Posted By: Marc - NJ49er (15/08/2008 11:19:30 PM)
Comment: JB, agreed, point taken. Physical toughness can't be questioned. I focus more on Martz's offense and the system he needs to learn. Perhaps the deck is stacked against him with Nolan, but assuming Martz knows QBs better then Nolan, Alex needs to be more mentally tough, (which I think Nolan was trying to pry out of him last year). Command the offense and Lead the attack. He's too laid back.

Posted By: itsmechris (15/08/2008 9:41:19 AM)
Comment: I'm very excited to hear about WR Morgan. Other than Gore, we haven't had a possible star for a long time on offense. I look forward to seeing him play!

Posted By: JB (15/08/2008 7:41:41 AM)
Comment: Marc-NJ49er, Alex needs to show some toughness? How about trying to play last year with a seperated throwing shoulder? That showed me everything I need to know about how tough he is. You might be able to fault his decisiveness with the ball, but not his toughness. As for mental toughness, he stood up to Nolan last year, and look where it got him. Nolan is a control freak who dosen't tolerate being challenged, even if he is blatently (sp?) wrong. Nolan will never start Smith unless there is NO other alternative and he is forced to.

Posted By: mike in MD (15/08/2008 7:37:40 AM)
Comment: Matt..do you have any idea what the learning curve is like for RT in Martz's offense? I'm sure Baas has been keeping up with the playbook. I imagine it would take him a handful of games say 3-4 to get back into the full swing of things. Too bad he's missed so many reps. How about Rachal, any chance he overtakes Wragge?

Posted By: Goober out of nowhere (15/08/2008 12:33:02 AM)
Comment: Nevermind...Lynch signed with New England

Posted By: ska (15/08/2008 12:16:09 AM)
Comment: Dirk - To answer your question I believe their depth chart reads like this: LT: Staley, Toledo, Patrick LG: Snyder, John Booker C: Heitman, Wallace RG: Wragge, Rachal, Brian de la Puente RT: Jennings, Simms, Alan Reuber Now when Bass comes back he should start at RG and I have a feeling Wragge will move to LG.Snyder will then back up at both the guard and tackle positions I suppose. Even if he starts at LG if an injury happens at tackle he will be one of those considered to slide over.

Posted By: Goober out of nowhere (14/08/2008 11:54:04 PM)
Comment: Is there any interest in John Lynch; I still think we need better play at free-safety. And since they refuse to start Goldson over Roman (due to lack of experience), can't we just get a veteran that is better than Roman?

Posted By: Dirk (14/08/2008 11:05:36 PM)
Comment: Does Duckett rehab at the facility? Or was he asked to stay somewhere else? Right now we are awfully thin an Tackle. Don't think that Toledo will make the team. Staley, Jennings and Sims. Plus Snyder, who can play both LT and RT. That's all. As a side note, assuming we keep Staley, Jennings, Sims, Heitmann, Wallace, Baas, Wragge and Rachal (IMO a likely scenario), who is backup to Snyder at LG? Wragge can play LG. Anyone else? Rachal and Baas can play RG, but LG? To be honest, I'd like to see a list which of our OL can play at which positions.

Response: I don't know what Duckett is going to do. As for the rest of the line, let's say the starters are LT Staley, LG Snyder, C Heitmann, RG Baas and RT Jennings. The backup at LT is Sims; at LG Wragge; C Wragge and Wallace; RG Wragge and Rachal; and RT Sims. --Matt M.

Posted By: Dirk (14/08/2008 10:54:26 PM)
Comment: Keith Lewis might get cut? I suppose we require four safeties on the 53 man roster. Besides Goldson, Roman and M. Lewis one CB who can play safety may suffice. Which CBs on our current roster can play safety?

Response: Hudson and Strickland. --Matt M.

