They are ohhhh,,,so close to one another in Niner lore. lol
Wow…people have already given up!? There’s nothing worst than fair-weather fans…or very spoiled fans who are so upset that our team went 14-4 last year and we’re trying to maintain continuity so that we can do it again, but this time go all the way!
…And Grant,I agree with everything you wrote in that blog above. Although Kaep MAY not be ready,he can certainly be bad in the same things Alex was bad at doing and the difference is he should grow and learn from those mistakes while those bad points of alex’s game have never really changed over the years. Maybe Kaep would never get better either but the odds are he has a better chance to have a high ceiling and to improve quickly.
When asked about all this QB mess the CURRENT starting QB for the Niners :) ,Colin Kaepernick,showed class by refusing to comment on Alex etc and said he is “just working ” !
Keep working Kaep,we might need you sooner than we thought.
>>CURRENT starting QB
Did the team make that statement? Or was that pulled from somewhere else? And I’m not talking Grant’s wish list.
Grant you are really doubling down on the 40% prediction, aren’t you?
Didn’t you see the smiley face in my post Ribico? But since the only 2 QB’s under contract with the team are CK and Tolzien,the right now Kaep is THE starter,lol.
…and I quoted what Kaep said .
errr,I mean the current starting Niner’s QB Kaep . :)
Yeah I saw it and interpreted the smiley as a ” I likey” by you.
If you were being snarky, the appropriate emoticon would be ;) or :P
;)
A smiley face to me means I am having fun with the post and I am smiling as I write (I do smile most of the time).
NFL Net says there are no meetings scheduled with Alex and the Niners today .But they feel confident in their interactions with Alex(whatever that means,lol).
…So that probably means that there are meetings scheduled and Alex signs this afternoon ? :)
5pm like I said. I’m on a roll with predictions here. I can’t lose now Tim. Lol
I predict one QB giving Grant the cold shoulder in the locker room this season.
Good prediction Ribico ! But in reality I have a feeling that Alex stopped listening and reading about what the media and fans think looooong ago,or he would be nuts by now.
I’m talking about Tolzien! What does he have to do to get some love? Play the best of all 3 in the preseason again?
@ribico
If that were held true for all reporters, any bonus money AS may get for interacting with the media would never be earned.
Which reporters have been with him all 8 (coming on) years?
Just a quick joke, there’s a politician in India that has a luncheon once a year for journalists and hands out cash bonuses for those that wrote nice things about him. By the way it’s real.
@Andrew
By the way, it happens in America as well. lol
We call it Congress. Nobody does anything until after the last stroke past midnight.
Why is it that Alex Smith and Chilo are the only remaining NFL free agents without a team? ………….Just kidding.
That’s funny.
Does johnson have a big enough arm to be a suitable replacement for smith?
Yes.
Matt Williamson from ScoutsInc Tweeted:
“Said it before, I would rather have Kaepernick, M Wallace & Josh Johnson for #49ers than Alex Smith”
Yes, he certainly did.
Philbin was O.C. in GB for Mike McCarthy who was the 9ers O.C. and the main reason we drafted Smith instead of Rogers. They might be a good fit for Smith.
oops wrong thread on that philbin thing. Was I late to the party on williamsons tweet?
Who wouldn’t ???
I meant who wouldn’t want Kaep and Wallace and JJ over Alex.(even though I am not very sure JJ has what it takes,I know he loves JH and JH loves him. He could be JH’s new caddy next year at Pebble !!!
…..”Both SI.com’s Peter King and Armando Salguero of the Miami Herald are reporting that free agent quarterback Alex Smith has been in contract negotiations with the Dolphins on Monday.
King heard that Smith is “very serious” about the possibility of playing for the Dolphins. Per Salguero, Smith has told folks he’d strongly consider joining the Fins “under the right circumstances.”…”
this is not good…..we are farked with a new starting QB……TB is an idiot…..
Did you really even see smith as the Niners quarterback after this season? Cause I couldn’t I felt as tho he was just holding down the fort till Kaep is ready.
chirp chirp…… chirp chirp..
@oneniner
“TB is an idiot…..”
Too early to go that far.
Jed was an idiot for hiring TB to try to hire JH if you remember.
I am confident TB will eat his own pride and JH is being very straight with who he wants as his QB in 2012.
Miami H.C. Philbin was O.C. in GB for Mike McCarthy who was the 9ers O.C. and the main reason we drafted Smith instead of Rogers. They might be a good fit for Smith.
Come on man, an Idiot really? If Alex goes to Miami it won’t be because the Money will be much better. maybe he too just wants a fresh start.
…or maybe because he’s just tired of being thrown under the latest passing bus by the guys who are supposed to have his back…
I’ve noticed something on this blog, the longer it goes insults come into play towards the end.
Mike Wallace will get more than Vincent Jackson who got 11 mil/year since hes younger and had similar overall stats. So I think we could sign both Smith and Schwartz with the money that would go to Mike Wallace who would probably get 13 mil/year and we’d save our first round pick. What sounds better? Smith, Schwartz, and Hill/Fleener or Wallace? I think an offense with Manningham/Crabtree/Moss/Davis/Fleener would be great and a huge upgrade over what we had last year. Plus Schwartz could shore up the right side of the line and Vernon wouldn’t have to block as much.
@tkamb
If we are going to lose AS to get Wallace, I would rather lose MC (over 5 million this year and 6 million next year) to get Wallace. For one, MC and Wallace play the same position,and MC is due a nice salary. One which he did not remotely earn except for being drafted where he was. And I don’t call that “earning it.”
Wallace earned it. AS earned it after taking us to the title game. MC did not earn it.
I’m not ready to give up on Crabtree yet, think we give him one more year. Hopefully he actually gets an offseason in this time haha.
@tkamb
If it comes down to getting MC and hoping that he will finally show up (literally) and Wallace, a guy who has shown up (literally), that is no choice at all.
If we don’t get Wallace or anybody else, then MC fights for his job come training camp. If he earns his spot, he gets it. If he falters and another WR is looking good, put him in there instead. MC is in the red with me after his post game interview and his last 7 quarters of play.
Well it would be giving up MC + a first rounder for Wallace and I’m not sure I’m ready to do that. Agreed that MC has to earn his job though, if hes the third best receiver in training camp he should be the third receiver.
DS stars in, “The Case of the Failed Agenda”
Co starring: 23Jordan
@tkamb
Then the question of howmuch should you pay your 3rd WR?
He would likely be the top #3 WR in the NFL. Definitely top 5 out of 32 teams.
What happens if he does not refuse to take a pay cut?
My whole thing is that MC will not take a pay cut (a guess on my part) and is not worth the money he is getting paid and would not be the best WR on the Niners.
Put it all together, and as a GM (I know, we are all on call from various NFL teams) what would you do?
@Jack
Stay out. Let tkamb come to his/her own conclusions.
Thanks.
DS, tkamb already disagreed with you. Quit badgering the other posters…
@jack
“March 19, 2012 at 3:28 pm”
See that post. It still applies.
Thanks.
@DS
“March 19, 2012 at 3:45 pm”
See that post. It still applies.
Thanks.
DS you are already assuming he loses the wide receiver battle in training camp, what if he wins? Theres no doubt there should be a competition for playing time since we are bringing in 2 new guys while losing 2 of our top 3 guys, but I don’t think we should cut/restructure Crabtree until we actually know if he is the third best receiver on the team because he still potentially could be the best.
@tkamb
See my post above at
March 19, 2012 at 3:12 pm
“If we don’t get Wallace or anybody else, then MC fights for his job come training camp. If he earns his spot, he gets it. ”
My question to you is if Wallace does not come here (so no clear better WR that I can say right now on our team) and he does not earn the #1 spot in TC, and I am saying #2 either just for the argument, then what do you do?
Do you ask him to take a pay-cut to stay on the team or else cut him?
I am playing the GM game. The NFL pays this much for this player who does this much on the field. If the player does not live up to that pay, you can’t have too many on our team that are like that, or else you have a team with a lot of overpaid players.
For your reference, MC is the 5th highest paid Niner on the team (or rather the 5th highest contract). The players in front of MC are:
Patrick Willis
Justin Smith
Vernon Davis
Ahmad Brooks
MC
Then the next 5 players after MC are:
Carlos Rogers
Anthony Davis
Frank Gore
Joe Staley
Ray McDonald.
Keep that in mind (how good the players in front and the 5 behind are in production vs. dollar amount) in making your decision.
http://www.spotrac.com/nfl/san-francisco-49ers/
Objection, Badgering the witness!
Well in that scenario I would try to restructure of course but wouldn’t mind paying him for the year. I think Crabtree could play well with Wallace on the other side and we’d be able to trade him at the end of the season for a fairly high draft pick. I still wouldn’t cut the guy even if we did get Wallace.
@tkamb
Thanks.
@jack
Hope you were not a lawyer. You were overruled. lol
DS, What are you talking about? He still never agreed with your foolish agenda. LOL!!!
@Jack
It is not about an agenda or getting anybody to agree to anything Jack.
You must be a fool if you think you will really change peoples minds on a blog. It is hard enough to do in person and even when disasters happen, people don’t change much.
You don’t get it do you? The blog is about interacting and getting new ideas/thoughts. Not about “I am right, you are wrong.” As long as things remain civil, any idea is open about football (Niners related) on this blog.
Sorry man. You really blew it on this one Jack. The blog is not a competition man. I hope you don’t go thru life thinking life is just one very long competition with a winner and loser.
