My Take on Alex Smith

Originally posted by Icelandic49er:

Originally posted by taney71:

Originally posted by Icelandic49er:

Originally posted by taney71:

Originally posted by zoomcrypt:
ridiculously high expectations comes with the territory for being the 49ers QB. remember Steve Young was criticized endlessly until he finally won a superbowl.

Very true. Smith haters want the 9ers QB to be an All-Pro from the start. We got a good QB in Smith who is actually improving in his three healthy seasons playing despite the fact that the 9ers organization did all it could to hinder his development (difference offensive systems, OCs, horrible oline, etc.)

Smith is starting to look alot like David Carr in his time in Houston. The poor guy was molested for years by an horrible oline and will never recover. Smith has done very well this year but he rushes his throws even when he does have time in the pocket, which is not very often. My biggest problem with Smith is that he hardly ever runs, he has good legs but like in the Rams game when we had a 3rd and 2, he had a lane open to run at least 10-15 yards but he made the difficult throw in coverage incomplete. He does not want to run and that tells me he is afraid to get injured. I can understand that but use your legs man. Smith will be under so much pressure next year to perform that we will soon know, early next season if he can do it. The biggest question now to me is, What happens if Sam Bradford is still there at 13?

Good point. I think if Smith does two things he'll be in the top 10-15 QBs in the league at least:

1) Stop locking his front leg. He doesn't do that as much but it still gets him at times

2) Run with the ball when there is no one open and there is a place to run.

If he would get guys like Davis from Rutgers and Iupati from Idaho, he would feel pretty good in the pocket.

Originally posted by DaveWilcox:

Originally posted by Icelandic49er:

Originally posted by taney71:

Originally posted by Icelandic49er:

Originally posted by taney71:

Originally posted by zoomcrypt:
ridiculously high expectations comes with the territory for being the 49ers QB. remember Steve Young was criticized endlessly until he finally won a superbowl.

Very true. Smith haters want the 9ers QB to be an All-Pro from the start. We got a good QB in Smith who is actually improving in his three healthy seasons playing despite the fact that the 9ers organization did all it could to hinder his development (difference offensive systems, OCs, horrible oline, etc.)

Smith is starting to look alot like David Carr in his time in Houston. The poor guy was molested for years by an horrible oline and will never recover. Smith has done very well this year but he rushes his throws even when he does have time in the pocket, which is not very often. My biggest problem with Smith is that he hardly ever runs, he has good legs but like in the Rams game when we had a 3rd and 2, he had a lane open to run at least 10-15 yards but he made the difficult throw in coverage incomplete. He does not want to run and that tells me he is afraid to get injured. I can understand that but use your legs man. Smith will be under so much pressure next year to perform that we will soon know, early next season if he can do it. The biggest question now to me is, What happens if Sam Bradford is still there at 13?

Good point. I think if Smith does two things he'll be in the top 10-15 QBs in the league at least:

1) Stop locking his front leg. He doesn't do that as much but it still gets him at times

2) Run with the ball when there is no one open and there is a place to run.

If he would get guys like Davis from Rutgers and Iupati from Idaho, he would feel pretty good in the pocket.

Alex deserves the opportunity to spend an entire offseason with the 1st team, as well as with the same offensive coordinator. With an added weapon, a couple of lineman, and a playmaker or two on defense, the playoffs are within reach.

Originally posted by Niners99:

he had a few stinkers, but if you remove his 2 worst games, which came back to back in the AZ and PHI games, his QB rating jumps up to 89.1, which wouldve ranked 13th just below Donovan McNabb, and just above Joe Flacco.

What happens if you remove McNabb & Flacco's three or four worst games (since they played more games)? You can't compare only Alex's good games to those guys' averages and expect it mean anything at all.

Thanks for a well thought out post and some fine responses. It's refreshing to read some non-emotional comments.

If we fix the Oline many things will get better, Running lanes & holes will opne up more frequently for Gore, Alex will have time to throw and the D will be more rested w/ less 3 & outs.

Our Oline sucks - even the Rams had Alex on the run as soon as the ball was snaped. I think and hope he takes the next step.

