Conversation on Sunday, Alex Smith vs. Aaron Rodgers

The truth never gets old.

The ones I want to suffer the most are the ones who were the "Nolan is right, Alex Smith is the best choice" bandwagon. All those guys are in hiding right now.

I don't disagree that Rodgers wouldn't have struggled initially with the crap team we had in 2005. But he'd get the chances that that Smith got.

And if you put Aaron Rodgers in Alex Smith's shoes this past year....I think the results would have been drastically different. Alex let the adversity get to him. Rodgers (who has had his share of poor games) grew with the adversity.

Originally posted by TheG0RE49er:

Originally posted by qnnhan7:
Aaron Rodgers had Mike McCarthy for all but his first year with the Packers. Smith had Nolan and Singletary in all his time with the Niners.

Yes Rodgers is better.

So if Smith had McCarthy, Alex's arm strenght, arm accuracy, and leadership, would've been fixed?

Originally posted by TheG0RE49er:

Originally posted by qnnhan7:
Aaron Rodgers had Mike McCarthy for all but his first year with the Packers. Smith had Nolan and Singletary in all his time with the Niners.

Yes Rodgers is better.

So if Smith had McCarthy, Alex's arm strenght, arm accuracy, and leadership, would've been fixed?

Not at lot of people question Smith's arm strength before or after he was drafted, He can make all the throws required of a qb. Coaching can help with accuracy and help players becomes leaders. Good coaches do it with their players all the time. It's the bad coaches that expect their players to be become one on their own.

Originally posted by Afrikan:
Niners99, do you want to explain Sam Bradford then.

he had "zero" receivers, te, and a good RB....and all around young team.

Alex didn't show flashes of ANYTHING his first year....and he had the same OC as the one who called some great plays tonight against the Falcons.

Rodgers is just a more talented QB than Alex....is Alex horrible...no....but he is inconsistent..maybe he'll get over that.

but Alex does not have a stronger arm than Rodgers, Alex does not have a quicker release than Rodgers, and Alex doesn't have the feel of the position that Rodgers has had....not just in the pros but since College.

All this stuff Rodgers showed today was similar to the stuff he was doing at Cal.....he is just an accurate type of QB, with touch.

its not like Alex and Rodgers were clones of each other coming out of college...and one went to a good team and one went to a bad one....its not that simple.

Check Bradfords stats. They weren't very good and did they make the playoffs? Smith actually had mediocre stats this year except for Int.s. But, he has not overcome his circumstances and for that reason he will no doubt move on. I wish him well, as I wish Bradford well.

Rogers is showing what can happen when a smart coach drafts you and give you time to develop. But, he also has that fiery disposition that tends to make those around him want to follow. Smith does not have that, his disposition is calm in the storm type. Those that follow him have seen what he has gone through and understand how tough he is, those who don't (Crabtree) are young guys who want everything to be perfect...without looking inward to much.

All these Alex threads have one thing in common...posters! People love to post comments about Alex--one way or the other, including me. It is a compelling story--the fall from grace.

Originally posted by boomer49er:
If Rodgers had been picked by us, he'd have been put in the game from the beginning with Mike Nolan was the head coach and our hodgepodge of receivers and linemen. He would have struggled and people would have started calling him a bust. Clever nicknames like Aaron Fraudgers or Error Rodgers would have filled the webzone.

Frankly this team in those days could have ruined anybody. I think we may be seeing the light at the end of the tunnel now though. Hopefully we've turned that corner

I agree. However, I do think that Aaron Rodgers would have played better for us over the course of his career than Alex Smith has. I don't think that he would be playing for us in the manner that he's been playing for Green Bay. I think he likely would have been a middle of the road fringe top 10 QB. Basically, what I'm trying to say is that all QBs are not made equal.

He is clearly in a better situation in Green Bay from the standpoint of surrounding player personnel and coaching know-how. To his credit, he's taken full advantage of it and has become a fantastic QB in his own right.

-9fA

Wow - Rogers looked good last night. He certainly looked to be breaking out into a top 5 QB.

I have always thought that smith could be better in the right environment. BUT, even with all the OC changes, over 5 years you would expect smith to have flashed that potential where he puts together a great quarter of play and looks amazing. IMHO the closest he came to that was the Philly game this year.

But in reality, even his comebacks looked like a herky-jerky string of disjointed plays. I can't say i ever saw that flash that would tell me he can breakout.

BUT, if he had Harbaugh coaching him for five years, I do suspect he would have developed into a very serviceable QB. Unfortunaltely, we'll never know and I wouldn't want to try that experiment now!

Originally posted by qnnhan7:

Originally posted by TheG0RE49er:

Originally posted by qnnhan7:
Aaron Rodgers had Mike McCarthy for all but his first year with the Packers. Smith had Nolan and Singletary in all his time with the Niners.

Yes Rodgers is better.