Posted By: ninerman (14/08/2008 10:40:54 PM)
Comment: Urban...right on the money dude..well said..all i have to say is this..if any of the so called football fans that even know a spec about footbal gauge Smith on the 07 campaign then you are complete and utter idiots and know NOTHING about football..in 04 the niners could have been one of the 10 worst teams in NFL history,talent wise and on the field..05 was the start of a new regime and the talent was still atrociaous and the play of Smith and the team not much better...Was he Bad in 05..yes, so were a lot of big name QB's year 1...the talent was nightmarish....Here comes 06, a NICE step towards fixing what was broken..MUCH improved QB play, a found Gem at RB, a hair away from 500..better personel...strong draft follows, big $ spent in the offseason...progress made in the right direction...Nobody had a problem with Smiths growth at the end of 06 when he won games on his own with his arm and legs showing some savvy and play making ability...now comes the 07 campaign..BIG EXPECTATIONS...expected to be a 500 or better team...expected to grow and take the next step back to respectability...every possible bad thing imaginable happenes..injury's,deaths in the family(s)front office drama,QB out for the year. Horredous OC and conservative play calling...all adding up to MASSIVE dissapointent...lets not forget our team was 2-0 heading to Pittsburgh against an elite team...we come back 2-1 as expected and 2 plays into game 4 our Franchise QB is GONE for the year...Seperated throwing shoulder requiring season ending surgery people REMEMBER??..Quit Crucifying the Kid and get it through your heads he is a talent and will be a QB you can win with if given some frickin stability....this is the make or break year...Lets open this dam offense up, get some leads early..unleash the D and hand it to #21 late in the 4th to slat away some W's....stay with it fans....The kid will come around...the staff needs to just give him the job and live or die with it..GO NINERS!!!

Posted By: Marc - NJ49er (14/08/2008 10:34:18 PM)
Comment: Preciseley folks, it's week 2 of PS, we are preparing a team to win on Sundays. Makes no difference who the starter is so long as he is prepared to run the offense. Pretty obvious that job is JTO's to lose since he had the headstart already. Alex is obviously slow to learn and the NFL is not about paying Top pick money in the 4th year of the contract. Leave the emotions at the door and see the facts. Alex needs a pair and needs to show some toughness. Want the job? Take it. You don't get paid the big bucks to back up. For all of you who cite the journeyman status of JTOs past, realize that he has taken the opportunity and done something with it in SF. Has nothing to do with injuries or entitlement gang, it's about results. If he's the pick, I'm gonna hope he gets the job done. If not, someone else will need to step up.

Posted By: Ben (14/08/2008 10:20:21 PM)
Comment: I agree Urban, Alex has been handed a bad hand. If he had been in the same offense all this time he would be much better. Even Tom Brady couldn't of done well with the teams the 9ers have been trotting out lately. Can we talk about something other than the QB now?

Posted By: Urban Meyer (14/08/2008 9:58:30 PM)
Comment: Hey, http:// You aren't actually serious when you say you've seen Alex play 30 bad games. I've seen him play SOME bad games but 30? Get real. Your credibility is circling the drain. "Here Alex, you're 21 we have a swiss cheese o-line to protect you and Brandon-wannabe-rap-artist-Lloyd is your best receiver. Good luck, we're all counting on you to make it work and 'win the west'. Oh yeah our defense blows as well so chances are you will rarely see the field anyways and did I mention you'll be atarting against the Colts? Yeah, you'll be wearing Freeny because we have no plan to contain him so have fun with it." A lot of losses over the past 3 years could have been avoided if our WR's actually would have caught even a few of those dropped passes or if Kwame and Vernon-I'm-an-airhead-with-large-bicepts-Davis hadn't have been called for holding at the most innopportune times like say a perfect TD bomb to AB here or a 60 yard bomb on a 3rd and long to Battle there. Sorry pal, Alex had some respectable games while Norv Turner was here in 06. Last year he had a fake OC and then was injured. Let's ease up on the hatorade a bit. The guy isn't jerk, he doesn't tool around in a Bently with 26's blowing his benjamins on foolish items acting like a jerk off in the clubs and treating fans disrespectfully. At some point he has to start performing but sheese, let him actually have the same offensive system with the same coaching staff and the same recievers for more than a year and a HC that actually seems supportive. If you want to think that this kid has been given a solid platform to launch a successful career as an NFL QB then look around a bit. He has not. Period.

