I just listed three things Alex Smith does better than Colin Kaepernick. To read that blog, click here.
Now, I’ll do the exercise the other way around.
THREE THINGS KAEPERNICK DOES BETTER THAN SMITH
- Arm strength: Colin Kaepernick has one of the strongest arms in the league and he trusts it. He has no problem and no hesitation throwing intermediate and deep passes. Also, he’s a very good passer when he’s running both to his left and to his right. Alex Smith has a good arm, but his passes don’t have nearly the zip that Kaepernick’s do. Also, Smith often tends to prefer throwing shorter, safer passes, so he rarely shows the extent of his arm strength.
- Running: Kaepernick already seems like one of the best running quarterbacks in the NFL. He’s as fast as a wide receiver. He’s 6-4, 230 pounds, so he can take hits. And he can break tackles – on Sunday he avoided a sack by stiff-arming the Rams 264-pound defensive end, Robert Quinn, to the ground. Alex Smith is a pretty good runner for a quarterback, but he can’t consistently outrun linebackers like Kaepernick.
- Extending the play: Kaepernick has quick feet and good instincts in the pocket – he feels when it’s collapsing and he can squirt or muscle his way out of it. Once he’s out, he’s a threat to run or pass. Kaepernick’s strength right now is adlibbing outside the pocket. Smith is not a great ad-libber. He’s a plant-and-throw quarterback – he wants to get the ball out quickly and accurately before the pocket collapses. If it does collapse, he’s not great at escaping the rush and extending the play. He tends to go conservative and take the sack or throw the ball away.
Being partly facetious, maybe the best arrangement would be for Alex Smith to play quarterback pre-snap and Colin Kaepernick to play it post-snap, if the NFL would allow it.
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3 good points grant
Grant i agree on all 3 points. I’m not sure how important point 1 is, there have been many great QB’s whose arm strength was similar to AS.
Very accurate on both guys Grant. Which set of positives do you prefer?
Kaepernick’s set. Smith’s qualities can be taught. Both guys’ qualities are valuable to 49ers right now, but I think Kaepernick can make up for the defense’s regression better than Smith can.
Whose set of positives do you prefer?
Couldn’t teach them to Vick,V Young,K Boller, amoung long list of others.
Kaepernick’s. He just needs experience, and not only can he make up for the defensive regression, but he will make the offensive line look better as well.
I hope he does get better but to say all the stuff Alex does can be taught is simply not true.
So my question to you Grant is, if the 49ers have drafted and shaped their team to be methodical, physical, WCO style of football, with a defense and special teams constructed to be part of a complete formula that relies on oneanother, why do you need a QB with a big arm? A running QB? and an ad-libber if none of those qualities are consistent with the exsisting personnel?
The question should be turned around to FDM. It seems FDM that you are making an assumption. If the direction of the Niners is at you described, then why would JH draft a QB of CK’s skill set?
Not all qbs can be taught Smith’s qualities. Vick possessed those same Kaep qualities(the speed has slowed over the years) when he was young but he was never a good qb and still isn’t. Not saying Kaep is gonna turn out like Vick but teaching running qbs how to be actual qbs is hit or miss. It did happen for Steve Young so not saying it can’t be done.
Bay says “If the direction of the Niners is at you described, then why would JH draft a QB of CK’s skill set?
Total speculation on my part but here are my reasons:
They had no one on the depth chart at QB when JH took over. They needed to draft someone, they wanted Dalton but he got picked just before so the next best thing was CK. A project that they could develop over an extended period of time.
Before that, JH publicy declared, they wanted to work with Alex. After last year, JH knew he could win with Alex. If he didnt, they could have brought in a veteran QB, drafted another in the first two rounds and go with a competition between CK and the other veteran.
If JH wanted to go in the direction of big arm, athletic, vertical passing QB’s, why then keep Tolzien and not his boy Josh Johnson?
Now can you answer my question Bayarea?
