Sando and Williamson on what to do with Smith.

Quote:
Should Alex Smith remain the starter for San Francisco?

Matt Williamson: I have been a Smith backer -- especially since he just has not had ample opportunity to give up on him. I would say a few more losing games/terrible performances would be enough for me, though. The problem in the big picture is that the staff and most of the offensive personnel is designed to have a power downhill running game. But the "franchise QB" is a soft-throwing spread guy who needs to operate out of the shotgun and have real defined reads. Bad combo.

Mike Sando: Perhaps I'm not giving David Carr enough credit for what he showed with the New York Giants, but I just don't see viable alternatives on the 49ers' roster. Troy Smith arrived too late in the game and hasn't gotten enough practice reps. Nate Davis? The 49ers would have to be in give-up-the-season mode to go that route.

The circumstances in San Francisco have put Smith at a disadvantage. The situation is far from ideal now. I think the 49ers are the victims of a rough early schedule. I suspect their head coach lacks the experience and emotional stability to navigate a team through tough times. No matter. Smith has never been in better position to succeed. He showed something in the New Orleans game. He needs to show much more, but I wouldn't make a quarterback change before the Week 9 bye. That would be the time to re-evaluate.

What I'd say to Matt Williamson is this, why does it have to be a "bad combo", or are you even sure that it is? Honestly, have we really seen this offense ever thrive in the grind it out style? No, we've seen three yards, a cloud of dust, and a punt. The only time we've really seen this offense work is when it is spread out and Smith is in the shotgun. We've seen it against the Saints this year, and also sporadically throughout the season. We also saw it work well last season. Assuming our eyes aren't deceiving us, I think it is safe to conclude that our personnel is overall better in a spread formation than in any other.

And for those saying, "If we had a better QB than Smith we could grind it out." I'd respond with, why would you want to do that? We do have a QB, Alex Smith, and he can move this offense through the air when he is in shotgun. So instead of being stubborn, or wishing we had a QB we don't have on our roster (and what is funny is so many of you would take Brady in a second, even though he lives in the shotgun), lets just go with what works. Lets do what we did to the Saints on the final drive. Our receivers got the ball, our TE got the ball, our RB got the ball, and Smith was able to scramble when he couldn't find anyone. On that drive we moved with great effectiveness and efficiency. We saw our offense thrive, and then we went away with it.

....hopefully we see it Sunday, and for the rest of the season after that. And before you write, "That offense doesn't work in the NFL." I'll say watch a game not involving the 49ers, and pay attention to how often opposing QBs are in shotgun. It might be eye opening for you. It is 2010, not Joe Montana's rookie season.

great post. I have been saying this for a while now.

Williamson is right that Alex needs to be in spread formations. He's wrong about our personnel though. I think our personnel would fit better in spread formations as well. Our OL isn't built for the down running game, because we get very little push. Chilo was supposed to be our mauler but he's a bum, Staley is not a power blocker, and Iupati/Davis are rookies.

We run better out of the spread, block better out of the spread, and throw better, the coaching staff is another story. Fact is, we can't do any worse than we are doing now, the coaching staff has to realize this and change their philosophy like they did last year for 2-3 games, it would do the entire team some good. This style of getting as many fat people as possible across the line and running over the opposition is just dumb.

As for the running game, it's finally taken us until week 4 to realize that running Gore against 9 defenders is tougher than running him against 7. Raye never understood this basic concept, and I think MJ does.

Originally posted by backontop:
great post. I have been saying this for a while now.

Thank you. And I'll add that while Smith may not have the strongest arm in the NFL, he does have a good arm and he can make all the throws. His skill-set isn't all that different than Orton's and Orton is leading the league in passing right now. What Orton also has in common with Smith is that he is better in shotgun, and that is where he lives as a QB.

Weren't people saying of schedule was favorable and it was supposed to be easy? What happened?

Originally posted by aMikeNolanGuy:
Weren't people saying of schedule was favorable and it was supposed to be easy? What happened?

the so called "bad" teams turned out to be pretty damn good.

Originally posted by Kilgore_Trout:

Originally posted by backontop:
great post. I have been saying this for a while now.

Thank you. And I'll add that while Smith may not have the strongest arm in the NFL, he does have a good arm and he can make all the throws. His skill-set isn't all that different than Orton's and Orton is leading the league in passing right now. What Orton also has in common with Smith is that he is better in shotgun, and that is where he lives as a QB.

He can't make all the throws, specifically sideline throws

Originally posted by backontop:

Originally posted by aMikeNolanGuy:
Weren't people saying of schedule was favorable and it was supposed to be easy? What happened?

the so called "bad" teams turned out to be pretty damn good.

yea. only not so good team we've played was the seahawks. In their house, opening day. Tough game.

Originally posted by SybErkRimInAL:

Originally posted by backontop:

Originally posted by aMikeNolanGuy:
Weren't people saying of schedule was favorable and it was supposed to be easy? What happened?

the so called "bad" teams turned out to be pretty damn good.

yea. only not so good team we've played was the seahawks. In their house, opening day. Tough game.

and F those damn Chiefs with the speed and execution!