Posted By: SB from SF (14/08/2008 8:13:47 PM)
Comment: Ryan - We don't have a real QB on the roster. We only have 3 guys pretending

Posted By: Ryan in SoCal (14/08/2008 7:43:25 PM)
Comment: Well, with the line playing as poorly as they did last week, JTO should get injured fairly quickly, and then we'll have a REAL QB playing...now, if there was only a way to get rid of Martz now.

Posted By: Danny in Gainesville, FL (14/08/2008 7:14:54 PM)
Comment: honestly, i don't know what is so hard to understand about this qb situation. nolan and martz are making the starting qb decision based on 4 things: physical skills (who can best make the throws in the playbook?), mental skills (who knows the playbook best?), execution (who best translates skills and full playbook to the field?), and job security (nolan needs to win NOW, so who gives the niners the best chance to win their NEXT game?). ok, so one by one here are the rankings, which i think are pretty hard to dispute...physical skills: 1) alex, 2) jto, 3) hill...alex is mobile, has the strongest arm, and is best at the martz-ian intermediate and long throws; jto is ok at everything but not the best at anything; hill has a wet noodle for an arm and cement posts for legs... mental skills: 1) jto, 2) smith, 3) hill...jto already knows the playbook; smith is a quick learner but doesn't have it down yet; hill neither knows it nor is quick to learn it...execution: 1a) jto, 1b) alex, 1c) hill...the entire playbook is available to jto, and he puts the ball where it needs to be, but he doesn't have the game experience to avoid boneheaded decisions; alex doesn't make boneheaded decisions but also is famously "nonfunctional" until he knows the playbook through and through; hill executes well on gameday but eliminates every route in the playbook deeper than 15 yds...best chance to win the NEXT game: 1) jto, 2) alex, 3) hill...given what i've already said, it's pretty obvious to me that jto gives the niners the best chance to win NOW, while alex gives the niners the best chance to win once he's 100% comfortable with the playbook. nolan and martz don't have luxury of waiting for alex, so their going to start jto until alex is up to speed, and past that dreaded "nonfunctional" phase that he's in every year learning a new offense. as for hill, he's neither their best option now nor in the future. so, to me, the depth chart is not rocket science right now. jto gets the 1st team reps to prepare himself for week 1 (i.e., eliminate the boneheaded plays). alex gets the 2nd team reps so he can get up to speed learning the playbook and gaining confidence while not holding the starting offense back at the same time. hill sits or gets minimal 2nd team reps because he's not starting week 1, not backing up week 1, and not starting or backing up anytime in the future (barring injury).

Posted By: *Drunkenmiller (14/08/2008 7:11:35 PM)
Comment: I cant even spell my name right.

Posted By: Jim Drukenmiller (14/08/2008 7:10:18 PM)
Comment: It's too bad guys like me and A. Smith get overlooked all the time!

Posted By: http:// (14/08/2008 5:52:03 PM)
Comment: This is crazy!Saul would you STFU!Go wine somewhere else!This is getting so old.You bitch about JT starting over Alex but if Alex cant beat out a career (3rd stringer)and a guy whos been released by 5 teams what does that tell you about Alex?Exactly.Smith has never proven a damn thing or that he is a capable starter in this league.LET IT GO.And for those with all the conspiracy theories just stop it.Alex cant cut it so even if JT sucks hes the best QB on the team right now.Its a good thing you guys arent NFL coaches or guys like Brady,Garcia,Bulger,Hasselback and Warner would be career (third stringers) youve seen this guy play one game and you say were headed for disaster?Ive seen alex play 30 bad games!Three years worth of bad QB play so chill out and sit back and see what we have.I know you guys have won superbowls and no more than Martz and Nolan and just blog in your spare time right?The Niners will be fine chill out.