Grant how do you teach toughness and intelligence? Smith’s two best qualities.
FDM,
at the time that CK was drafted, JH didn’t have enough hands on experience with AS to know how much he could get out of him. And the lockout was looming so his options were as limited as you could get.
As far as answering my question, you didn’t really. JH had to salivate at the chance to get a raw athlete like CK. And trust me, he was more than a project. A project is something you gamble on with a lower draft pick. You don’t use your high first round draft pick on a project, especially when you haven’t spent any time with your current QB and don’t know what his ceiling is.
At that time Harbaugh could not have answered those questions.
Bay says “JH didn’t have enough hands on experience with AS to know how much he could get out of him”.
After he was hired he said he watched every single snap of Alex Smith’s entire career as a 49er and when he was with Utah. Met with him, looked him in the eye, decided he could be a QB in his system. If he knew he could not get much more out of him after last year, and Kap was the future, why bring Alex back? Why even offer him a contract if the ceiling had reached its potential?
Bay says “You don’t use your high first round draft pick on a project”
Actually CK was a 2nd round pick.
Finally, answer my intial question of If JH wanted to go in the direction of big arm, athletic, vertical passing QB’s, why then keep Tolzien and not his boy Josh Johnson?
I prefer Kap’s skill set. I also agree with the notion that what Alex brings can be taught and the best example of that is Alex himself.
grant i do’nt think teaching another QB AS’s skill set is nearly as easy as you think. if it was all nfl QB’s would have great TD to int ratio’s. smith is not a great QB but because of his qualities his is a good one and there are’nt that many good ones out there
FDM,
I don’t know why JH chose to keep Tolzien over JJ. I’ve watched ST in pregame a few times. Trust me when I say he lacks arm strength.
He doesn’t throw passes on a rope, he drops passes in. Looks extremely accurate. Maybe JH looked for a certain QB to fit a certain role. ST is a fast decision maker and accurate. Don’t know.
Why do the 9ers like Kap?
Straight from the G.M.’s mouth:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p9eOanoiVcY
ST to me looks like a more athletic Shaun Hill.
Old coach,
Look at Alex’s career stats. It took him 6 years to learn ball security.
The answer is Bay that JH is building this team based on the strength of its current personnel. Again, its about physical, methodical, WCO that relies on the intermediate to short playaction passing game and running the ball. Alex Smith is the perfect compliment to this system. Thats what I have been saying forever but you guys want a different style of offense and QB. Sorry but that’s not who the 49ers are or how they have been built.
Anthony Davis, Iupati, Staley, Goodwin and Boone, all maulers and better run blockers than pass protectors.
Frank Gore, Hunter, Jacobs, and LMJ, all better assests in the run game than passing game.
Greg Roman, offensive coordinator, big believer of the run game versus the pass based on personnel strength and history of coaching.
Jim Harbaugh, smash mouth, run orientated coach every place he has coached.
Trent Baalke, prefers, big physical, competitve, smart players versus athletic and talented. Loo at the draft history.
This is the 49er formula. The reason they didnt keep Johnson and went with Tolzien is as clear as day. Tolzien is a better system fit because of his skill set. CK needs a lot more time to develop into this. The kid is talented but right now, Alex is a better compliment to the current personnel. You have to admit that at the very least.
Old Coach, it isn’t easy, but Harbaugh is a quarterback whisperer.
After he was hired he said he watched every single snap of Alex Smith’s entire career as a 49er and when he was with Utah. Met with him, looked him in the eye, decided he could be a QB in his system. If he knew he could not get much more out of him after last year, and Kap was the future, why bring Alex back? Why even offer him a contract if the ceiling had reached its potential?………. Says FDM. Because they couldn’t get Manning. They kept Smith because he played well enough to win some games. If they had not had the magical season they had with the defense and special teams Smith would have been gone. The bigger question is why Didnt they solidify a long term contract?