Originally posted by backontop:

Originally posted by aMikeNolanGuy:
Weren't people saying of schedule was favorable and it was supposed to be easy? What happened?

the so called "bad" teams turned out to be pretty damn good.

It's just ironic. That was one of the big reasons why we were supposed to win the west, "favorable schedule".

Originally posted by LeadFarmer:

Originally posted by Kilgore_Trout:

Originally posted by backontop:
great post. I have been saying this for a while now.

Thank you. And I'll add that while Smith may not have the strongest arm in the NFL, he does have a good arm and he can make all the throws. His skill-set isn't all that different than Orton's and Orton is leading the league in passing right now. What Orton also has in common with Smith is that he is better in shotgun, and that is where he lives as a QB.

He can't make all the throws, specifically sideline throws

I agree his deep out is horrible, but his arm is stronger than Orton's. The point is, Orton is put in a position where his skillset is maximized. Orton spent a few years in CHI in a system similar to ours, and he was horrible. Now all of a sudden he's in a system that uses him properly, and he's flourishing. It's not rocket science.

Originally posted by binary2nd:
Williamson is right that Alex needs to be in spread formations. He's wrong about our personnel though. I think our personnel would fit better in spread formations as well. Our OL isn't built for the down running game, because we get very little push. Chilo was supposed to be our mauler but he's a bum, Staley is not a power blocker, and Iupati/Davis are rookies.

We run better out of the spread, block better out of the spread, and throw better, the coaching staff is another story. Fact is, we can't do any worse than we are doing now, the coaching staff has to realize this and change their philosophy like they did last year for 2-3 games, it would do the entire team some good. This style of getting as many fat people as possible across the line and running over the opposition is just dumb.

Let me say that I feel bad writing this... but watching the stubbornness of our coaching makes me want to quit being a 49er fan. It is too infuriating to witness the same game losing decisions each and every Sunday; wrong offense, too conservative of calls, no killer instinct. We watch what works, and then the coaches go away from it and lose the game. It keeps repeating itself, it is a very tired cycle, and it leaves me thinking our team is being lead by one of the least intelligent, and horribly stubborn individuals on the face of this planet. Of course there are a lot of Mike Singletary's in the world, but we don't need them to be our head coach. If Mike can come off of his soap box philosophy of a grind-it-out offense, and just be the motivator that keeps players focused and making the most of their opportunity, he is welcome to stay. At least that is my take as a lifelong fan.

Originally posted by LeadFarmer:

Originally posted by Kilgore_Trout:

Originally posted by backontop:
great post. I have been saying this for a while now.

Thank you. And I'll add that while Smith may not have the strongest arm in the NFL, he does have a good arm and he can make all the throws. His skill-set isn't all that different than Orton's and Orton is leading the league in passing right now. What Orton also has in common with Smith is that he is better in shotgun, and that is where he lives as a QB.

He can't make all the throws, specifically sideline throws

He misses those the most, but so do most QBs who only get to take a shot once, maybe twice a game. A QB is no different than a shooter in basketball, sometimes he has to get his touches before he gets in a rhythm. The way we call the plays for Smith, he never gets to get in a rhythm... except for in two minute drills where he routinely excels.

I'm telling you, this isn't rocket science. Make me the HC and I'm pretty sure I'll have this kid turning heads in one game.

Originally posted by binary2nd:

Originally posted by LeadFarmer:

Originally posted by Kilgore_Trout:

Originally posted by backontop:
great post. I have been saying this for a while now.

Thank you. And I'll add that while Smith may not have the strongest arm in the NFL, he does have a good arm and he can make all the throws. His skill-set isn't all that different than Orton's and Orton is leading the league in passing right now. What Orton also has in common with Smith is that he is better in shotgun, and that is where he lives as a QB.

He can't make all the throws, specifically sideline throws

I agree his deep out is horrible, but his arm is stronger than Orton's. The point is, Orton is put in a position where his skillset is maximized. Orton spent a few years in CHI in a system similar to ours, and he was horrible. Now all of a sudden he's in a system that uses him properly, and he's flourishing. It's not rocket science.

Kind of how Smith shined last year and at times this year when the team turned to the spread offense. Damn you Singletary just play toward the strengths of the players and not your damn ego!

Originally posted by Kilgore_Trout:

Originally posted by LeadFarmer:

Originally posted by Kilgore_Trout:

Originally posted by backontop:
great post. I have been saying this for a while now.

Thank you. And I'll add that while Smith may not have the strongest arm in the NFL, he does have a good arm and he can make all the throws. His skill-set isn't all that different than Orton's and Orton is leading the league in passing right now. What Orton also has in common with Smith is that he is better in shotgun, and that is where he lives as a QB.

He can't make all the throws, specifically sideline throws

He misses those the most, but so do most QBs who only get to take a shot once, maybe twice a game. A QB is no different than a shooter in basketball, sometimes he has to get his touches before he gets in a rhythm. The way we call the plays for Smith, he never gets to get in a rhythm... except for in two minute drills where he routinely excels.

I'm telling you, this isn't rocket science. Make me the HC and I'm pretty sure I'll have this kid turning heads in one game.

Alex has his chance to do it now. If he's man enough, he should have a big say in the gameplanning, his QB coach is now the OC. Part of the responsibility falls on him, he needs to quite being such a baby.