P.S. My last reply to you had to do with letting tkamb decide for himself. Not you telling him what to do or how to think or if he should reply to me at all.
All those years, and still you have much to learn my young Skywalker.
DS says, “The blog is about interacting and getting new ideas/thoughts.”
I get that, so when you keep bringing up the same question, and everyone disagrees with you, why do you keep trying to make them agree with you.
Practice what you preach mighty Jabba.
@Grant: I see that the folks are being rough on you and your acerbic opinions and in return, you are asking for a little respect. If I had a blog and wrote: “The Press Democrat should spend their budget on real talent – Eric Branch – not on Grant Cohn, the Washington Post Janet Cooke bridge to the future” wouldn’t you as a fan of Grant Cohn, be upset at the disrespect? I would because imo, Grant, you’ve had a 13-3 season with this blog the last nine months. You’ve won more than you have lost. Unfortunately, the past day you’ve let the ball hit your knee cap with your Alex bashing. Show the guy some respect. I assume he never called you a hack, right?
It’s not personal. It’s my opinion. Matt Williamson, an NFL scout for ESPN and Scouts Inc. shares my opinion. Clayton, Mort and Schefter follow him on twitter. He’s got 18,000 followers. https://twitter.com/#!/WilliamsonNFL/status/181852529775214592
I was not convinced that Manning was going to sign with the Niners and I am also not convinced that Smith is going to re-sign, would love to be a fly at 4949.
I listen to the ESPN Football today podcast and Williamson is very consistent with his evaluation of Smith, and that he is a game manager that greatly benefits from Harbaugh’s micro-managing. Ross Tucker, the host and ex NFL lineman has also said on many occasions that Smith is directly responsible for many of the sacks he takes because he holds onto the ball way too long.
Stop putting words in Grants mouth.. Hes never bashed Alex. Theres nothing attacking or personal in his blog. He objectively stated why he thinks that CK and Wallace might be better for the team next year. Maiocco, who happened to curate this blog, had the same exact idea over on Comcast Bay Area.
And even if he did call Alex a “hack”. So What? This is a blog not a news article. I know Grant doesn’t need me sticking up for him but some of you guys read and act like such scorned children.
…right on point openminded………well written
And Al Zawari agreed with Bin Laden’s opinion. Still didn’t make him right. Opinions can be expressed with class my friend. You can do better. The only way to get this blog to be congenial is for its leader to lead the way. You don’t want to be the leader of the bullies do you?
Did you just compare Williamson and me to the Taliban? Who am I bullying? Whoa, dude.
…he picked sides long ago…in the name of more hits on the page…….we need a new site blogger ASAP….someone that can write articles…..
You prove my point exactly with your bad analogies.. Bin Laden? Leader of the bullies? Are you kidding me?
Grant, The Smither group is very extreme with their comparisons. Keep up the good work. I don’t always agree with your opinions but at least you aren’t afraid to put them out there.
Open Minded,
That was one of the lamest posts ever. You might not want to reference mass murderers when comparing Grant to anybody.
I see my point got across, Grant. It hurt. You reacted. Your sometimes harsh way of expressing your opinion evokes the same reaction at times. You, nor Matt are Taliban. You are educated reporters in prominent positions in the media. You have thousands of followers. Why not use that for good of providing a forum of congenial, educated discussion devoid of vitriol? The fact may be that Smith can do better and in my opinion, so can you.
…he picked sides long ago…in the name of more hits on the page…….we need a new site blogger ASAP….someone that can write articles…..
No onelame. You mean someone that can kiss smiths ars and load him up with excuses. It’s good to know your out of that basement corner and the swelling of the eyes have gone down. You could always go somewhere else if you don’t like it. But we know you aren’t going anywhere until smith departs someday. Pathetic
“…The Smither group is very extreme with their comparisons.”
And in fairness, so is the hater group.
You guys miss the point. This thing is essentially akin to the old opinion column in a newspaper.
All Grant is doing is throwing out an opinion and inviting you to share yours.
Not a big deal.
When OTAs start and there are events to actually describe, I’ll do features and interviews as well as opinion blogs.
GC, having articles that presents both sides of the story may be the way to go. It seems you are more slanted on the negative side of AS’s play with the articles written this year (or transcripts) than say EB or MM. They typically wrote pro/con articles usually supported with interviews from experts such as coaches or GM’s. Just a thought…
I like giving an opinion and taking a stand. I’m not telling you what to think, and I invite discussion.
According to Tim K from the Merc, Alex contract was guarantee of 10 million out of the total of 24 million and that is market value, and lets be fair he was over paid from 2005 to 2010.
He sure was. We’ve given him a lot of money and haven’t gotten any return on it until last season.
I wish we had one idiot owner out there that would give Smith a 6 year 60 million contract, so we can say odious
is your auto correct not Bilingual? :P
grimey9er,
I have been taking Spanish lessons for almost 2 years but just talking not writing. I am trying ma,
Ha! You shoulda left it alone and let me think it was your phone’s fault. :)
i thought it meant the 60 mill contract would stink
Grant,
On April 1st, write a post about how Smith will be a future HOF’er and the Smither’s will once again support you.
BigP: may I suggest we drop the labels of “Smithers” and “haters” and not post opinions merely focused on being divisive? We’re all Niner fans here. Part of me hopes Smith moves on so we can all come together and enjoy the success of a wildly unexpected 14-4 season so close to the SB. Alas, that is pure folly to think folks here won’t find another player to become the flogging dummy.
Grant,
The problem I see with your scenario is that it forces the Niners to gamble on someone (Kap) who might not be ready. If he isn’t, and Josh Johnson is the alternative, there is nothing that leads me to believe he is capable of playing well enough for this team to remain a contender. In other words, it’s a very high risk approach to take, and if it backfires, they’ve just blown all the momentum they had built up this past season.
Mike Wallace on paper sounds great, but they’ve already signed two FA’s, and this is a team that is run first and TE passing oriented more than chuck and duck to the WR’s. I don’t think Wallace is a real consideration for the Niners right now or even if he ever was.
@rocket
The great thing about the RM signing is that they can drop him now, and not cost them a single cent.
And, I don’t know Manningham’s contract details, do you? How much money is he guaranteed? At any rate it is a 2 year deal. So, if anybody thinks that the Niners are unsure about how much faith the Niners have in AS for presenting him a 3 year contract, how much les faith do they have in Manningham then?
So, you can easily dump 1, and have it cost you nothing. And if need be, Manningham as well. Just have Wallace as your new WR upgrade and that will be enough this year at that position.
I just KNBR (they’re getting from another source?) report that Kaep has been throwing passes to Mike Wallace at Santa Clara. Can someone please confirm if you have any inside information. In the wake of what happened over the weekend you don’t know who to believe these days.
Whoever reported the news, must have an inside source with the niners! In fantasy land…lol
..Grant thinks we will or could sign wallace….
ok lets see common sense for a minute…..crabtree, williams, mannigham, davis, walker + Moss……and Grant also thinks we should draft the top TE in the draft………
In the history of JH has anyone ever seen him devote his offense to the WR’s…..JH offense is a run first offense…..he had success last passing out of running formations……….so Grant thinks the org will invest so much in the WR position knowing they won’t be used like WR’s are used in NE………
Grant is definitely losing it……..really sad how an opinion can ruin a career……..
Oneniner….DW is in last year of contract….maybe….the plan is to….prepare for him not being around in 2013….
Always….plan….ahead.
….replace him with wallace…..cmon…….wallace is not coming cheap…….the point is our offense is not WR friendly……….we already saw JH offense in college, also in the NFL……..why would or should anyone think they would invest heavily in a position we don’t value that much…….
TE are more important in this offense than WR’s……FACT
Drafting the top TE would help both the run game and pass game.
It seems to me harbaugh tailors his offense to his best player;Josh Johnson, Toby Gerhart, Andrew Luck and Vernon Davis(when the Alex Smith to Vernon Davis combination started to click).
oneniner – If we were to add Wallace, then Crabtree would be a goner. He would probably be traded for a 2nd round pick. I’m for it.
@crab15
Been meaning to ask you:
Do you think MC would take a pay cut (to try to get Wallace) and a demotion on the Niners to stay with them? Or do you think he demands a trade if asked?
And what is the lowest round you would trade MC for? 4th, 5th, etc. Or would you be ok with the team flat out cutting him if he does not get any trades offers or cuts in his salary
Thanks.
(P.S. This is all in an effort to get Wallace).
DS – Nobody would cut a top ten first round pick who’s producing. No pay cut, he was our leading receiver (not saying much). He has trade value and he proved he can block well. I suspect the Niners asking price would be a 2nd round pick but they would settle for a 3rd rounder. Nothing less than that.
Crabtree wouldn’t have to demand a trade if we get Wallace. The Niners would just do it.
…thats strong words coming from you crab……..i disagree, i think crabtree will be better than wallace in the long run…..
hmmm, wallace and a 2nd round pick for crabtree and a 1st round pick
maybe there is grounds for some negotiating thoughts there…..how is MC perceived around the league….
Why are you guys even bothering with this clown? This is the guy that stated the 49ers need smith more than he needs the 49ers. He doesn’t get that smith didn’t use the wr last year like he should have. He complained about not enough wr talent last year and now that the 49 ers might want to cover up the weak spot with loads of talent he’s upset. Waste of time with this troll gents.
yep, JH is a TE centric power offense to date…..i am expressing my irrational exuberance for wallace …..
*heard*
Grant – Are you blogging from 49ers facility?
No.
…cmon….Grant…why are you deleting my critic of you………this is bullying..isnt it?