Posted By: Bryan (14/08/2008 5:39:25 PM)
Comment: Hey Matt Been a while since all the picks signed... any final contract numbers available?

Posted By: ninertom (14/08/2008 5:39:25 PM)
Comment: Saul, i know this is tough... but, back away from the keyboard, as you have gotten so confused you are making my points for me (repeating them actually). nice stat though, 587 vs 586. it was close... very close.

Posted By: Saul (14/08/2008 5:33:32 PM)
Comment: Lol yeah they ranked in the middle of the pack in yards, but they threw the ball more times than the Patriots did.

Posted By: ninertom (14/08/2008 5:30:29 PM)
Comment: saul, you can score points in the nfl by rushing AND passing. amazingly enough, detroit was good enough at one to rank right in the middle of the pack in points scored and yards... hence, the offense was overall OK... nothing spectacular, but OK... right in the middle... AGAIN. FOR THE SLOW ONES OUT THERE. DETROIT OFFENSE = OK, DETROIT DEFENSE = WORST IN THE LEAGUE. please, let me let this GO. SAUL, help me help you!! come on buddy, give up!

Posted By: ninertom (14/08/2008 5:26:40 PM)
Comment: saul, sorry to harp on ya here, but... geez. the detroit defense was ranked last in points allowed and yards. that is solid statistical evidence that the defense SUCKED. forget arguing anything about the detroit defense. just let that go.

Posted By: Saul (14/08/2008 5:25:39 PM)
Comment: The only two teams that had more INTs than Detroit were St. Louis and Arizona. Surprise, two former Martz QB's started for both them teams.

Posted By: ninertom (14/08/2008 5:24:13 PM)
Comment: Saul (actually sounding more positive), glad to hear you have gained some perspective and nice to see you back up your arguements with more than bluster/emotion... well done! However, would you provide more than one game as evidence for something (i am not sure what ur point was about the minnesota game stats), but either way... need more data for a rigorous analysis.

Posted By: PD (14/08/2008 5:23:54 PM)
Comment: Stupid question.."I'm under orders from management that I can't write anything about the quarterback"...Management being 49ers management or your own boss telling you to focus on other areas..i thinking it's the 49ers management =)

Posted By: Saul (14/08/2008 5:22:34 PM)
Comment: The Lions also had the 3rd most takeaways in the whole league which accounted for most of that 6-2 start, then they proceeded to win 1 game the rest of the year.

Posted By: Saul (14/08/2008 5:16:59 PM)
Comment: http://www.pro-football-reference.com/coaches/MartMi0.htm check the numbers, he has never had a team higher than 22nd in rushing attempts. With Detroit they were the worst rushing team in the league.

Posted By: Saul (14/08/2008 5:12:59 PM)
Comment: Detroit has much more talented WR's than we have but see have the kind that will fit Martz system better(small and quick over big and athletic) so i do like that. But alot of the reason Detroit was putting up numbers like that is because they were throwing from behind so often because of early turnovers. And when they finally were in position to win a few games they would give them away, check the game in Minnesota when Kitna threw 3 picks while ahead in the 4th quarter. The first two were returned for TD's. The only reason i like the move is our offense looks exactly like Detroit's did before Martz got here, which is boring and predictable. They will get much more exciting but be prepared for his unconventional playcalling because it will screw us over in a critical situation. And whoever starts the season for us aint gonna finish cause this offense requires you to stand in the pocket a little longer waiting for receivers to come open and the QB usually gets drilled for it. Ask Bulger Warner and Kitna if they miss him.

