Originally posted by mrbigjoe:
I know Alex Smith has been given chance after chance to succeed... he's been in the league for 7 years now. The 49ers were in the top three in sacks given up three out of five years (2008, '07, '04) yet we didn't take an offensive lineman in the first round following any of those seasons. However, they may have recognized the issue as they've taken three O-linemen in the last five years..http://www.offthelinefootball.com/2011_05_01_archive.html
Seven quarterbacks (instead of OL) were taken in the first round in the last 10 years by teams that were in the top three in sacks given up the year before:
-Cam Newton (Panthers - 2011), yet to be determined.
- Matthew Stafford (Lions - 2009), injury prone, sacks don't help.
- JaMarcus Russell (Raiders – 2006), monumental bust.
- Alex Smith (49ers – 2004), hasn't worked out.
- J.P. Losman (Bills – 2003), isn't in the league anymore.
- Phillip Rivers/Eli Manning (Giants – 2003), absolutely worked out.
- Joey Harrington (Lions - 2001), another failed pick.
So it's not Alex Smith fault; but he is tough. Being drafted #1 and thrown in there with no line is a recipe for disaster. Just look at the Q.B.'s that have worked out so far, only 2. So if we rank in the top 3 in the fewest sacks given and Alex Smith stills performs the same than there no excuse. It's just that we had Joe Montana, and Steve Young oh man do I miss them. It's not fair to Alex Smith to compare him to those STUDS. Lets fix our horrible line first. So if your TRUE HARDCORE NINER FAN than support Alex Smith. Let's start supporting him by thinking positive. Positive things happen to Positive thinkers. By the way he's no quitter which he could of gone to another team this year but he chose to say. Even though he didn't know if we where going to draft another Q.B he still chose to stay when it could of been so easy to leave so you got like that in him. He's no quitter. He's resilient just coming back from injuries, bad line, fan base, ETC. I know for a fact he doesnt trust his line when they cant even block for 3-5 seconds. I was Q.B. in High School and my line sucks too. We played a wish bone offense basically ran the ball the whole and you cant play that type of football in the NFL. SO FIX THE DAMN LINE PLEASE.
I fixed the first paragraph and just said f**k it lol... Its too hard to read
[ Edited by modninerfan on Oct 1, 2011 at 11:55 AM ]