..i have not called you names or make any derogatory comments about you………..why Grant?…..why……..you gave opinions and you don’t want us to critic it
the word you are looking for is critique, oneniner.
Grant i’m disappointed on you ! I am shock on your comments.. One thing i can say, you a genuine Alex Smith hater..
Once at least, you’re right Grant.
Colin Kaepernick = Gio Carmazzi.
Major developmental project.
Not even close….
wow.
but they coulda had Brady in that draft.
So could have 31 other teams in 5 rounds.
It’s up to JH. If he signs AS for 3yrs, I don’t think CK ever starts here may be trade bait.
contracts in the NFL aren’t guaranteed. and supposedly the reason Smith didn’t like the 9ers initial offer is because it kept the door open for him to be replaced.
Matt Barrows tweets that Harbaugh just left the facility and zipped off in a waiting car.
Where is he going? Oh, the intrigue.
To San Bruno or San Jose to catch a flight to Indy and trade the Niners next 4 first round picks and second for Luck.
haha jk, need food. out.
go niners
To Denver, trying to change Manning minds to go to the niners ! lol
He’s probably headed to the airport all right. Smith is flying in from Miami.
Let that giant sucking sound begin (to quote Ross Perot.)
Wonder how long the make-up session lasts.
Mooch just stated on NFL Net that in his opinion AS deserves more than a 3 yr $24M deal. Will the blamertudes come out and bad mouth Mooch now??!
Mooch also thought Gio Carmazzi was better then Tom Brady, which is probably why he is on television and not working for an NFL team.
BigP, TBD. AS hasn’t signed yet…
BTW, BW was GM/VP of the 9ers when GCarmazzi was drafted in 2000.
And they both worked him out Hofer. To this day Mariucci regrets it. He sure in funny on NFLN though.
The problem with Gio was that he was obliterated by a linebacker on his first practice play during a internal scrimmage. He never recovered.
I think Mooch is a clown on the NFL Network, and not in a good way.
I agree hof.
But I would also like Wallace. And no other WR on the market is nearly this good. And no draft pick is super unlikely to produce for us this year like Wallace would.
So, how do you get both? Especially considering what happened with PM.
So DS, would you rather have Wallace at the expense of Alex Smith?
@jack
Tough choice.
But no.
Reasons
1. Both AS and Wallace have another good 7-9 years lets say as viable #1′s in their position. QB is more valuable than WR, so AS wins out on this category.
2. Everybody is assuming that CK or Tolzein will be better than AS. Just like everybody assumed the stock market will go up forever and housing prices as well. Guess where that got us?
CK was the 6th chosen QB in the draft. He has not proven anything. If we dumped AS to get Wallace and CK/Tolzein are not as good as AS, then we will have lost out big time. Hope is a good thing. I have it. I also have reality staring me in the face every day as well. The reality of it is that the Niners don’t go to the NFC Title game without AS as our QB. No other QB available would have done it. And CK was still learning the ABC’s. Much less going to lead us there. Gotta dance with the girl you brought. At least I hope you did if you went to dances.
I have a few more reasons, but I’ll let you ponder these for a bit if you like and reply if you like (I am not badgering you to reply).
Maybe Alex should fire TC and hire Mooch!
Opinions are like gas, they make a little noise and are quickly fogotten.
…”Why the 49ers must sign Peyton Manning”…….”49ers want Manning”……….ha ha ha ha
……how come you never posted…”I really don’t have a clue what is going on”……..
I regret ever using “……” in my posts. I apologize to everyone for doing so. Just realized how annoying it can be.
Used as proper ellipses? Not bad.
Then there’s: · · · — — — · · ·
Well thank god all that PM stuff is over.
Now to square away Alex for 3 years and prep CK for the future.
Then on to bringing the Niner fan base to reality. Meaning: Though we had a great year and the team including Alex rose above expectations Ninernation should not expect the same. There were a lot of games that could of went either way. We need to continue to grow. Build depth at the D-line/OLB and well on offense we all know what needs to be worked on.
Come on back Alex let’s get to work.
BTW – CK DON’T be a Nate Davis, Carmarzzi, or whatever else folks are painting you. If Alex goes down, you must step in with the mindset this is your job and not giving it back up!
Geez Grant, where did you get the idea CK , is better than A. Smith? It seems in every post in your blogg you write, It shows your hate for A. Smith..Everthing so far you have said on Manning and A. Smith you we’re wrong..No Disrespect to you Grant..
I just started reading more of this kid Grants articles the last few months and what a joker. This guy flip flops about as much as Romney. How does he have a job as a legitimate reporter. Maybe he will ask the 49ers to go after Mcnaab next. Playing well when down in a game? What a horrible thing to do. Grant were you glad when he played bad on those last two drives against the saints. Terrible article
With the level of your intellect, (trying to spell basic words like “critique”). Do you actually think people take you seriously with your posts?
GC, this blog has gone off the rails. I’ll look forward to another solid season by Alex Smith – #9 in QB Rating in 2011, btw – while your band of 7 Smith-bashers repeatedly complain that he doesn’t throw for enough yards.
Alex was pretty efficient last season. Let’s see if he can add some more explosiveness and consistency to his game.
It helps to have more than MC, BSwain, and KW.
Alexscuse! :P
true Hof, the offense has to perform better top to bottom. Line, receivers, backs, etc. It seemed a different guy would make a mistake each play.
blamertude dude! lol
Hofer,
You use the phrase blamertude to defend Smith, and your blaming everybody else in defense of Smith. Does the same go for Harbaugh since he just tried to replace him?
BigP, cool your jets. That was meant for Adam who was messing with me!
None of us are Smith bashing. We are stating the facts. He is a nice QB that can help take us to the playoffs- but is not elite. There is a reason why no team has had interest in him except for us. That being said, he will be back next year and we’ll be OK.
And CK is better than AS. How do we know this? No one has said AS is elite other than JH. Is CK elite?
CK might be an elite QB. We wont know until he gets his shot.
A better chance is that CK is/won’t be elite at all. And a pretty good bet he is not better than AS. He could in fact really suck. The chances of a QB sucking and a QB being elite are not remotely the same. The odds are better that a player stinks it up rather than become elite.
AS would not have been the 6th QB taken when he was drafted. CK was. For a reason. And I hope for the sake of the GM’s there has to be a good reason or two.
So you’re unmoved by Jim Harbaugh and Trent Baalke’s confidence in Kaepernick?
Haters gonna hate. Potatoes gonna potate.
That’s what I’ve always said.
@Grant
What statement has either JH or TB made in regards to CK being the starter?
If there was one, please provide.
You are speculating. And as a simple fact of the football universe there are more bad players than mediocre ones and more mediocre ones than elite ones. And to say that one who has shown nothing is going to be elite is playing against the odds my friend.
Odds favor the player either sucking and not becoming anything at all,or just getting by playing average ball.
Maybe there is another plan we don’t know about. After all didn’t you say some teams might want CK? They may trade him away. Then what does that mean about them thinking CK is elite?
We don’t even know if CK will beat out Tolzein to be the primary backup to AS (if he resigns). Saying that CK is elite or implying that JH thinks that is purely speculative unless you have some evidence of him actually saying that. And after this little AS fiasco, one could rightfully question if JH meant it of CK if he did say it.
With all due respect Grant,
Do you feel your views regarding Smith have been consistent throughout last year until now?
Absolutely. If the choice is between Alex Smith and a package of Mike Wallace, Colin Kaepernick and Josh Johnson for the Niners, I’d take the Wallace package in a heartbeat.
So would any reasonable fan,at least any knowledgable ,reasonable fan of the team.
Actually its Alex Smith + 1st round draft pick vs Wallace/Kaepernick/Johnson.
It’s more like a second round pick for the Niners than a first round pick.
If they sign Wallace they can’t draft Fleener unless they trade back up.
Wallace is better than Fleener. Maybe they could trade their second round pick and Crabtree for Fleener.
@ TIM I must not be a reasonable fan then, dang it.
The reason I ask Grant is because when you nominated AS for team MVP you said the following
“Alex Smith’s backups are not ready to guide the Niners to wins, so that’s why No. 11 is my Niners MVP so far in 2011.” This was on 12/11/12.
My question is what has changed from then to now?
And if we could not get Mike Wallace would you say that JJ would be a better QB than Alex with the same exact team?
I meant 2011. Unless you said that from the future.
I don’t like the idea of trading Crabtree because he could group well with Wallace and Manningham in the slot. I’m still not certain Moss will do anything this year.
I’d rather have the guy who ran my offense well enough to get me to the Championship game, and my #1 pick, than a guy in Kap who don’t know is ready, and another who has done nothing in professional football to give me any indication he is more than a backup. Wallace would be nice, sure, but he’s not worth the other question marks nevermind the cap room he’d eat up in year one.
Kaepernick could hand off just as well as Smith. Really, what can Smith do that Kaepernick can’t do? The Steelers turned a top-notch roster over to the young, inexperienced Ben Roethlisberger almost eight years ago, and that worked out well for them.
@Grant,
Kaepernick could hand off just as well as Smith. Really, what can Smith do that Kaepernick can’t do?
Physically he can do everything and more, but alas it takes more to play QB in this league than that. Mentally is where it is going to take Kap time, and I don’t think he’s had near enough time to get to where he needs to be to run the offense efficiently.
Let’s put it this way, Kap ran a High School offense in College. It was a one side of the field, one read and go offense. He didn’t have to truly read defenses, he didn’t have to look for multiple receivers, and Nevada had him running the ball nearly as much as he threw it. It was sandlot ball with a great athlete directing the attack.
