Clayton Ranking NFL starting quarterbacks

See even the experts say he sucks...........

All this "not hitting receivers in stride" crap is bulls**t. I think he can hit receivers in stride when he feels confident in his chemistry with the receivers, and also when he has time.

Originally posted by danimal:
Fantasy Football Owners tend to be more educated about the game....and usually Alex Smith does not get drafted.....so I would say this sounds about right. Most unbiased knowledgeable fans can list off a good 15-20 QB's they would prefer over Alex.

Fantasy Football owners draft players based on past performances and tend to lean toward QBs of passing teams. Of course they're going to pick guys like M. Schaub or P. Rivers before guys like M. Sanchez or A. Smith. I doubt that a lesser-known guy like Chad Henne would be ranked above Alex Smith.

Originally posted by danimal:
Fantasy Football Owners tend to be more educated about the game....

LOL!!!!!! Sure they do!!!!!

Originally posted by fastforward:

Originally posted by danimal:
Fantasy Football Owners tend to be more educated about the game....and usually Alex Smith does not get drafted.....so I would say this sounds about right. Most unbiased knowledgeable fans can list off a good 15-20 QB's they would prefer over Alex.

Fantasy Football owners draft players based on past performances and tend to lean toward QBs of passing teams. Of course they're going to pick guys like M. Schaub or P. Rivers before guys like M. Sanchez or A. Smith. I doubt that a lesser-known guy like Chad Henne would be ranked above Alex Smith.

sure sure that is a factor, but the point is.....most Non Niner fans I know, can easily rattle off 15 names or so that they would rather have at the helm of either their FF team or the real team they root for.

I'm jus saying. the 21st ranking seems right.....but he still has some potential left, so maybe this time next year he will be known as a top 15 QB

Originally posted by Ninefan56:
This season will tell us whether he is a quality QB or not. He has all the weapons, he has the oline, and we will see if Jimmy Raye's offensive philosophy will allow him to blossom or not. But this is his year. I think he has the talent and we will see if he can put it together.

This has been my main issue with our team. Normally, when a team has as many weapons as we do on offense and a top 10 defense, playoffs isn't the goal for these types of teams, a Superbowl is.

I do think we have lowered our standards so much due to the amount invested in Smith that we are OK not having a Super win as a goal for this team.

We have:


a top 5 running back
a top 5 TE
a backup TE who can pose so many mismatches that he can act as a receiver
a promising young WR
what looks to be a solid offensive line


Of course, there's the biggest missing piece, QB. I'm fine with Alex Smith getting his last hoorah but playoffs shouldn't be a goal, it should be expected.

Why we acquired David Carr, I have no idea. He just makes things worse if Smith doesn't get it done.

Originally posted by Joecool:

Originally posted by Ninefan56:
This season will tell us whether he is a quality QB or not. He has all the weapons, he has the oline, and we will see if Jimmy Raye's offensive philosophy will allow him to blossom or not. But this is his year. I think he has the talent and we will see if he can put it together.

This has been my main issue with our team. Normally, when a team has as many weapons as we do on offense and a top 10 defense, playoffs isn't the goal for these types of teams, a Superbowl is.

I do think we have lowered our standards so much due to the amount invested in Smith that we are OK not having a Super win as a goal for this team.

We have:


a top 5 running back
a top 5 TE
a backup TE who can pose so many mismatches that he can act as a receiver
a promising young WR
what looks to be a solid offensive line


Of course, there's the biggest missing piece, QB. I'm fine with Alex Smith getting his last hoorah but playoffs shouldn't be a goal, it should be expected.

Why we acquired David Carr, I have no idea. He just makes things worse if Smith doesn't get it done.

Considering we haven't gotten there in awhile....at least for this season....getting to the playoffs IS THE GOAL.

IMO he will be better this year than what we have seen. So called "experts" are going off of the past which is the only body of work they can judge. But he never had a good O Line in front of him until this year and he never ever had 2 years in the same system and with the same coordinator until now. So he will for sure be better IMO.

Ubran Meyer gave us an exact road map. He told us what to do. "Alex is NON FUNCTIONAL until he gets it. He has to understand everything before he is effective. And when he does he is a dynamic QB."

So what did we do? We gave him a new O. Coordinator and new system every single year.



IMO he may never be great but I also don't think he will be as bad as what people believe either. I believe he can be more than functional. He can even be good. He was last year at times. There is no way with 2 years in the same system and with a better O Line and Crabtree in his 2nd year he is worse. It's not possible.

So Smith was ranked #19 at the end of last year, and Clayton thinks he has regressed? I think I will take Jaworski's opinion as more informed than Clayton, who has probably never played football, but I am sure is a "Fantasy Expert"

just another "expert" who doesnt bother doing any research on the things they write about. a 9 game rookie season he never shouldve played in, a 3 game healthy season in 2007 before the Bernard injury, and 10.5 game season last year.

thats 36 healthy starts in his career. which is slightly over 2 seasons of healthy playing time. anyone who says "hes entering his 6TH season! he still isnt proven. hes a bust." has no idea what theyre talking about.

Originally posted by susweel:

Originally posted by Shaj:
I was thinking about the hitting receivers in-stride thing. Warner was a master of that. Smith isn't. He also has trouble throwing receivers open or before they break. They generally have to already be open for him to feel comfortable.

To me thats one of the biggest reasons that he will not ever be an elite QB. Hitting receivers in stride is a very important part of getting YAC and sustaining drives.

This pre-season I've notice improvement in this area. He's thrown receivers open more than he has in the past . . . for example the big play to Delanie on the first drive against the Vikings. It looked to me like Smith was cocked and firing just before Walker made his break behind the ILB. I agree that we need to see more of that.

21 seems about right to me.

Originally posted by Nes49:

Originally posted by Tru2RedNGold25:
Here's your poster boy:

21. Alex Smith, San Francisco 49ers

Analysis: It's hard to believe this is Smith's sixth season. The pressure is on him to get the 49ers to the playoffs. He has not lived up to his No. 1 billing in the draft, obviously, but the surrounding cast is good enough to make a playoff run. One of the faults I noticed when I saw him in the preseason is that he doesn't always hit receivers in stride.
Chance of being elite: 0 percent


It's very true elite QB's can hit a receiver in stride when they have to.

think why i still dont trust this guy even with a pro bowl cast we could end up not making the playoff's because of play

im not a Smith backer but i want the playoffs SO BAD that i really dont have no choice but back him.

Just imagine what kind of team we would have if we had A REAL NFL QB like lets say Drew Brees????..............

CHAD PENNINGTON DIVISION?!?!?!?! That list suprizes me....lists some interesting QBs there. One cats opinion though...Jawz sees improvement in Alex Smith....somebody is WRONG. But seeing as Jawz played football & Clayton didn't......I'll choose to agree with Jawz....plus I'll choose to believe Clayton eats paste still.

All Jaws said, was that Alex has improved. Gotten better. I really hope that Alex is more consistent this year, more so in the games against other contenders. If you were to ask Jaws questions like was he worth the number one over all pick or to disect his hitting the receivers in stride, he may say the same thing as Clayton. However he wasn't asked to disect Alex, like he does on gamedays for MNF.

Everyone needs to relax and wait for the regular season. I am concerned that Alex hasn't had a chance to work with VD and Crab and gore to get their timing down. The good thing is that others know of their talents put are not sure how the niners are going to line it up.

by the way..who are these other 20 QB's?

What about the 13 times he hit Vernon Davis in stride, all TDs no less, last year?