I prefer Alex’s set of positives, accuracy, ball security, and reading the defense. CK’s elusiveness and athleticism to escape pressure is really admirable and I really like that CK brings a lot of excitement and potential. I think best-case scenario is Kap develops into something of a Big Ben type QB who is really good at escaping pressure and shedding tackles, but keeps his eyes downfield… and who’s WR’s practice the Scramble drill in practice every week. But I think that accuracy is the most important quality that a QB can have. Looking at CK7′s throwing motion makes me uneasy. If someone is aware of a successful QB in the NFL that throws anywhere near the way Colin does, please enlighten me. And with the “running” attribute, C’mon Man! That is not how a QB has sustained success in the NFL! Its fun to watch, but Not what you look for in your starting QB. There are no QBs starting today who run as much as CK does, and the ones who used to, don’t anymore, or don’t play anymore. And that is for a good reason. Defenses quickly figure out that one-trick act, and the running QB stops having success or gets hurt. and then what. The best things you want a QB that is accurate, reads defenses, and takes care of the football. And right now those things are what Alex does well.
MD, the reason they did not sign Manning was because of the same reasons they did not sign Nnamdi Asomugha, cap flexibility and losing all their depth to fit either guy in and their big money contracts.
You ask why no long term deal? Basically it is if he keeps playing well each year. 3 year 24 million is a good deal for everyone. Gives the 49ers room cap wise and puts a fire under Smith to play well every year. Brilliant by management if you ask me. In fact, imagine what kind of production you would get from every player if they played under one year contracts? Look at Goldson this year. How about Rodgers last year?
>>Look at Alex’s career stats. It took him 6 years to learn ball security.
Or it could be said he finally had the coaching of those who emphasized it as THE top priority. If CK is having those issues under that same coaching, it does bring into question Grant’s assertion about whether Smith’s qualities can be taught. At least in the timely manner this team needs for CK to be successful.
FDM,
Ask Tommy Maddox how that contract extension he signed during the same offseason the Steelers drafted Roethlisberger worked out for him….
So Jack because that happened in Pitt, means its going to happen in San Fran with Alex and Kap?
If you can promise that can you also let me know what the winning lottery numbers will be this weekend?
FDM,
Just like Maddox was the bridge to Roethlisberger, Smith has been used as the bridge to Kaepernick. That isn’t a knock on Smith, he has been a very good bridge, but that contract means nothing in terms of his security as the starting QB.
12, 23, 27, 38, 49, & 7
As long as Alex keeps winning games, that bridge gets longer and longer for Kap. No one can say forsure if Kap is the successor or what the intentions of the organization is with either player.
I know its fun for us to talk about it but when fans make absolute blanket statements and act like they know, then you gotta call that out like I did.
FDM
Wasn’t Anthony Davis a project? And AJ Jenkins?
bay ain’t thinking. I know. Shocking.
He is the successor FDM, no matter how much you want to deny it. The only question is when…
Wether he is or is not Jack, you have no idea. Do not pretend you do or imagine that I dont think he is. My point is, thinking you know what the organizations plans are at the QB position is just all speculation. Fans that make blanket statements like that, need to be called on it like I said.
Jack
So AS wins 4 Super Bowls in the next 10 years (he is young enough), CK takes over after AS retires. Really? He’ll stick around here for that long and we won’t have a younger version of him?
You’re getting awfully close to that same cliff you went over regarding the Fleener/AJ pick here. Might want to back off a tad there.
FDM & DS, all Jack is saying is “gobble gobble jive gobble gobble”. He has this thing where he thinks he is right all the time and wants to show everyone how smart he is. It’s just an insecurity. He was not stroked as a child.
There you go again Jack, talking in absolutes. You dont know that for a fact, you are making an educated guess. He will have to play better then he did against the Rams to be a successor. I am not saying he isnt but talking in absolutes is basicly the same as assumeing. And we all know the road of assumeing – your smarter then that, you have demonstrated it. It must be your youth that motivates you, to deviate from an open mind on occasion. (That wasnt intended to be a slam so dont take it that way.)