Originally posted by zoomcrypt:
ridiculously high expectations comes with the territory for being the 49ers QB. remember Steve Young was criticized endlessly until he finally won a superbowl.

No , high expectation comes when you are the first pick in the first round and get 24million signing bounus !

He has made improvements and is our best option at Qb for 2010 season. Can he take the next step?

The one that is going to gain from this is NATE DAVIS. He will learn from watching Alex and having the same OC for two years in a row is going to speed his development.

Originally posted by ninerforyears:

Originally posted by blizzuntz:
The problem with Alex Smith is that he is tooo damn good. He needs to play down to everyone else so it can click

Dock you had me laughing with this one. I like Alex Smith but I think he doesn't have the natural feel to play quaterback position. He has only thrown for one three hundred yard game in the nfl. we should have never gave our 1st rounder to new england for joe staley. We could have gotter joe flacco in the first and desean jackson in the second instead of kentwan balmer and chilo richal. Until we get some one who can see talent I am sorry to say we will never get beyond an average at best team.

Sorry but I think J Staley is the only thing going for the Niners on the O Line w/o him Flacco would have already been collecting long term disability and D Jax would be a non factor if the QB is sacked 1/2 a second after each snap

Agree with the goods and the bads. His biggest improvement, in my eyes, is hitting the screens and short passes with good accuracy. He would consistently miss those a few years ago.

I think his numbers are also a little bit skewed. I have seen more throws where the reciever makes a great catch, versus where the QB makes a good throw. This has dramatically reduced any attempt at YAC. I really hope he can fix his mid-range to long range accuracy, since he hits about 25% right on the money, 50% within reach of the WR, and the other 25% way off...

Originally posted by Niners99:
look at his game logs, youll see the real picture.

@HOU he had a 118.6 QB rating

@GB was 88.8

JAX was 96.6

@SEA was 95.6

DET was 97.5

@STL was 97.6

he had a few stinkers, but if you remove his 2 worst games, which came back to back in the AZ and PHI games, his QB rating jumps up to 89.1, which wouldve ranked 13th just below Donovan McNabb, and just above Joe Flacco.

im not making excuses for his 2 horrible games, but he did alot better than people are giving him credit for. he was getting absolutely thrashed in the Lions and Rams games by all the zoners, yet he had a 97.5 and 97.6 passer ratings in those games. being picked 1st overall has made it so now he has to lead us to a SB to gain the fans support, which is ridiculous.

Why would you throw out his 2 worst? Didn't he play in those games? If you're going to toss those out then you should also toss the Houston game because Alex only played 2 quarters. I know, some of you are thinking how is this any different than any other Smith game...

So, if we look at Alex Smith STARTS.... He has 4 games with a passer rate above 90 and 4 games with a passer rate below 70. He also had one game with a passer rate in the 70's and one in the 80's. I, for one, think the season passer rate of 81.5 accurately represents how Alex played this year. If anything, it's a bit high for his season average...

Originally posted by D_Niner:

Originally posted by Niners99:
look at his game logs, youll see the real picture.

@HOU he had a 118.6 QB rating

@GB was 88.8

JAX was 96.6

@SEA was 95.6

DET was 97.5

@STL was 97.6

he had a few stinkers, but if you remove his 2 worst games, which came back to back in the AZ and PHI games, his QB rating jumps up to 89.1, which wouldve ranked 13th just below Donovan McNabb, and just above Joe Flacco.

im not making excuses for his 2 horrible games, but he did alot better than people are giving him credit for. he was getting absolutely thrashed in the Lions and Rams games by all the zoners, yet he had a 97.5 and 97.6 passer ratings in those games. being picked 1st overall has made it so now he has to lead us to a SB to gain the fans support, which is ridiculous.

Why would you throw out his 2 worst? Didn't he play in those games? If you're going to toss those out then you should also toss the Houston game because Alex only played 2 quarters. I know, some of you are thinking how is this any different than any other Smith game...