Posted By: ninertom (14/08/2008 5:02:11 PM)
Comment: Saul (mr positive)...relax out there. grab a beer and chill. almost anything will be an improvement over last years abomination on offense (as we were dead last in offense). martz and his system is likely to improve the offense. history and statistics are on his side. which is quite different than the pure emotion that supports your arguements. RELAX DUDE, your gonna blow a gasket.

Posted By: ninertom (14/08/2008 4:57:07 PM)
Comment: Saul... right. got it. detroit bad team. got it. lets be clear though. detroit was a bad team, but detroits offense was not bad. detroits offense was ranked #16 in points and #19 in yards. detroits defense was ranked last in both yards and points. you can make arguements about the offense putting the defense in a bad position, but those are difficult to quantify, and i doubt you would argue that the detroit defense played well or is full of star players. in comparison to the niners offense, detroit was incredible. detroit scored 127 more points (346 to 219) and averaged almost 100yds more per game.

Posted By: Saul (14/08/2008 4:52:13 PM)
Comment: The only way this 'competition' will turn out well is if they were just testing Alex to see if he would fight or give up and he will be starting week 1. Any other senario we are f****d.

Posted By: Saul (14/08/2008 4:50:09 PM)
Comment: Look at the QB's who have won SuperBowls recently, they all are ball control QB's. Manning didnt win one till he became one, Brady has always been one he didnt cut it loose till this year and look what happened he lost. Eli is one, Garrard is one, Big Ben is one. Romo aint and look what happened to them. Farve aint and look what happened to them. The NFL at the QB position now is more about limiting turnover than making plays, the good teams have that figured out. Mike Martz ball aint gonna win anymore.

Posted By: SFJay (14/08/2008 4:48:26 PM)
Comment: ninertom - I admit Martz knows more than I do about QB's but what about the other 6-7 NFL teams in the league this guy has played for prior to DET in his first 5 years? He never made it past #3 on any depth chart or past the practice squad. I think Martz is hoping for another miracle Warner story, sorry but this team is not that STL team. Again my point is why are we even in this position to begin with? Even IF O'Sullivan is "better" than Smith in the eyes of the "EXPERT on qb's" why is it we are just realizing Smith sucks so bad that an undrafted career #3 / Practice squad QB is now our only hope. This whole thing is just odd and stinks of incompetence.

Posted By: Saul (14/08/2008 4:45:48 PM)
Comment: niner tom, this is the same 'expert' that got canned in DETROIT. I will give him this he made the offense a lot more exciting, but they also lost a s**t load of winable games with turnovers. If O'Sullivan wasnt good enough to be Kitna's BACKUP, than we in for it. Be prepared. It aint gonna be pretty.

Posted By: jt from nj (14/08/2008 4:45:36 PM)
Comment: This experiment that they have with the QB's will not get us far. The reality of it is that JTO has the best chance to win right now because the neglect of developing the best player at the position. I use to be a big supporter of Nolan, but his ideology has proved to be just an ego-trip and less of a foundation. I don't understand why he continues to act and talk like he's Bill Bilechick and yet has nothing to show for it other than some great draft picks (Gore, Willis, Lawson). I have been frustrated with A. Smith, but to be honest I believe he's more than capable of becoming a great QB if the system hadn't change on him every single season (or a horrible OC in the previous season). This circus that has become the QB "competition" has really made me not excited about this season and can only hope we end up with a new coach and OC (sorry Smith) around this time next year. Also, the more I hear Nolan interviews, the more I think of George W. Bush speech snippets being aired on the Colbert Report or the Daily Show.

Posted By: ninertom (14/08/2008 4:41:20 PM)
Comment: BHF--that is a good question to ask martz. But, osullivan didnt get to detroit until the end of the preseason. TC was over, he played in the third and last preseason games. AGAIN, listen to what the EXPERT on qb's says about osullivan (http://media.knbr.com/knbr/0814mikemartz.mp3 ). martz, qb expert, nfl coach completely disagrees with your opinion. He states that osullivan has done better than smith, despite osullivan not having as much practice time (including osullivans time in detroit). LISTEN TO THE EXPERT. HE IS CLEAR ON THIS. HE KNOW MUCH MORE THAN YOU EVER WILL ABOUT NFL AND QUARTERBACKS.