Now maybe he has come a long way and is ready to get out there and compete, but for a team that was on the cusp of a SB, going with a kid that raw would be a step back imo. His inexperience would cost us turnovers I’m guessing, he would struggle reading what was being thrown at him, he would run at the first sign of trouble etc. In other words, he’d most likely play like a young QB with no experience.
I would much rather have Kap sit and learn until he’s comfortable and ready to truly compete for the starting job. I don’t think throwing him in there before that helps him or the team.
But Smith didn’t truly read defenses, either. He’s been a one-read-and-check-down QB his whole career. Harbaugh had to give him instructions of where to look and throw before every play. Harbaugh narrated through the headset until there were 15 second left on the play clock.
@Grant
Good.
That is what a good HC is supposed to do if he knows the offense and is working with a QB who is new to the system, and JH is just as new to AS as AS is to JH.
The Niners won games doing that. Don’t change it up now. Besides, do you know that JH did not like interacting with AS in that manner? I bet he likes it. I bet he gets to feel like he is still playing football, and I bet he wouldn’t mind that (as long as he does not get hit anymore).
And if CK comes in next year, you don’t think JH will do that again (talk to CK thru headset)? If not by choice, then by no choice.
Of course he would do the same thing with CK. That’s my point. CK could do everything Smith does, and he would need the same hand-holding from Harbaugh that Smith got last season.
Grant,
Ha ha, no he actually can read defenses, and was also given the authority to run or change the play at the LOS. As to reading where to go with the ball, it depends on the play. I saw numerous times where it was a one receiver route and if it wasn’t there, he checked down. Other times I saw him looking into three zones before throwing.
There’s a lot of things you can knock him for, but his intelligence isn’t one of them. He learned the offense on the fly and performed pretty well. His grasp of the offense will improve the more he gets acclimated. His experience gives him a big edge over Kap.
I don’t remember him looking through three zones before throwing. Do you have a game or a throw you’re referring to?
@Grant
How much time did AS have to look thru 3 zones in an average pass attempt?
Seriously. I don’t know. I do suspect with a high degree of certainty that AS was on the team which gave its QB among the least amount of time league wide. And very possibly the least amount of time among the playoff teams.
Yet, they still made the Final 4. With AS starting every game.
I already disagree Kaepernick can hand off as well as Smith can. If you remember the preseason games, he had trouble doing basic handoffs multiple times.
Off the top of my head I believe it was the Monday night game against the Steelers. Jaws showed a replay of him looking across 3 zones before throwing the ball. He also routinely looked at more than one read. You don’t take that many sacks if you’re just looking at one receiver and dumping the ball off.
Hmm, I don’t remember that replay. And I disagree that he frequently looked at more than one down-field read. I watched for it and I didn’t see it.
I know he did fail to notice many wide open targets down field, and those plays are well documented.
@rocket
Don’t know if you want to know, but I do recall that play. I think it was a nice pass to a wide open receiver if I recall.
Funny, how all 3 things need to be there. Time for the QB, QB scanning the field, and an actual open target to get the ball too.
Who was the receiver?
Grant,
I’ve got the Rewind package I’ll watch asap and let you know which play I’m referring to.
DS,
Yeah it’s funny how much easier the game is when the QB has time and somewhere to go with the ball.
Thanks, Rocket.
@Grant
Sorry. Don’t remember the receiver.
It might have been MC. I think he had a decent game that day.
But I really don’t recall. Pick a name. The point being Grant that it worked according to plan when :
1. AS had time
2. AS scanned the field
3. Somebody got open
4. AS threw a perfect pass that got the praise of the ESPN dude.
If the first 3 happened routinely in the title game, we would be calling the Niners World Champs.
@rocket
Matt Cassel looked pretty good when he had time in NE. I think AS is a lot better than Cassel.
What is with the love affair for Josh Johnson? This is a guy who had a couple good years in backwater USD football under Harbaugh. With his best game coming against Davidson College. Yes, I dont know where that is either. Harbaugh has never talked about his interest in the guy or how much he wants him to join the 49ers. Last time I checked if the niners were big on Josh Johnson they could have cut Scott Tolzien and picked up Josh already. Btw NO ONE has picked up Josh, either you guys are all geniuses or maybe the guy isn’t all that? You guys are all soaked up the media love affair of the old college connection and think it actually means something. Josh is rocking a 5TD to 10INTs with a 57.7 Rating. Read that stat line.
Exactly ! I don’t understand either why J, Johnson name keep poping up with Matt maioccos comment board.. Its like this guy was an all Pro and have already proven himself in the NFL..Just because he played ball with harbaugh in San Diego..lol
Let’s go with a QB everyone wants because he is all-pro, arguably the best ever, etc, etc, OK he’s gong to Denv, then the next best is a TBay backup, never played more than a few games, etc, etc. Where is the disconnect??!
Obviously, it’s about Mike Wallace not Josh Johnson.
Sign Tavita Pritchard then if all they want is a guy from Harbaugh’s system. Johnson hasn’t done anything yet. Even in a package deal with Wallace it seems like a reach.
Agree, josh Johnson… Give me a break. We need Alex back and lets move forward. So what we went after PM. He tested the market. Both loss. Sign and move on.
As for Wallace. I believe he can be all in elite, but the price might be too high for the Niners. Not sure if he is a diva but having two high priced WRs could be tough.
Crabs needs to move to the slot. Moss, Manningham, Wallace split wide. Davis and Walker at TE. draft best player available…maybe G.
Rob,
When you start giving out information. You should include all of it. It makes it sound like you have an agenda. The Niners attempted to get JJ before tge start of the season last year but TB wouldn’t trade him.
JJ dies not have a deal right now because he wants to sign with a team that will give him a chance to challenge got a starting job. He refused to sign with TB because of that. Now you have been given all the facts. Make an informed decision. Look at his stats in this offense in college. Yes it college, but at least you know why the connection exists.
23jordan, so in love with J. Johnson…a forever backup in the NFL…lol
Trust me I’m informed on Josh Johnson. His name was floating around since day 1 of the Harbaugh era. But this guy couldnt beat Josh Freeman. Freeman had an absolutely terrible year last year and the team was rocking a 4-12 record..but Josh Johnson only came in in absolute garbage time. I’ll give credit where credit is due, but the love affair for josh is the same it was for Nate Davis. Theres a reason guys like Alex are able to beat these guys. Alex is not great. I know that..but I do know he is a better option than Josh.
>>Davidson College
Noth Carolina, a student body of around 1500. Riding Stephon Curry, they went on an unlikely run in the NCAA a few years back, knocking off 2nd and 3rd seeds. (I know because a friend’s daughter was attending at the time, the school footed the bill for the entire student body to attend the Elite 8 game in where was it, Indy? Anyways, pretty cool).
Small school… pretty big in athletics. So if JJ came up big against Davidson, I’m all in for him as the 9ers starter. ;)
will there be a phone photo of JH picking up AS at the airport returning from miami
I was thinking the same thing. Maybe Harbaugh’s arm around Smith as if to say, “welcome back, son. Glad you’re home.”
Let the smooching begin.
…and then JH going to his staff and telling them to hurry and get Kaep ready (so they can once again try to replace Alex for the 5th year in a row.
I’d like to hear some dialog regarding the real reason we lost the game to the Giants, and it has nothing to do with fumbles, muffed punts or Alex Smith.
What lost the game was not running the ball more in the 4th quarter. The Niners are described as a “power running” team, but on that day they were anything but that. Power running teams run the ball, chew up the clock, keep moving the chains and most important of all, keep the other teams offense on the bench where it can do nothing but watch helplessly. We did none of that! Greg Roman seemed that day to choke with his play calling when it mattered the most. So I hold him most responsible for our not going to the Super Bowl.
“I’d like to hear some dialog regarding the real reason we lost the game to the Giants, and it has nothing to do with fumbles, muffed punts or Alex Smith.”
——————————————————
Actually I think all those are good reasons we lost the game,along with your idea that maybe we didn’t run enough in the 4th qtr. If any one of those things were improved or eliminated we would have won.
Tim i agree ! The niners were clumsy in the remaining 7 minutes. The ball handling was terrible, they are all responsible in controlling of the football in the critical minutes left..Nobody is to blame , they gave the giants life, and they took the opportunity given to them, thats why they won the NFC championship..
Tim – I was stunnded to see Pro-Bowler Carlos Rogers getting burned all over the field.
My sore loser reason is that damn zebra who blew the Bradshaw fumble.
One important factor was our relying so much on David Akers in the red zone.
Kicking field goals became the norm throughout the regular season. So of course we end up settling for a chip shot 25 yd FG with 5 min left in 4th quarter, instead of punching it in to close the deal.
Lets give Rogers a bit more credit. Yes the first half he was getting repeatedly beaten by Cruz. I was clamoring for the defense to double team Cruz and make Manning have to throw to another receiver because on third down, you usually always go to people you depend on the most. Nearly every single 3rd down, he went to Cruz and they kept completing it.
Still, the second half and he and the 49ers defense adjusted to Cruz. Sometimes Cruz wasn’t covered by Rogers, but he was still on him sometimes and he shut him down for the most part.
Caatfish,
I agree. There were a lot of reasons for the loss and not running the ball enough was definitely one of them. I was in the stands that game yelling “run the damn ball!” Too bad Roman couldn’t hear me.