So, if we look at Alex Smith STARTS.... He has 4 games with a passer rate above 90 and 4 games with a passer rate below 70. He also had one game with a passer rate in the 70's and one in the 80's. I, for one, think the season passer rate of 81.5 accurately represents how Alex played this year. If anything, it's a bit high for his season average...

LOL. He throws out his stinkers in the Titans and Eagles games. Two key, critical games that would have defined our season, and Alex Smith himself.

Throw out his two "Fs" and he's an B+ student. Not bad eh?

I'm a Smith supporter, heck I will support any Niner QB but I don't think Smith will ever be more than an average QB. To me hs just doesn't have that "it" factor in which great QBs have. He needs great players around him for him to shine.

With that said, he is our QB next year and I support him 100%. They need to fix his oline for him to have success.

A few things:

First and for most, great post. You hit it right on the head. We are all consumed with the progress of Alex Smith and whether or not he IS the guy. I will say I feel better at the end of this season than I did at the end of 06' and 08'. Our offense has more weapons, our defense is good, but the big difference is we have young defenders(i.e. Willis, Spencer, Brooks, Goldson) now vs. older guys who were at the end of their career(i.e. BY, Lewis, Roman, D. Smith). As for Smith, he has improved in every statistical category when compared to his second full season. This is important. The 9ers made several strides and we will find out soon whether Smith is that guy we need at qb or whether we need to move into another direction. Go 9ers!

Alex Smith is a solid QB, lets look at what he has as a supporting cast:

Pro-Bowl RB
Pro-Bowl TE and solid backup TE
Rookie WR & And a 2nd year, 6th round pick over rated WR
Horrible Offensive line (thus affecting the Pro-Bowl RB's effectiveness and obviously effecting his time in the pocket)
Predictable Unimaginative Playcalling

I'd like to see us add 2 big additions to the OL (one in free agency and one in the first round). That'll make Gore more effective and make Alex's job easier, plus Crabtree will have an entire offseason with him and Morgan will have another year.

Considering we will be going into year 2 of the Raye offense, i hope he can open it up more and make it harder for defenses to gameplan for us. I mean how many times did we see Crabtree run the comeback route against the Rams?

Originally posted by Bluefalcon61:

Originally posted by D_Niner:

Originally posted by Niners99:
look at his game logs, youll see the real picture.

@HOU he had a 118.6 QB rating

@GB was 88.8

JAX was 96.6

@SEA was 95.6

DET was 97.5

@STL was 97.6

he had a few stinkers, but if you remove his 2 worst games, which came back to back in the AZ and PHI games, his QB rating jumps up to 89.1, which wouldve ranked 13th just below Donovan McNabb, and just above Joe Flacco.

im not making excuses for his 2 horrible games, but he did alot better than people are giving him credit for. he was getting absolutely thrashed in the Lions and Rams games by all the zoners, yet he had a 97.5 and 97.6 passer ratings in those games. being picked 1st overall has made it so now he has to lead us to a SB to gain the fans support, which is ridiculous.

Why would you throw out his 2 worst? Didn't he play in those games? If you're going to toss those out then you should also toss the Houston game because Alex only played 2 quarters. I know, some of you are thinking how is this any different than any other Smith game...

So, if we look at Alex Smith STARTS.... He has 4 games with a passer rate above 90 and 4 games with a passer rate below 70. He also had one game with a passer rate in the 70's and one in the 80's. I, for one, think the season passer rate of 81.5 accurately represents how Alex played this year. If anything, it's a bit high for his season average...

LOL. He throws out his stinkers in the Titans and Eagles games. Two key, critical games that would have defined our season, and Alex Smith himself.

Throw out his two "Fs" and he's an B+ student. Not bad eh?

Ok, I did the math. If you calculate his Passer rate only for his starts this year he's at 78.80.

This is with 210 completions on 350 attempts for 2144 yards 15TDs and 11INTs.

I'd say that's pretty accurate to how he played the season.

My take on Smith is that he has the next year to play at a top 10 QB level for him to be offered a contract extension. I think that he can accomplish this.

He has improved every year that he's been healthy, and what more can you reasonably ask for?

-9fA