Posted By: blade (14/08/2008 4:39:24 PM)
Comment: matt in ur honest opinion the niners have a realistic chance of winning 9 games this year?

Posted By: Saul (14/08/2008 4:34:59 PM)
Comment: Martz also liked Warner and Bulger who are both two turnover prone/injury prone bums. Just like Kitna. Whats the point of throwing for 4000 yards if you turn it over 30 times?

Posted By: Saul (14/08/2008 4:32:34 PM)
Comment: The only reason i can see them starting JT O S**t i threw another interception is to get Tim Tebow next year. I live in Michigan and i got to see that bum first hand, if we start him i wont watch one 49er game this year.

Posted By: SFJay (14/08/2008 4:30:35 PM)
Comment: BHF - Martz didn't like him enough last year to move him up past 3rd on the depth chart. Next excuse for this epic fail of an experiment please. The bottom line is if Smith sucks so bad that he can't beat out a guy like O'Sullivan than why are we just now addressing this with a guy like O'Sullivan?

Posted By: ninertom (14/08/2008 4:28:29 PM)
Comment: tenacious D..nice, we all need a good laugh on these boards... but, lets be serious here. martz is obviously (from the link) impressed with osullivan. martz knows much more than we do about quarterbacks and football. if he has chosen osullivan, then we should give osullivan a chance... and keep and open mind about this.

Posted By: Evelbob41 (14/08/2008 4:25:37 PM)
Comment: Embrace him now Niner fans! JTO is the guy. Luckily WE didn't spend the 50 million on the "bumb." We could have traded down and picked up "Lights Out" and a bundle of lower round picks. But instead we got a QB with "smalls hands."

Posted By: shobbrobb (14/08/2008 4:19:04 PM)
Comment: WHY ISNT DASHON GOLDSTON STARTING?

Posted By: BHF (14/08/2008 3:56:36 PM)
Comment: Please... all QBs throw the ball into coverage for INTs and fumble on scrambles. Alex does that too. Martz likes JTO and he knows more about QBs than anybody else on the Niners.

Posted By: international fan (14/08/2008 3:49:15 PM)
Comment: This is a perfect prediction: Niners fans prepare for a top 5 pick in the 2009 draft.

Posted By: ss (14/08/2008 3:47:39 PM)
Comment: listened to interview and agree with Joe,NJ. Martz is not a big fan of Smith (put him in the sam category as Hill in the inteview). That said MArtz does appear to be very professional. I do think that he brought JTO with him telling him he had a good shot at starting.

Posted By: 49ER FOR LIFE (14/08/2008 3:45:39 PM)
Comment: Matty, Is this the newspaper management or the 49ers? How can they tell you what to write on a blog? This seems so un-american!!

Posted By: Tenacious D (14/08/2008 3:44:54 PM)
Comment: ninertom, you mean the interview where Martz said O'Sullivan is leading the competition because he does unusual things under duress? Like jumping up in the air and throwing a backward pass? Like throwing into coverage for an interception? Like fumbling the football on a scramble? Yeah, that's unusual. :D

Posted By: Marco from Stockton (14/08/2008 3:43:56 PM)
Comment: "Nobody - maybe other than Gore - is good enough at his job at this point to spend time worrying about what's going on at another position." That is an honest evaluation of the talent on the Offense. I appreciate what you are doing!

Posted By: Petalumayo (14/08/2008 3:38:09 PM)
Comment: Matt: Where is Mike Singletary at? I haven't heard any qoutes from the hall of famer for a while now.