If JH thinks Kaep is good to go, I’m all for it, …
This pretty much sums up my position. I mean the truth is none of us really know what CK can do. He’s had one paltry PS to play and a few skimpy mop up ops. That’s it. I am not going to say that this added to one more year learning the ropes and a full PS, etc. will vault him into HOF territory, but in the end I am not in a position to. Neither are any of us fans. JH is. TB is too. If they think we can take a step forward with CK instead of AS, then okey dokey w/ me.
I think a l lot of people make the mistake of thinking that we’ll just pick up where we left off last year. We will NOT get close to that amazing TO differential. Not. Going. To. Happen. We will not surprise anyone. We will have to improve significantly in scoring because we won’t have the gazillion in TO differential to help us out. If those guys think CK is the better bet to score more TDs, I’m in too.
Barley, there is logic that points the other way like a 3yr AS offer on the table. If the 9ers want to go all in with a raw QB, then let’s go.
More from Matt Williamson today on twitter: “It is clear by off season moves that #49ers want to go deep-adding much verticality-that isn’t Smith…much more CK.”
Geez, I am disappointed with you Grant ! I don’t know about your comment guy.. Do you honestly believe that all the readers, would agree with your comments? You’re totally depending with others report and assumption.. You don’t have your own source, you’re are going to lose your crediblity as writer if you are?
I shouldn’t try to speak for Grant but I think it’s more about creating discussion than agreement.
@ TIM I must not be a reasonable fan then, dang it.
@Grant The reason I ask Grant is because when you nominated AS for team MVP you said the following
“Alex Smith’s backups are not ready to guide the Niners to wins, so that’s why No. 11 is my Niners MVP so far in 2011.” This was on 12/11/12.
My question is what has changed from then to now?
And if we could not get Mike Wallace would you say that JJ would be a better QB than Alex with the same exact team?
Kaepernick probably wasn’t ready last year, but he probably is ready enough this year. The Niners did the right thing in 2011 playing Smith at quarterback. If they could get Mike Wallace now, the right thing to do in ’12 would be to roll with the much cheaper Kaepernick.
I’m sure Harbaugh believes he could get the same production from Kaepernick that he got out of Smith. He probably believes he could get that same level of production out of quite a few QB’s. People tend to correlate the teams record with Smith’s perfomance. What would their record have been if the Niners had an average defense last year? It’s easier to go three and out when your defense doesn’t allow the other team to score very often or run the ball.
bigP, if that is true why courts AS? They are still negotiating with his agent as is Mia. If JH believes it tell TB call a presser for Thursday and move on with CK. No need for drama!
Hofe,
The same reason they offered him a contract before FA, they would rather not rush the process.
Can you please answer my other question?
With Wallace on the team, yes, I think Johnson or Kaepernick could match Smith’s 2011 production.
Not quite an answer to my question since asked which one would do better with the exact same team not if it would match AS 2011 performance. A simple yes or know would have sufficed. But that you for endulging me.
Can we try to get Drew Brees now?
How about TT. He’s at least played more than JJ (and for that matter, CK). Jeez.
If your question is serious, we don’t have enough cap space. But if a team is willing to give up 2 first round picks they can sign another team’s franchise player. Not worth it for most positions but a franchise QB is worth it.
Didn’t Saints put an exclusive tag on Brees? 2 first round picks for an elite QB? I think people would jump at the chance if they could really get him.
My head hurts from all of this…
I have a loyalty to Smith but honestly would like to see what CK7 can do. Smith is a pro and this has been business the entire time. All this ‘hurt feelings’ talk is ridiculous. 9ers tried to upgrade the most important position and want to go deep. If that’s their direction and Smith can’t do it better than CK7 than it’s a no brainer. Best player plays.. end of story
BB, correct. Offering AS a 3yr deal two weeks ago gives me the impression they are ready to roll with AS. The PM sweepstakes through a wrench into the works. AS will most likely be back just based on logic.
Yes, a 3year term at a modest rate tells me they believe A Smith was their starter for at least 2 years. Also, since the offer was on the table for a month it tells me that A Smith was a priority. The problem with this is that Alex Smith thought he was worth more, waited to sign, and then Peyton comes in like a shiny new penny.
Just saw on NFL network that Alex is upset at the 9ers lack of loyalty. Of course this is from “a source close to Alex Smith”.
and a source is a source of course of course.
? The dude got a contract and didn’t sign it. The 49ers looked at only one other option who is a future Hall of Famer.
not my words. But maybe the contract they offered didn’t show loyalty either.
I agree with you though Patrick. He shouldn’t be Butt hurt over Peyton Manning.
A source close to the 49ers said they are upset at the lack of red zone td’s.
nice
Alex Smith isnt upset about the money or the lenght of the contract he is upset at the loyalty from the Niners. Just heard that from Smiths camp. Alex I can appreciate that for sure I too had some problems with the way this was handled. However, you must realize this is PM we are talking about I wouldnt be too upset. Leaving doesnt help the Niners and going to the Dolphins isnt going to help you. Think long and hard, make your decesion with your heart but temper it with your brain. Your a smart man that is one of your strong suits as a player and a man.
@undercenter
But that magic feeling we had last year won’t be there now.
I know it likely would not anyway, but why put in so much effort to destroy that feeling by the organizaiton?
I hear ya
“But that magic feeling we had last year won’t be there now.”
Depends on if we win. Winning cures everything and this whole mess is a mute point
@Benny
I don’t think so.
We were winning for over 20 years, and I never felt like that about any of those teams. Super Bowl teams or not.
Winning cures all ills. It does not make paradise. Last year was paradise in seeing the team as one. Even if we win the title this year, that same feeling won’t be there.
My post to undercenter was about how the organization really screwed it up though. It likely would not have been there anyway if AS was signed day 1. But, to do what they did and who they went about it? Adam has touched on it enough that I don’t need to get into it.
I’ve been waiting to ask you Benny, are you Benny Blanco from the Bronx?
Undercenter,
If he wasn’t upset about the money or the length of the deal he would have signed it before FA and the PM thing never would have been an issue. Of course he was unhappy about the deal presented to him. I said it before, if he thinks he is worth more, sign a one year deal and play like a Pro Bowler. If he does that, the team will almost certainly pay him and he will deserve it.
I was just saying what I heard on NFL network.
Undercenter,
If that’s true, Smith needs to grow up. Loyalty is given when you show you are irreplaceable. It’s not handed to you based on one season of pretty good play. What Alex needs to understand, is it’s up to him to show them he is worth more than they are offering. If he goes out and plays well and they keep winning, he’ll remain the QB and probably be given a new deal in a couple of years. This is a prove it profession and it has to be.
I total agree
According to Matt Barrows the following FA’s were in Santa Clara for a workout today:
OLB – Quentin Moss
OLB – Chris Wilson
T – Langston Walker, maybe guard?
DB – Dominique Harris
More sure to come….
“I don’t know Jack”
I have no idea who those people are lol.
Training camp filler
I don’t either, the only name I recognize is Langston Walker because he played for the Raiders. Huge guy, could possibly be a backup at guard.
Jack,
They also brought in some QB from the UFL named Chase Clement. Smell the Lombardi’s…
scrubs!!
@Grant, you should apply as a assistant GM for baalke, and have 23Jordan be your player scouting for talented players..Both of you will make a good combo…lol
Tweet from Vince Young: “‘@DeniseWhite_EAG: How about @VinceYoung to the Dolphins? I hear rumblings? Would he be a good fit for them??’ Or the 49ers” https://twitter.com/#!/VinceYoung/status/181798289111400449
Or the 49ers? ???
Grant, now you are just flailing around. It’s not a pretty sight.
Vince Young wrote that, not me.
OK. It wasn’t included in the quotation, I thought that was your comment.
Excused ;)
Your quotation marks were off then. Made it look like your opinion.
My fault. I fixed it. https://twitter.com/#!/VinceYoung/status/181798289111400449
Vince Young to the 9ers? C’mon Grant, I think you need to go out for a jog to refresh. That was a bad one, LOL!
That’s what he wrote.
Whew, thought we were losing you there for a second. LOLR!!!
@grant, I don’t how much more of your comments i can take, I almost fell out of my chair laughing…hahahaha
Look Vince, you already jinxed one Dream Team. Stay the hell away from ours.
lol !
VY is a turd. There is no other way to put it.
That was so bad, even VY’s fans are making fun of that tweet, check out the comments in the link…
His Twitter page background looks as if he just saw the Kool-Aid guy bust through the wall.
Grant, does it annoy you as much as it does me when athletes refer to themselves in the 3rd person?
Yes, but sometimes it can be funny in an unintentional way.
It is the funniest thing ever! It is truly funny because the athletes that do this often act as if it is a very smooth and intellectual thing to do. They are so serious when they do it. Lol.
This is pretty funny.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HygW20KYjdM
BigP – You are one of my favorites in here but that was not that good bro (very corny humor). You owe me a beer or two for that pal. :-)
Crabs,
If I remember correctly I can save a dollar or two at Rite Aid right? Lol, I’ll definitely be happy to buy a couple rounds buddy. A little corny humor is needed with all the drama of the last couple of days. I’m a Sierra Nevada guy.
BigP – Niiice bro lol. Rite Aid……you know it!
Ladies and gentlemen, Jack Hammer needs to go for a bit. Hammer Time!
Vince Young and Randy Moss on the same team, not even Dr. Harbaugh can fix those two.