FDM,
Make sure you try those lotto numbers out this weekend. You are welcome.
DS,
Smith won’t win 1 Super Bowl, let alone 4 in the next 10 years.
Ok Jack
Then he (AS) shouldn’t have been the QB to start the year either. And if CK doesn’t win the Super Bowl, then he shouldn’t be the starter either. And so forth.
Jack, please show me a post where you said everything that has happened to AS in his career was going to happen the day he was drafted. Now, the post has to be in 2005, which means it wasn’t here.
EVERYBODY thought AS was leaving after 2010. He flat out told Tim K. I believe (or Monty Poole) that he wasn’t going to sign back here. The team didn’t want him. He didn’t want them.
And of course that all changed the moment a new HC took over. So, you’re telling me you knew what would happen to AS (all last year) when Week 17 2010 was over? Nope. Not believing you at all.
And if you mean to tell me that AS can’t win 4 Super Bowls with a top 10 defense for a decade, you don’t know your Niner history. JM never won a Super Bowl without a dominant D. They were always a top D, even though the offense got all the press. In fact look at every dynasty team. They all had top 10 D’s. Nobody focuses on that because they all want to focus on the QB. But it is just as true.
Thank you for the kind words undercenter. It is an educated opinion that will prove to be reality in due time. And I took no offense to you referencing my youth : )
DS,
Although I was at 1 time of the opinion this was a dominant defense, my confidence in that has diminished. Unless they can get someone to stop quick slot receivers they are not a Super Bowl defense.
Jack
They are a top 10 defense. They were last year. They are this year. And they will in all likelihood be again next year.
JM had top 10 Defenses and that really helped him out of a lot of scrapes. That is what I’m saying. He didn’t do it by himself. In fact he never did anything with a bottom tier Defense because he never played here with a bottom tier defense. And most of that has nothing to do with how great JM was or what he brought to the table. The defense was just really freaking good. And Joe didn’t throw stupid Int’s trying to throw guys open either. That helped the D more than anything else.
They are a very good defense with an exposed weak link that will keep them from being elite, and will most likely be their undoing in the playoffs.
@ Jack:
That also is my concern. What about old coach’s idea of playing more zone and less man when the other team goes to 3 or 4 wides?
Claude,
It’s a good idea…
The west coast offense is built around a QB like AS. Short passes. Run after the catch and accuracy as well as timing. Extending the play should not be a factor because if the receivers are where they are supposed to be the pass comes out, assuming that they are uncovered. This is not a Al Davis type of offense where you have three fast guys run down the field and hope that one of them can hold onto the ball. AS has brought this team back from behind on numerous occasions and might have done it against the Rams if he hadn’t been hurt. I like Tolzien as a pro QB and maybe he will get his chance if CK runs into the same thing that AS did.
FDM makes NO sense with his belief that the niners personnel fits alex smith better.
If you have Alex Smith who throws short- WHY would you get Moss, Manningham, and AJ Jenkins on your team???? None of those receivers work with Smith.
If anything the niners should have gone with TO if they knew Smith would be a season long QB. They needed more big runners who can get some yards after the catch by breaking tacks. None of the WR’s that the niners took are of that mold.
I think the idea at the outset of this season was to move to Kaep- get him ready- and using him to get the most of Moss, Manningham, and jenkins- what they didnt count on was that Smith would fall apart worrying about kaep getting reps here and there.
Big Suede says “If you have Alex Smith who throws short- WHY would you get Moss, Manningham, and AJ Jenkins on your team???? None of those receivers work with Smith.
Well B.Suede we have yet to see Jenkins who has not cracked the lineup in favor of more possession type recievers like Delanie Walke and Celek, slot receivers in Williams and Crabs,who fit more of what Alex does well underneath. Add the fact Moss is used more as a decoy and Manningham more of everything in that he can do it all, my question to you is, how do you think the personnel is not better suited to Alex based on how we have seen this offense function?