So if Smith had McCarthy, Alex's arm strenght, arm accuracy, and leadership, would've been fixed?

Not at lot of people question Smith's arm strength before or after he was drafted, He can make all the throws required of a qb. Coaching can help with accuracy and help players becomes leaders. Good coaches do it with their players all the time. It's the bad coaches that expect their players to be become one on their own.

Not really. Leadership is not taught, you can become somewhat of a leader through practice, but true / powerful leadership comes from within, from life experiences, not from what a coach has to say.

Almost the same can be said with arm accuracy. You can only teach mechanics up to one point. You can ask anybody that has ever played competitively as a QB or a baseball pitcher, that a lot depends on how your arm is built. With good coaching and good players surrounding him, Alex can be a pretty decent QB, but then again, so can every other NFL QB. He just doesn't have the great arm that separates the Bradys, Mannings, etc, from the average NFL QBs.

Originally posted by dtg_9er:

Originally posted by Afrikan:
Niners99, do you want to explain Sam Bradford then.

he had "zero" receivers, te, and a good RB....and all around young team.

Alex didn't show flashes of ANYTHING his first year....and he had the same OC as the one who called some great plays tonight against the Falcons.

Rodgers is just a more talented QB than Alex....is Alex horrible...no....but he is inconsistent..maybe he'll get over that.

but Alex does not have a stronger arm than Rodgers, Alex does not have a quicker release than Rodgers, and Alex doesn't have the feel of the position that Rodgers has had....not just in the pros but since College.

All this stuff Rodgers showed today was similar to the stuff he was doing at Cal.....he is just an accurate type of QB, with touch.

its not like Alex and Rodgers were clones of each other coming out of college...and one went to a good team and one went to a bad one....its not that simple.

Check Bradfords stats. They weren't very good and did they make the playoffs? Smith actually had mediocre stats this year except for Int.s. But, he has not overcome his circumstances and for that reason he will no doubt move on. I wish him well, as I wish Bradford well.

Rogers is showing what can happen when a smart coach drafts you and give you time to develop. But, he also has that fiery disposition that tends to make those around him want to follow. Smith does not have that, his disposition is calm in the storm type. Those that follow him have seen what he has gone through and understand how tough he is, those who don't (Crabtree) are young guys who want everything to be perfect...without looking inward to much.

All these Alex threads have one thing in common...posters! People love to post comments about Alex--one way or the other, including me. It is a compelling story--the fall from grace.

wow, for Bradford to go to the worst team in the NFL and for you to say he doesn't have very good stats is incredible. The kid was lights out as a rookie. All the Draft Re-Do's have him listed as #1 again. Smith would go undrafted if the 2005 draft was redone. I'm pretty sure that Bradford threw for more yards than Smith ever has in one year, and I didn't check, but I bet he threw for more TD's as well and has a better career YPA, TD:INT ratio, and Win:Loss ratio than Smith does.

Originally posted by WillistheWall:

Originally posted by Shaj:
Aaron Rodgers OWNED the Falcons today. Jeez if we had picked him instead of Alex "the bust" Smith, this would be a whole different franchise right now. If I ever meet Smith, I'm going to knock his teeth out for wasting 6 years of our time.

Dude, he is a professional athlete and you are a middle aged guy who raises llamas. I'm pretty sure he would kick the s**t out of you bro, no offense intended.

OK, I'll sell my llama to hire some MMA athlete to knock his teeth out.

Originally posted by Shaj:

Originally posted by dtg_9er:

Originally posted by Afrikan:
Niners99, do you want to explain Sam Bradford then.

he had "zero" receivers, te, and a good RB....and all around young team.

Alex didn't show flashes of ANYTHING his first year....and he had the same OC as the one who called some great plays tonight against the Falcons.

Rodgers is just a more talented QB than Alex....is Alex horrible...no....but he is inconsistent..maybe he'll get over that.

but Alex does not have a stronger arm than Rodgers, Alex does not have a quicker release than Rodgers, and Alex doesn't have the feel of the position that Rodgers has had....not just in the pros but since College.

All this stuff Rodgers showed today was similar to the stuff he was doing at Cal.....he is just an accurate type of QB, with touch.

its not like Alex and Rodgers were clones of each other coming out of college...and one went to a good team and one went to a bad one....its not that simple.

Check Bradfords stats. They weren't very good and did they make the playoffs? Smith actually had mediocre stats this year except for Int.s. But, he has not overcome his circumstances and for that reason he will no doubt move on. I wish him well, as I wish Bradford well.

Rogers is showing what can happen when a smart coach drafts you and give you time to develop. But, he also has that fiery disposition that tends to make those around him want to follow. Smith does not have that, his disposition is calm in the storm type. Those that follow him have seen what he has gone through and understand how tough he is, those who don't (Crabtree) are young guys who want everything to be perfect...without looking inward to much.