Grant,
This is off topic for this post, but do you think one of the beat reporters can ask Alex what exactly he is upset about? From this fan’s perspective, they offered him market value or above. Maybe the mistake they made was sounding like they liked him more than the money talked. But in the end, considering his other options, and he wasn’t much sought after, their number was pretty accurate. Secondly, why be miffed at the pursuit of Manning? Guy’s HOF. What about all the other QBs who were going to be ditched for PM? Why is only Alex pouting about that?
A source said that Alex was upset that we only offered 3 years. Heaven forbid.
Come on people were all getting a little snippy here. Calm down it will be OK. Lets talk red zone. Who thinks its Alex’s fault for the red zone problems? That was his best thing so what changed last year? Was it Alex, play calling, receivers or what? It was weird that we could not punch it in. Did we solve the problem?
Why didn’t we have CK do some red zone runs that would have been cool.
waterman, Niner fans can’t have a rational discussion about this because the Smith haters won’t even acknowledge how great Smith was in the red zone before Harbaugh arrived. The stats have been posted thousands of times across dozens of message boards. Doesn’t matter. In their minds Harbaugh gets 100% of the credit for all of Smith’s improvement (even though statistically he improved more under OC Mike Johnson – FACT) and there is no facet of the game Smith might’ve been better at before Lord Harbaugh came to town.
But here, once more, are the FACTS:
Alex Smith in the red zone:
http://espn.go.com/nfl/player/splits/_/id/8416/alex-smith
2011: 24-60, 8 td, 1 int, 5 sacks, 153 yards, 80.6 qb rating, td per 7.5 attempts.
2010: 30-42, 9 td, 0 int, 1 sack, 177 yards, 118.7 qb rating, td per 4.67 attempts
2009: 23-43, 10 td, 0 int, 1 sack, 142 yards, 100.0 qb rating, td per 4.3 attempts
2008: injured, didn’t play
2007: injured, pressured to play: 7-20, 1 TD, 0 int, 0 sacks, 47 yards, 60.4 qb rating
2006: 28-57, 9 td, 1 int, 2 sacks, 162 yards, 87.8 qb rating, td per 6.33 attempts
2005: 4-4, 1 td, o int, 1 sack, 25 yards, 132.3 qb rating
Excluding 2007, when even the tv commentators said he was clearly too injured to be on the field, before 2011 Smith went 85-146, 29 td, 1 int, 5 sacks, 506 yards, 101.8 qb rating, td per 5.0 attempts.
Somehow his td/attempt ratio went from 5 to 7.5, his completion pct. went from 40% to 58.2%, and he was sacked as many times on 65 dropbacks in 2011 as he was in 151 dropbacks previously.
With Smith improving in so many other areas and being amazingly clutch, it’s not believable that he’d suddenly massively regress all on his own in the red zone. Clearly the other positions on offense, the playcalling and the lack of an offseason had a major impact here.
Despite Smith’s struggles last season, have a far greater sample size of him being an exceptional red zone QB.
@Raiq
Very good understanding of stats there and knowing how to read them.
nice, thanx for the compilation of redzone stats
this is a tough call because there is a preponderance of failures in the redzone which was unexpected considering the apparent success in the previous year…..so why was that year successful….maybe there wasn’t as many redzone opportunities and so it didn’t take many redzone plays to change the number dramatically….one would think this coaching staff would have gone back and parsed the reason out on the difference between this year and last….the offense did have its moments in the redzone at crucial times in the game so there is that….the running game did kind of disappear a bit after gore’s 5 hundred yd games in a row…
and i am still of the thought the rcvg core just disappeared due to injuries that last almost quarter of the season….
don’t know if the problem is solved until the points are on the board…but i do believe it has been addressed a bit with the WR signings but work still remains at the RG position and the RB position is vulnerable ….. niners still have cards to play to address these like boone for the RG along with taking a gander at schwartz…..RB not sure….
as for AS they attempted to address that aspect of the offense and it sort of fell apart….but the organization can’t tie their boat completely to AS…. before the peyton carnival and it didn’t feel like it was a money respect thing for AS but now maybe it becomes a money leverage thing unfortunately after sticking out some bad seasons contributing to some of them….
there are many reasons for AS to want to be here because it gives him the best opportunity to win a SB….it is a business for him too, the business of winning a SB and putting something on his mantel….AS will swallow the distasteful pill but that is all it is at this point a pill and he will jump right back into honing his game and maybe what comes out of this is AS gets a bit more prolific with his passing game because that appears to be the calling card at the moment…..
i kind of think i am becoming a blowhard today
@jg
The one thing AS was always good in till last year (6 years) was the red zone offense.
Gotta give him one here. He didn’t start sucking here when he got good everyplace else.
Not unless he sold his soul and as a result the punishment as mediocre performance in the Red Zone.
No its great. Thanks guys.
Smith’s redzone struggles in 2011 compared to his previous career stats in the redzone lead me to think it had somewhat to do with Harbaugh’s ideals to Smith about not taking chances and beign conservative in tight situations. It doesn’t get any tighter and critical than in the redzone right? I think with Smith learning the new system and Harbaugh telling him to limit mistakes to a bare minimum caused Smith to not throw into tight windows in the redzone, which is needed.
This is why I think Smith will need this year to work with Harbaugh on revising some things he was told by Harbaugh to do and be allowed to open it up more and less on be mechanical. Smith needs to get comfortable and not think about where he needs to throw and just react because he knows and trusts the system. Hopefully that will be the big jump we need in the 49er offense.
I think the running game was lacking in the red zone. Like we could not get any yards it seemed.
Wrong post sorry.
Vince will take us to the PROMISED LAND!…HAL..uh,how it’s spelled..YA!
Promised Land ? Or to the West sellar…lol
49ers really need to go with a new QB becuase they have “Slept around on their spouse” and their spouse no longer trusts them. In this case Alex Smith. Once you lie to someone they lose all trust in you. That is now the case with Alex Smith and his respect for 49er management.
As for Kaepernick – I have watched film on him and he will not make it in the NFL. He telegraphs everything he does, he has a weak arm, he waits for the WR to come open. He will not be able to run in the NFL as the LBs are faster than him.
This has turned into a disaster for the 9ers. Good Luck going forward.
weak arm? what are you f ing seeing? he’s got a laser!!!
@Mike ! a first class troll…keep posting your ignorant post…lol
I thought you were describing Smith!
Hey Mike, I bet your first class scouting has made you a huge success in the NFL.
Huh? It hasn’t? I wonder why….
Pretty pathetic argument, dear Grant, although a great way to get readers to comment. From his performance last year, there is no reason to think that Kaepernick will improve enough this year to start over Smith, or that Smith won’t improve on his performance last year, with better WRs. However, Kaepernick has not regressed unlike—you! Whatever promise you showed as a sports writer last season seems to disappeared. Shoddy reasoning and leaden prose. Should I start the Bring Back Branch club?
+1
Team gets Moss, the ultimate long-ball specialist. Look like they are going after a broken-down QB who would never, ever play under a control guy like Harbaugh. Smith gets sore and leaves. Up steps a QB who can throw the ball out of the park.
These guys are good… real good. -L-
continuing with my version of irrational exuberance of wallace….
in my simpleton terms i believe 3rd down efficiencies will be greatly improved by making sure 1st down plays are more 1st down throws and more explosive plays and the wallace attributes provide this leverage….i don’t quite see this coming about as easily or with any sort of certainty with a maningham, crabtree and moss combo (i see this combo as more an efficiency driven kind of first down play)….even if this is a TE centric power offense……
now can this be found in the draft for cheaper …. the baalke scout group came up with a gem last year in the first round….and of course i defer to their braintrust to address this element of the game as well…but if so it needs to be integrated early in training camp and it has to show its head in the first quarter of the season as being explosively dangerous so it forces defenses to take it into account for the betterment of the rest of the rcving core
No way the 9ers give up a 1st for Wallace – Since they will have no QB or a QB that no longer trusts his coach look for a 8-8 record next year.
@Mike, don’t you get tired with your idiotic, hatefull remarks.. blow it !
And by the way, why assume that the team can’t get both Wallace and Smith; and why assume that the team even wants Wallace, given the fact that they already signed two other FA receivers?
Miami release defensive captain SS Yerimiah Bell. Hopefully to create more cap space (4.3 Million) for Alex Smith! I can only hope.
Wow ! Good news from assistant Gm 23jordan.. keep up the good work…lol
See i got a little puppy following me around. Join the club. There are quite a few of you. welcome little fella.
Is Smith x million dollars more than Colin? Perhaps? Clearly, if Harbough would rather have a much costlier Smith than Colin at this stage, it not only suggest as much but leads me to wonder if Harbough has lost a measure of faith in Colin. I hope CK won’t turn out to be like that that other qb of the future (Nate Davis), long the favorite of a certain poster here–strong armed, hard brained and utterly unusable.
Go ahead and put Kaepernick and his “laser arm” – It will be like watching Michael Vick all over again. I am not into hospital visitations. What a mess . Maybe we can get Vince Young. Another hospital candidate.
Someone named Kevin Weberman just tweeted this @ me: “You don’t get Moss and Manningham to throw short out routes.” That’s a good point.
@Grant, seriously dude! How old are you ? You call yourself a writer and you believe all the craps you read and hear from others, make sure its legit, not all the sories that comes out you would believe…lol
And take note grant, if you notice last year the niners had no deep threat.. A. Smith had nobody to throw deep. He had a speedster name ginn, bad he runs wrong routes…lol
Ricky,
I know you are old and retired. Trust me, Smith doesn’t see the whole field, does not give the deep route sufficient time to develop and gives up on that route way too early. And when he does throw it, he’s just not very accurate.