Throw in the fact the high draft picks used on run blocking offensive linemen and quality depth to the running back position, you tell me how the personnel does not suit Alex?
Big Ben has a horrible rib injury.
Thought it was his shoulder.
He does but his ribs seem a alot more serious
Between injuries to him, Percy Harvin, Fred Jackson, and Brandon Myers, my fantasy football team just went into the crapper.
What kind of talent backs up CK?
Scott Tolzien 2nd year UDFA from similar system at Wisconsin. Accurate pocket passer, still inexperienced though.
agree on all 6 points. well written grant and I like the caveat: “Also, Smith often tends to prefer throwing shorter, safer passes, so he rarely shows the extent of his arm strength.”
“If it does collapse, he’s not great at escaping the rush and extending the play. He tends to go conservative and take the sack or throw the ball away.”
Ummm… scratch the last part of that because he just eats the ball and takes sacks putting the “O” in a 2nd or 3rd and long situation or he checks the ball down. I wish he would throw the ball away more but that is too risky for Alex… LOL
Not that it’s funny but I too wished smith would throw the ball away instead of taking a sack.
Grant I have a question for you, you say you prefer CK’s skill set but does that mean now or for the future? Do you think CK could lead this team this year as far as Alex can? I know you say CK can be taught Alex’s skill set but are you saying that for this year on the fly or with an offseason as being the qb getting #1 reps and #1 coach attention?
I think Kaepernick could lead the 49ers farther than Smith could this season.
You are guessing which makes you look incompetent.
Grant I know a lot of folks are anxiously awaiting news regarding Smith’s medical exams.
In the mean time, who’s been getting the reps with the #1′s ?
The players had the day off yesterday, and today’s practice starts at 2:15.
Grant i too like Kaep but i’m not ready to jump on the band wagon this year. Turn overs kill and i believe at this point in his career CK is too turn over prone. One more camp and i think he might be ready.
Yes, indeed, Grant. So true. And if you watched Baalke’s breakdown of CK (linked above by Grimey), it’s only a matter of time before the keys are handed over to him.
And to those who say this team is built personnel-wise more for Alex than CK, two points: 1. It doesn’t matter what the talent around the QB is to determine what QB is better – the better QB will buoy whatever talent he is surrounded by; & 2. drafting & acquiring explosive playmakers (Manningham-Moss-Jenkins-LMJ) is evidence that the team wants its QB to be well-armed (pun intended).
CK is their guy. Alex has been a serviceable stand-in for the last 18 months, but his window is closing.
Let’s all get behind our new QB, #7, the future of the franchise!!!
(lest the sniffers become the haters)
Grant, why do you think CK leads the 9ers farther? Data points based on his limited play??
Grant Cohn says:
November 14, 2012 at 10:24 am
Kaepernick’s set. Smith’s qualities can be taught. Both guys’ qualities are valuable to 49ers right now, but I think Kaepernick can make up for the defense’s regression better than Smith can.
No Grant
CK didn’t trust it when it mattered most. Last posession of the game, he had FG WIDE OPEN in the flat and choose to run it.
That isn’t what I’d call trusting your arm.
It’s called not fitting into a system tailored for you. If the Niners are gonna go with CK, they need an entire offseason to make the transition. This is a playoff team ready to compete for a SB.
Prime and DeepSpaceNine are the preeminent Alex Sniffers on this blog. Will they still be fans of the Niners once Kaepernick has taken over?
Yes I will as I stated this morning, that is a guarantee. The other guarantee is you will still be a moron!
Moron? That’s a big word for you, kid. Make a point, other than “Alex’s jock smells good,” and maybe someone other than DS9 will pay you some respect.
And you and a few more are the dogs who go around always sniffing everybody ‘s butts. Get out. Fecal disease is no laughing matter.