Posted By: Skydiver from NJ (14/08/2008 3:36:58 PM)
Comment: Hey Matt,i Seldomely post any comments but i'm finally making a trip out west from the east coast. I got tickets to go see the 49ers vs Lions, Since i'm flying more than 3000 miles away i figured i would pick a team we have a chance of beating. Anyway what is the best way to seek players autographs? before? after the game? and where? Keep in mind it's my first trip to the sanctuary so i don't know my way arounf at all. Thanks!!! probably asking for to much but is there anyway you can get me some field passes?

Posted By: ninertom (14/08/2008 3:34:35 PM)
Comment: LISTEN TO THE MARTZ INTERVIEW!!!! http://media.knbr.com/knbr/0814mikemartz.mp3 ALL OF THE IGNORANCE IS DISPELLED BY MARTZ. ALL OF THE QB QUESTIONS ANSWERED. LISTEN AND YOU BE THE JUDGE.

Posted By: Dashon Goldson (14/08/2008 3:30:06 PM)
Comment: Alex Smith and the rest of the QBs completed more passes to me than any of the WRs in camp and I still can't crack the starting line up because of a veteran who has never in his career been a playmaker.

Posted By: Joe, NJ (14/08/2008 3:28:51 PM)
Comment: NJM - Go to KNBR.com and click on Murph and Mac up top and listen to the Mike Martz podcast. 1. He sounds like a serial killer and 2. I get the sense he is not a big fan of Smith. Let me know what you think.

Posted By: Tenacious D (14/08/2008 3:16:05 PM)
Comment: Would one of you beat writers grow a pair and ask Nolan why none of his starters lose their job because of injury...except Alex Smith?

Posted By: NJM (14/08/2008 3:02:00 PM)
Comment: NJ, Joe -- For those of us who don't get KNBR, what do you mean by Martz "sounds like he knew Alex would never make it in the offense?" What exactly did he say?

Posted By: SFJay (14/08/2008 2:59:13 PM)
Comment: "LB Patrick Willis. His tackle numbers will take a dip this season.The 49ers don't figure to be on the field for as many defensive snaps as a year ago." LOL!! Sure they figure to have the defense be on the field less but the way things are working out with our "Offense" they are likely to play even more, especially with Martz in town, you can expect to see a lot of 3 and outs this year. We might actually start the year with THE worst QB in the entire league. It's going to have to be the Gore show this year. Oh and ONENINER - I believe they might be relieved if Smith gets hurt. They could save $20 million if Smith doesn't start this year and they cut him before next year.

Posted By: Byron (14/08/2008 2:27:14 PM)
Comment: Matt, how has Smith looked when playing OLB? Also, does Spikes appear to be ready for the season (conditioning wise)?

Posted By: oneniner (14/08/2008 2:25:01 PM)
Comment: This is just plain dumb.....A.Smith aka the franchise who is getting paid more money is going to play behind a line full of backups, what if he gets hurt?.......

Posted By: Rob in Sac (14/08/2008 2:19:33 PM)
Comment: Wow, what a pathetic list of receivers. I guess he looks better than JJ Stokes too! This QB situation is the strangest thing I seen in 49ers history. It's too bad that this is what this franchise has been reduced to. 8-8 would be amazing for this team. FIRST!

Posted By: Ultimate Niner IN Dallas (14/08/2008 2:17:02 PM)
Comment: Matt: A few questions for you. These two I asked before but never saw an answer. 1. What will have happened this season for both Nolan and Martz to be gone at season end? 2. What will have happened this season for both Nolan and Martz to be back at season end? 3. Can the niners really tell you what to and not-to write about? Thx from Dallas where its been 106 degrees (in the shade)

Posted By: Joe, NJ (14/08/2008 2:16:53 PM)
Comment: Matt, How do you think Scott Mc. is dealing with this "competition"? Is he also giving up on Smith? And after listening to Martz on KNBR, it sounds like he knew Alex would never make it in the offense. Thanks