But the Smith crowd will try to tell you he is by giving you examples of the last three games with Vernon. If you can only come up with three games as an example out of an eight year career……. You get my point….
i chose to let the past go as a source of arguments….the niners are in a transcendent era and i allow JH and staff to bring stability to the coachin ranks….this year AS had some great moments and great throws as well….before this year he had very good redzone results….AS in my opinion is not even close to as bad as u seem to suggest and continuously harp on…
he does need to keep significantly improving and he needs to compete with other incumbent QBs on the roster no denying…with this particular lay of the land (i.e post peyton carnival) and if AS chooses to come back i will look forward to an offensive improvement across the board ….AS included
@bay I wouldn’t say that is truly correct. I remember when Smith threw to Antonio Bryant in his 2nd year with Norv Turner. They seemed to be a nice deep threat combo.
that was before his two shoulder surgeries….and it did take AS a couple of years to get through those injuries…..
do need to see if AS can return to that form and we saw it at times and maybe it was only VD but we saw it none the less….
if Moss and Manningham provide the opportunities VD seemed to provide then we will find out about AS and the deep throw….but let’s make sure we get an OL that can provide brady-like protection so plays can develop…..
All I can say is this. All the Alex protectors, apologists, Smithers whatever just came out of the woodworks again. Good for you. Gather round and listen. NO ONE WANTED SMITH IN THE ENTIRE NFL. NO ONE. The Seahawks sniffed at it a little but decided to go with a career backup instead. The worst team in football the dolphins are the only ones and they were desperate because he and Gerrard were the only ones left.
We are trying to build a stadium and from a PR perspective going into the season with the QB that no one wants will not sell PSL’s. The Niners ownership knows this. If Smith gets another chance he’s going to have to do something he’s NEVER done. Light it up consistently or move over. I for one am anxious to see how he responds. Leopards don’t change their spots.
You do in a JH power run TE centric offense that he’s been running for years!
If Alex Smith is our QB we got Moss and Manningham to leave the flat open.
Alex Smith is our best chance to win a Superbowl next year so we gotta sign him. Period! I’m very sad Manning didn’t sign with the 9ers. I hope we make him regret it next year.
The Niners may have a slightly better chance to win the Super Bowl in ’12 with Smith. Maybe they’d be 1% percent better next season with Smith at QB instead of Kaepernick. Maybe. But they’d be much better off long-term signing Mike Wallace instead of Alex Smith. There is no question in my mind.
There always is a question….nothing is ever a given…
I’d rather wait for next year when he could be an unrestricted FA and try to sign him then without giving up a first round pick.
Peyton Manning was never going to sign with the 9ers. He used them for leverage the whole way. The Manning family is a bunch of classless rednecks that could never handle the city by the bay. The way Archie, Eli and Peyton do business is quite telling. May that statue Payton be sacked hard and often next year so he retires early.
Mike you forgot to mention that they also win Superbowls!
Peter King said “Source in SF says SB-or-bust feel would have bugged PM.” As I said, Peyton couldn’t handle the pressure of coming here. That’s why he’s sucked in so many big games. Even in the SB he won, his D won it for him.
@Raiq
Agree.
PM’s numbers that whole playoff year was in the pits. If AS did the same thing and the Niners won, he would be dumped before the parade in SF.
Raiq, I said that yesterday. Anything less than a SB and PM is a failure. Who couldn’t take that pressure! Don’t think JMo would let that affect him!
How is there no question? What if Kaepernick becomes a bust and Alex Smith continues to improve? Second round qbs have proven to be more than a gamble. How is that long term looking now? Its also not like there haven’t been a ton of hyped free agent wide receivers who went on to be busts for their new teams.
@tkamb
+1
removing the incumbent QBs from the equation….wallace long term is what i prefer over peyton…..
putting the incumbent QBs back in….i prefer continuity to move this team forward at least for this next year….at the end of that year reassess…..
Jay Glazer just tweeted this: “Just got a text from David Garrard telling me he’s now a Miami Dolphin.”
Must suck to be a Dolphin fan…
Grant, Garrard just signed with the Miami Dolphins..
is there an echo in here?
Wow…South Beach is gonna paaarrrrttttty tonight!
“Nothing is worse than a love jilted.”
Ok, the Org went out and courted PM. He was the prom-queen after all.
The 49ers missed out on Manning. So what is the fallout?
Either the team continues to play hardball with Alex and not give in to his demands. Or, Alex is now in complete control of the situation. Alex’ hand just got stronger, because if the 49ers feel that they can’t win without him they will cave.
I personally feel that Harbaugh will not blink first. He knows that Alex’ success came because of the system he implemented. Alex became the best game manager among QB’ last season. Game Manager is the operative ‘key’ here. As much as I appreciated Alex’ renassaince last season, I have to ask myself how many other QB’ could have succeeded under this system? It’s a very low-risk, don’t gamble, make-no-mistake type system that does not require your QB to be great to spectacular. Yes, there are a number of QB’ who could thrive under this system, and CK or Tolzien or another QB (if Alex does not sign) could as well. If a Tavitka Pritchard (Stanford QB under Harbaugh) can succeed in this system, no doubt Harbaugh can find another QB who could.
@AES
The NFL is a year to year deal.
If CK does not give you the better chance to win next year, what makes any NFL employee think they will be around next year to fix that mistake?
Coaches, GM’s, players. Are all under the wrath of the owner. And, there is no way you can tell what 1 person is going to think a year from now.
If Alex was so dependent on Harbaugh, explain why he had a better qb rating in his last 7 games with Mike Johnson. Alex has proven time and time again that he is better in the clutch when he’s allowed to air it out. Harbaugh’s system was arch-conservative because they didn’t have an offseason, didn’t install most of the offense, and even what they did install took Vernon Davis, by his own admission, 3/4 of the season to learn. Also, with our D Harbaugh chose to play it safe and protect leads. I think that’s a major reason why Alex regressed in the red zone.
The system was low risk take no chances because it was the first year in the system and because of the players fielded. We took some shots later in the year. I think Braylon Edwards not fighting for the ball when smith threw that int was the start of him being cut and the WR core never recovered.
Waterman,
Smith threw passes to Edwards that an acrobat couldn’t catch. He was very
Inaccurate in passing to Edwards. Look at the highlights.
Even Michael Irvin blamed that int @Bal on Braylon. He was supposed to keep running to the outside, and instead cut in and then didn’t fight for the ball. So take out that and the one Ginn tipped off his helmet (smh), Alex only threw 3 int.
Smith throws some bad passes but i was unimpressed with some of the effort the receivers and TE made going for the ball.
AES, it is obvious if JH is meeting with AS then CK and JJ isn’t the answer. It’s fun watching all of the nonsense that is being written especially by Jordo!!
I have no problem with that.
CK may not be ready yet, but the Org also made it clear that the QB job was not ‘a given’ regarding Alex.
If Alex comes back and continues to excel under this system, great.
But believe me Hofe, Alex needs this team at this point more than we need him. If D.Garrard who lost his job to a rookie last year was chosen over Alex in Miami, it makes for an awkward position for any Alex leverage.
CK may never be ready. JH isn’t giving me any signs that CK is close to ready with a 3 yr offer to AS. BTW, don’t you like Jordo’s JJ logic??!
Hofer,
Confidence is giving your starting QB a 3 year deal with $10 mil guarenteed. You give him that deal so you can cut him or bench him whenever you feel like the backup has won the job. If your hero loses his starting job and gets benched, the Niners don’t take a cap hit. Yeah that’s confidence bro.
Still waiting on your hero to sign that deal Alexfan11.
Jordo Blamertude, sorry to hear you aren’t a 9er fan according to Bay’s definition. I said I’m all in regardless of who JH chooses (CK, JJ, MH, AS). You’ve proven yet again that you will go down the road of being wrong!
maiocco says garrard texted he is signing with the dolphins…
where is that leverage now
doesn’t matter…..AS wanted to play here and knows he and JH can mend the fence
Harbaugh pick up A. Smith at the Airport when he landed from Miami.. Thats why he was in hurry leaving the niners complex…Thats a fact, A. Smith and the niners will have a contract done very soon, that both parties would be happy.. Go Niners !
Let it ROLL !!!!!!!
OK Alex, we’re sorry! It’s not like it was some loser like Hassleback or Gerrard. It was PEYTON MANNING for the love of God! You cant blame us for trying. Think about what you’re about to do. THE DOLPHINS ARE A TRAIN WRECK! Kinda like the one you spent the 1st 6 years of your career in. Do you want to go back to that? Besides, they just signed that loser Gerrard. Do you want to go compete with him and Moore to start or do you want to kiss and make up and take us to the Super Bowl? Thats what I thought now sign right here and let’s go. WHO’S GOT IT BETTER THAN US?
NOOOOOOOOOBOOOOODYYYY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
GO 49ERS!!
Smith can’t take us to a super bowl. That’s why we were looking for a better QB. Our defense and special teams can only take us so far.
Smith wont take us to the super bowl. The 49ers as a team will take us to the super bowl.
Lets watch the can or can not here Jordan. Nothing is for sure and nothing is impossible. Maybe with Smith its low, but I won’t discount it either.
People also said Smith couldn’t win a shootout with Brees, and yet somehow he did. I was surprised he could do that too, so I won’t leave anything as improbable.
defense and special teams contributed to that nfc championship loss as well as did the offense after two sharp looking TD passes looking off the safety followed by subsequent chronic 3rd down failures ….