Never took a dig at you DeepSpaceNine! Take it easy. Or perhaps you are so far up Prime’s butt that you can’t tell the difference.
Alright fellas. Enough games. Back to work. Enjoy your welfare checks.
DS don’t worry about 23welcher, it’s him for sure. Winning games makes these guys shut up real fast. They are all about trashing between games but then after wins they disappear.
If Alex does not practice today do you think he will play?
PS
You are the one who came sniffing after myself and Prime here. Take another guess who is sniffing what. And no. We don’t want you around either of us while sniffing.
Not only are bs’s posts ridiculous. It’s comebacks are also. The comebacks of a geek with glassss thicker than its gravy blood running through its fat body. Bs won’t be a fan and it isn’t now. It’s all Alex all day every day. It hates ck and MC. It would think of having a black qb.
I was about to write that. Dang 23, you are lifeless.
AS if he doesn’t practice at all shouldn’t play. That would really set-up something bad to happen. No practice leading up to the week facing a D like Chicago who will hit hard? Forget it. Oue elite D will have to lead us to victory. CK shouldn’t be doing much more than one read passes and handoffs to FG/KH. Don’t want to see CK holding that ball so half-hazardously. And I doubt he figures out how to do that in a week. He did so in college, pre-season and all regular season. That is a pattern. One that Chicago will take advantage of.
Something nobody is concerned with is how Chicago will have a week to prepare for CK. It goes 2 ways. And right now Chicago is proven. CK isn’t.
md
Find yourself a nice blog on the KKK. You’ll fit in there. You suck.
The other thing DS that people are not talking about is what if CK fails to deliver? He had a chance to creaet a huge QB controversy if he could have pulled out a win against a team the Niners shoud have beat. Now what if he plays and lays an egg against a tough Bears team? Then they have to go on the road to play a good, not great team in the Saints who will be hungry for us. What happens if CK leads us into a losing streak which no one has talked about.
The haters seem to think CK wont. I hope not but why is no one talking about the uncertainity of a 2nd year QB, with no experience leading us to a losing streak? What happens then?
FDM
I know it is against the rules, but JM took over about mid way thru his second year (1980). JM had some issues of his own as well coming out of college and was a 3rd round pick. So, he learned from the QB guru at that time (Bill Walsh) how to play the position. Joe had the same amount of time to learn as CK has had to learn the system and CK has learned under the current QB guru in JH. So I don’t want to hear any crap about how we need to give him more time to learn the system.
BW also put JM into the game a few times before he became the starter in order to get Joe ready for the speed of the game among other reasons. Just as JH has done for CK. So I don’t want to hear any crap about how we need to give CK more game experience to really judge him as a starter. JM wasn’t given more time.
The only significant difference in the comparison is that Deberg wasn’t 19-5 and hadn’t taken the team to the NFC Title game in 1979, while AS has. And do you think Bill would have kicked DeBerg out if he had gone 19-5 with him as the QB? Heck NO! Joe Montana never takes over on anybody’s terms except DeBerg’s if that happened.
You don’t get rid of a winning healthy QB. It has never resulted in being better in the history of the NFL. At best you remain what you already are. We only got rid of JM because he was always injured. Had he not gotten the chronic injuries (elbow especially), I don’t care how skilled Steve Young is/was. He was never taking over that job till Joe either retired, or started to suck, or was always injured.
It is hard to win in the NFL. You don’t get rid of a winning QB for a potentially winning QB. You know that saying “The grass isn’t always greener on the other side.”? Well, this would be “The grass is perfectly green for us, but I want to remove it all, and plant this seed that may not even grow in its place.” That is just stupid.
If we go on a losing streak with CK, I don’t want to hear any excuses for him at all. He is on the best team in the NFL. And if he hasn’t learned it by now, why will he in another 2 years?