All these Alex threads have one thing in common...posters! People love to post comments about Alex--one way or the other, including me. It is a compelling story--the fall from grace.

wow, for Bradford to go to the worst team in the NFL and for you to say he doesn't have very good stats is incredible. The kid was lights out as a rookie. All the Draft Re-Do's have him listed as #1 again. Smith would go undrafted if the 2005 draft was redone. I'm pretty sure that Bradford threw for more yards than Smith ever has in one year, and I didn't check, but I bet he threw for more TD's as well and has a better career YPA, TD:INT ratio, and Win:Loss ratio than Smith does.

Not sure Bradfords OLine was as bad as ours, but my point was not that Bradford is bad for a rookie, but that people tend to annoint decent rookies too early. In a couple of years he may be a great QB but right now he is not.

Originally posted by dtg_9er:

Originally posted by Shaj:

Originally posted by dtg_9er:

Originally posted by Afrikan:
Niners99, do you want to explain Sam Bradford then.

he had "zero" receivers, te, and a good RB....and all around young team.

Alex didn't show flashes of ANYTHING his first year....and he had the same OC as the one who called some great plays tonight against the Falcons.

Rodgers is just a more talented QB than Alex....is Alex horrible...no....but he is inconsistent..maybe he'll get over that.

but Alex does not have a stronger arm than Rodgers, Alex does not have a quicker release than Rodgers, and Alex doesn't have the feel of the position that Rodgers has had....not just in the pros but since College.

All this stuff Rodgers showed today was similar to the stuff he was doing at Cal.....he is just an accurate type of QB, with touch.

its not like Alex and Rodgers were clones of each other coming out of college...and one went to a good team and one went to a bad one....its not that simple.

Check Bradfords stats. They weren't very good and did they make the playoffs? Smith actually had mediocre stats this year except for Int.s. But, he has not overcome his circumstances and for that reason he will no doubt move on. I wish him well, as I wish Bradford well.

Rogers is showing what can happen when a smart coach drafts you and give you time to develop. But, he also has that fiery disposition that tends to make those around him want to follow. Smith does not have that, his disposition is calm in the storm type. Those that follow him have seen what he has gone through and understand how tough he is, those who don't (Crabtree) are young guys who want everything to be perfect...without looking inward to much.

All these Alex threads have one thing in common...posters! People love to post comments about Alex--one way or the other, including me. It is a compelling story--the fall from grace.

wow, for Bradford to go to the worst team in the NFL and for you to say he doesn't have very good stats is incredible. The kid was lights out as a rookie. All the Draft Re-Do's have him listed as #1 again. Smith would go undrafted if the 2005 draft was redone. I'm pretty sure that Bradford threw for more yards than Smith ever has in one year, and I didn't check, but I bet he threw for more TD's as well and has a better career YPA, TD:INT ratio, and Win:Loss ratio than Smith does.

Not sure Bradfords OLine was as bad as ours, but my point was not that Bradford is bad for a rookie, but that people tend to annoint decent rookies too early. In a couple of years he may be a great QB but right now he is not.

He has shown more in one year than Alex did in 6. There's reason to be optimistic in STL.

coulda shoulda woulda

So my brother is a diehard Packers fan........been one since 1994. We were watching the ATL-GB game last night........Rodgers throws his third TD pass of the game. He looks at me and says, "Coulda had him, but you guys f**ked up by picking Smith. Hurts now, doesnt it ?"

First I did , then I did , and then I .


That was embarrassing................

I agree with Afrikan. People make it seem as if Smith and Rodgers are the EXACT same QB, and that if you switch their teams, you will see the results the other QB had.

it doesn't work that way. Sure, coaching and supporting cast are important, but a lot of it has to do with the QB himself. You can easily see that Rodgers has a better feel for the QB position than Smith.

Anyone who says that Smith's arm, accuracy and pocket presence are as good as or better than Rodger's are just kidding themselves.

Originally posted by niner4life21:
I agree with Afrikan. People make it seem as if Smith and Rodgers are the EXACT same QB, and that if you switch their teams, you will see the results the other QB had.

it doesn't work that way. Sure, coaching and supporting cast are important, but a lot of it has to do with the QB himself. You can easily see that Rodgers has a better feel for the QB position than Smith.

Anyone who says that Smith's arm, accuracy and pocket presence are as good as or better than Rodger's are just kidding themselves.

altho i do feel, as QBs, they have similar styles, i concede that aaron does everything better...he's more confident, makes quicker decisions, and puts the ball on the money consistently...

alex has lacked consistency across the board, from footwork, to making reads, making the right split-second decisions, trusting himself to put the ball where only the WR can get it, along with ability sense pressure in the pocket...alex has always had trouble when the game plan goes awry, he has difficulty remaining calm and collected at the first glimpse of adversity. he begins forcing things and then the domino effect takes over