Jordo believes in JH’s choice at QB *unless* his name is AS (acronym of course). How the tide turns…
Aren’t you a 9er fan Jordo?? Come on man…
Maiocco:
Hearing that Jim Harbaugh and Alex Smith are talking, ironing things out — first step in making sure Smith remains with 49ers.
Recent tweet from Maiocco: “Hearing that Jim Harbaugh and Alex Smith are talking, ironing things out — first step in making sure Smith remains with 49ers.”
The deal is imminent…maybe a raise!?? Doesn’t sound like JH is all in with CK. Hmm.
I’d be mighty surprised if Smith got a raise. He has no leverage.
GC, $8M is a raise over 2011. I wouldn’t be shocked that he gets even more. TBD.
Didn’t sound like they were all in with Alex over the weekend either, hmm.
How do you say he has no leverage?
JH is holding Smiths hand again. That’s what got JH in trouble in the 1st place. Never kiss your QB’s AZZ. He might actually enjoy it.
Harbaugh is a pimp and Alex is hurt. Smith needs a hug.
Hey Jordo, I asked you a QUESTION yesterday…are you ALL IN with the QB JH chooses? Remember, this is about being a 9er fan!
Hofer,
He chose Manning and you weren’t on board with that. You said you would rather have CK then Manning. What your really saying is your good with who Harbaugh chooses as long as it’s Smith. Give me a break.
BigP, you are BETTER than being Jordo’s minion. Let him speak for himself. He is a well know prognosticator here…he doesn’t need your help putting his foot in his mouth!
Hofer,
you realize how you sound right? You accuse Tim of double talk and you are ten times as bad. I actually feel for you. You must not hear what you sound like.
You are like a ten year old girl who is adamant she doesn’t have a crush on her neighbor, yet she has his name written on her binder and her shoes and the palms of her hands.
Give it a rest already. You should get paid the way you try to make league low production look so good. With receivers like Moss and Manningham if they don’t get fed, they will turn hard on Smith. Not his type of receivers.
Bay, I beg to differ. I’ve been very consistent. I said that whoever JH chooses as the QB I’m all in. Jordo won’t answer yet you did answer. I’m a 9er fan first always will be!!
Hofer,
I’m not anybody’s minion. You know this. You also know that I said that I would be happy with Smith coming back and expected him to improve with a second year in the system and more WR help. I said that about a month and a half ago, well before this Manning drama unfolded. I just wish you would have a more consistent take on supporting Harbaugh.
Beat you to it :)
Time to change it up Grant, DS is driving me crazy now!
I have to agree with starting CK over Alex if he has the confidence of his coach. I don’t however think going after Wallace is in the gameplan because they already signed a Moss and a Manningham.
hahahaha ! shhhhhhhhhhhhhh
If Smith was trying to use the Dolphins as leverage he just lost it. They just signed David Garrard
and?
That means the invertebrate Will return
Nick, are you ALL IN with JH’s QB choice this year?
Hofer
Yes, I am and hope he does well
Nick,
You are a good dude and a true 9er fan. I would have been all in with PM too although I didn’t like the long term effects of it. Can’t wait for the season to start!
Hofer,
Stop changing your tune now that Manning isn’t coming here. Just yesterday you said you would rather have CK then Manning because he was home grown. Now that Smith may be coming back all of the sudden you are chirping about how you are happy with whoever Harbaugh chooses. People aren’t stupid, you have just as much of an agenda as the people that want Smith gone.
BigP, why are you acting like Jordo!?? You are better than that! What I said was if JH chooses CK I’m all in! Go back and look!
Hofer,
I’m just going off of what I hear you say. I’m not being like anybody and you of all people know this. If I misinterpreted what you said, my bad. Harbaugh chose Manning and you said you would rather go with CK. It just seemed like you were not on board with Harbaugh’s choice when it was Manning. You are the last person I want to waste time arguing with, I just didn’t see the consistency in the comment that I normally see from you. All good, it’s still my mission to get you to a game this year even if I have to buy a $100 bottle of wine for the tailgating. Team first, we both agree on that buddy.
Thanks Hofer, we can now focus on the draft. Go Niners
smith has already demonstrated plenty of spine over the years….
Hofer,
You bet I wanted Manning, just like you wanted Pat Devlin! Just like Alex wanted 5 years and more guarenteed money. We don’t always get what we want. However, it doesn’t change my position and never will. You know where I stand and I stand firm. I’ll be here all year. I’m a Niner fan, not a Smith fan.
However, it doesn’t change my position and never will. You know where I stand and I stand firm.
Spoken like a true close-minded zealot. Don’t let any facts get in the way of your belief.
Out of curiosity, what’s your view on evolution?
Garrad and the Dolphins agree to a contract.
JH puts a lot of credence in what he sees in practice. No one here saw the weekly practices like the coaching staff did. They know what they have in AS vs CK, and CK isn’t there yet.
This was also why AS didn’t throw into tight coverage last year in my opinion. When Alex did it during practice the receivers didn’t make the play. You don’t do something during a game that doesn’t work during the week.
I just point that out because that was a main reason for criticizing AS last year, and all we can judge the players by is game day. But JH constantly answered whether players would play by their practice results, and no one here knows that, not even the scribes.
but he did throw into tight coverages when it had to happen to win games with zip for TDs no less….
was it a staple, maybe not, but they were dramatic
With the Fins out of the picture, does any other team even want AS?
If the answer is no, and it looks like the answer is indeed no, the Niners should reduce their offer for Smith so they can sign Mike Wallace.
And why do you say that? Because you want Wallace? Come on…
a blogger like comment…..so again i found it humorous u got quoted as a journalist saying something so atypical to your position on AS in general
Smith’s offer should be reduced at this point with increased incentives. It will keep him hungry. Looks like the QB position will be open to competition which is not only good, it is how it should be.
Heard a rumor that is floating around that if the Niners are players in the Wallace bidding and they win, they will trade Crabs….
Bay, really??! Don’t think so but keep trying. Your bud Jordo has been trying for years and just can’t get any 9er moves right. lol
Business wise, reducing the offer makes sense, but if you want the player to play hard for you, it’s probably not advised. I can’t think of too many people who want to work their tails off when they are completely disrespected.
The Niners will keep the same deal on the table and I’m guessing Alex will sign it. Not much else he can do.
Not much else he can do, but there’s something else the Niners can do, and that’s go with Kaepernick. :)
I’d give a deadline for Alex to sign – if the offer is still on the table. After the deadline, I’d reduce the contract amount $1million per day.
Glad your not the front office.
Nick, it’s not done that way. They will come to a compromise that is a win/win for both. AS needs them and they need him. The offer of a 3 yr contract is proof enough that CK is not ready or they should have already said take a hike. It will get done by EOD tomorrow.
Probably not as a starter
Guy you’re not to smart ! The reason why the Dolphins signed Garrad because a. Smith before leaving miami hes not signing with them.. That why when alex landed at the airport harbaugh was there to mmet a. Smith.. Don’t you get it ! lol
Then how come he hasn’t signed yet?
Tim Kawakami as Comcast ended was shouting “He’s going to Miami!”. Joking or what he REALLY thinks?….
Smith has never had any Leverage in his entire career. He certainly didn’t getnit by flying to Miami. Where did Alex Smith get leverage from?
The entire NFL just showed us what kind of QB we have. He is a below average game manager that can only function in Jim Harbaughs offense. Alex Smith better break his neck to sign this deal. I hope he still thinks he is Elite. He may lose the job in training camp.
Lets be fair Jordan, Smith was average to slightly above average for last year. Lets see what he can do in his 2nd year under Harbaugh’s system. I know for being a #1 pick, he hasn’t lived up to his potential for us, but be fair in your analysis. You tend to speak too much with your emotions instead of thinking it through.
Jordo, please give us your latest prognostication. Who will start for the 9ers this year and are you *all in* with JH’s choice??! I
@hof, 23jordan is the assistant GM of baalke.. he knows everything whats going on with 49er organization..lol
You know I feel that Smith starting at QB for this team is just killing the aging veteran defenders shot at winning a super bowl. Our division and conference will be better. Our schedule will be tougher. Unfortunately, our QB will be the same, average.
The leauge knows it, the front office knows it and Kapernick knows it. He told Boobie Gibson the other day, “I’m comin for that #1 spot!” Smith has Nine lives but him limited ceiling will be his undoing. That’s why he ‘s begging for security. He knows his days are numbered.
Jordo, now it is all about the poor veteran defenders? lol Did you see NE made the SB with the 31st ranked defense!! Keep trying…
BTW, are you *all in* with JH’s QB choice this year? Please answer the question!!
23 did Smith do anything close to holding back the team in the championship game or do you think the 2 costly turnovers had anything to do wth losing t the Giants?
I know the 3rd conversion stats but thats on a lot of people, but seriously Id like to know what has Smith dne to hold back this franchise?
Alex got offered a contract to Miami, he said he wanted to wait to see what the 49ers did. Usually people try to wait a few years before trying to rewrite history, not a few hours.
GM 23jordan is on the move ! lol
I guess that 7-8 million a year is starting to look good for Alex.
I’m good with CK but I think if he was close to being ready the niners would have cut ties with alex and went after the pieces he needs.
Grant is it possible that Smith retires entirely from football because of all this or is it possible there are no other teams interested?
I think the fish knows AS is going to sign with the Niners so they jumped on the only guy who would sign with them.
The Dolphins aren’t committed to Garrard, they made the move because they only have Moore on the roster. I doubt they have retracted their offer to Alex yet.