Sorry. When you’re on the Niners and a QB, you are compared to JM. And the set-up is so similar for CK….except this team is dominant whereas the 1980 teams stank before JM became the QB. And CK hasn’t displayed anything good as of yet that I didn’t know when he was drafted. He is fast, strong armed QB who came from an offense that didn’t look like a pro offense. Looking at him now, I see the same thing. He is timid out there, hold the ball like it was a hot potato and can’t see the field. JM by this point had resolved just about all of these things. And AS being 19-5 tells me that he isn’t doing such a shabby job of it either.
>>Never took a dig at you DeepSpaceNine!
Posted in the same thread right after:
>>Prime and DeepSpaceNine are the preeminent Alex Sniffers on this blog. Will they still be fans of the Niners once Kaepernick has taken over?
I had always heard Neanderthal’s intelligence was on par with Homo Sapiens. Probably because there weren’t internet forums back then to call that into question.
ribico
A few blogs back, he opened up a reply to prime with an insult. Then later said he respected him.
Doesn’t that sound like the welcher/wuss boy himself promising to keep it civil early this year, then not?
This ‘thing’ had better be a double poster, or it is really mentally screwed up. Can’t insult others then say it is ok with them in the next paragraph, then insult them again next opportunity they get. There are medical reasons for somebody to do that. I’ll leave it up to the blog to decide if that is the reason, or it is just being a jerk.
You know DS, I’m not big on the multiple poster IDs conspiracy that everyone else throws around here. It’s a big 49er world out there. and lots of people have thier say.
Posters here fall into basically two sets – “haters” and “smithers”. Comments from each group’s members sound a lot like comments of the other members of the group. For instance, without the ID identifying them, I couldn’t tell md apart from bay. Likewise, they probably couldn’t tell me from you. In other words, it’s the philosophy that begins to sound the same, not the individual.
Unless there’s a new ID comes in and starts up with all the buzzwords, knowledgable of the various feuds, personalities, etc. Now that is suspicious. And Grant is usually quick to point out IP duplication of multiple posters.
I’m not a big fan of the double poster thing either ribico. But that means this blogger is just really screwed up.
DS94everXev says:
November 14, 2012 at 12:00 pm
No Grant
CK didn’t trust it when it mattered most. Last posession of the game, he had FG WIDE OPEN in the flat and choose to run it.
That isn’t what I’d call trusting your arm.
Reply
Because this ex jock and famed qb knows everything. So is this the same for when smith doesn’t throw downfield to open receivers? Just wondering bs. If smith is perfect. Man you’re pathetic.
Doesn’t matter if he doesn’t make great decisions and read and tear through defenses. That’s his next step. He may be ready for it now or maybe another offseason with G-Ro. Time will tell. If he can do that then the offense looks way different adding Jenkins and James to the mix…
MD/FDM
The Manning due diligence process, will have a mysterious shadow on the 49ers Org.
Harbaugh and Co did not go to Carolina in the middle of the night just to shake Manning’ hand and watch him throw some passes.
There was interest in Manning as the visit/trip will attest too.
My contention is that the Org tried to sell PM on a low-ball contract deal with the big selling point being an almost certain SB appearence.
This way the club get’s PM at a bargin deal while still being able to sign some of their defensive stars.
Manning didn’t bite. He got the money and an autonomous QB position in Denver. And perhaps a chance at a Manning brother’s SuperBowl.
Exact same process they took with Nnamdi. They explored the situation and once it was determined it would hinder their cap situation and depth chart, it was a bad business deal. Yes they were interested but that has no bearing on Smith does it?
The arguement is the Niners wanted to get rid of Smith and thats why they went after Manning. Well like I said, it was the same process with Nnamdi and as a fan, you want your management team to always try and upgrade. It didnt happen, they have Smith now. Wether people want to believe that their hands were tied because of the lockout, no wanted him in free agency, he is a stop gap is all irreleavant and speculation. Believe whatever you want but Smith is here ansd seems to be excelling under this coaching staff. This we know as fact.