This is Grant Cohn, but some people call me Iggy. You can call me whatever you’d like. I’m your new 49ers blogger. I’ll be reporting and tweeting every day from training camp in Santa Clara as soon as it opens, whenever that may be. Until then, I’ll join Bob Padecky and Phil Barber in providing you with some blogging snack food to whet your appetite for the upcoming NFL season….
The last big decision of Mike Singletary’s 40-game tenure was his choice of quarterbacks for last week’s must-win game at St. Louis. Singletary chose Troy Smith. And last week’s backup conceded today that he wasn’t thrilled when Singletary gave him the news.
Who would have thought Michael Crabtree’s strained neck would cause Alex Smith so much pain? After Crabtree missed most of training camp with his injury, his connection with his quarterback has been crippled in the season’s first three games. In fact, the numbers are stunning. On Smith’s 19 passes targeted at Crabtree, he has six completions for 81 yards with no touchdowns and four interceptions. Quarterback rating: 6.6.
Alex Smith will never be Michael Vick. Or Randall Cunningham. Or — for our more “experienced” readers joining us today — Bobby Douglass. But he’s not a statue. He can move around. As a junior at Utah, he rushed for 631 yards, averaged 4.7 yards a carry and scored 10 touchdowns. So he can, as they say, make plays with his feet. It’s just that he hasn’t done it much…
Down eight points. Just over two minutes left. Eighty-two yards away from the end zone. Great quarterbacks – Brady, Manning and, as we saw, Brees — routinely deliver in such situations. And on Monday night, for at least one drive, Alex Smith was unquestionably great. Let’s not get carried away. It remains to be seen if the Niners’ eight-play, 82-yard thing of beauty in their 25-22 loss to the Saints…
