Grade Alex Smith's performance in Game 2 vs Minnesota...

He would have made Nolan happy - he was a good game manager, and the team wasn't on his back. Grade of B.

alex was great..loved his pocket presence...if raye would call better plays..instead of up the middle draws

Just like Collingsworth said on TV last night, if Alex can be just good the Niners will be a dangerous team.

What really stood out to me was:

1. Pocket presence- His ability to hang in there and deliver the ball with pressure around him is a marked improvement. He normally would have bailed and bootlegged to the outside for a throw out of bounds.

2. Ability to step up in the pocket- When the rush came around him, he stepped forward and delivered the ball, something I've never really seen him do.

3. Accuracy- For the most part, Smith threw accurately on short to mid-range throws, even when on the run. That's again something I've never seen from him.


Like him or not (I'm on the fence with this one), you can't deny that he played well. He displayed things I've never seen him do and never thought I'd see him do.

When Alex has time to throw the ball, he looks like a capable NFL QB. Good job last night.

I think a lot of credit has to go to Solari and Brown for getting this montage OLine ready with 2 rookies and a new center!

Look at Tom Brady's performance in the Superbowl two years ago against the Giants; without protection and time from your OLine you can not succeed. BTW I am NOT comparing Smith to Brady so please do not go there.

I give him a B. He played well except for two high throws.

Smith gets a B and Raye gets a D+

Originally posted by NinerPrideinNJ:
What really stood out to me was:

2. Ability to step up in the pocket- When the rush came around him, he stepped forward and delivered the ball, something I've never really seen him do.3. Accuracy- For the most part, Smith threw accurately on short to mid-range throws, even when on the run. That's again something I've never seen from him.

Thats because he had a pocket to step up into..

How many times did we see the center get pushed 5yds back against one of the best D-lines in the league???

It's preseason play calling which is as vanilla as it gets and Vernon Davis, Michael Crabtree, Frank Gore and Bryan Westbrook weren't playing. Think that's going to have any impact on what you're trying to do on the field?

I know banging on Jimmy Raye is a favorite fun activity here but come on fellas. Cut the man some slack.

Smith did good out there, so I give him a B+.

Yes, the playcalling kind of stunk out there at times, but you cannot grade playcalling during preseason. Preseason is a time to call vanilla plays to see if the players can succeed doing the easy stuff.

If Raye does this in the regular season, I will be upset.

B+ keep playing like that and it's gonna be a fun season

Smith played well and looked very confident and poised. 5-6 on the first drive with decent play calling and got us on the board, after that the play calling was very vanilla and smith went 4-7

Finally a scoring drive on the first possession. It does two things, one it keeps the other offense off the field and two it sometimes takes longer for the other team to establish an offensive rhythm.

I figured he'd bounce back after a not-so-hot showing in Indy...and he did. I'd say a solid B.

Other then the first drive he was un-impressive. I blame a lot of it on the play calling. We ran the ball every first down right up the gut. I think at one point we averaged -1 yards on first down. To be honest it looks like the same old Alex. On the other hand he didn't have Gore, VD or Crabtree. Not going to get crazy over any of this pre-season junk. Will see what happens in Sept.