Who do you WANT to be QB

http://blogs.mercurynews.com/49ers/2012/03/20/ex-harbaugh-qb-josh-johnson-would-like-reunion/

Josh Johnson might be coming for a visit this week.

Originally posted by dj43:
I was typing in a hurry. What I should have said was that Crabtree did not begin practicing regularly until during week 12. Even then, he was on the "limited participation" list through week 14. In order for a passing offense to run effectively the QB and the receivers MUST have practice time together so they can settle the patterns and timing of the routes. There was NEVER a time when the 49ers went through a full week from training camp on, when they had the full compliment of WRs healthy enough to accomplish that. They were virtually play pick-up games with kids off the streets as far as building the confidence and rapport needed to develop the passing game.

Look. It is clearly evident that the 49ers need WRs in a big way. Every draft pundit has recognized it in their mocks. You can knock Alex Smith all you want but the facts are that Harbaugh never trusted him even once in a significant game to come in and play. Smith, with all the limitations imposed on the offense, still finished with quality work and a very solid rating. So while that certainly does not put him on the same level as PM but to say that Colin Kaepernick was capable then of doing what Smith did is to ignore reality.

But we come back to the question: What did Alex Smith do that was irreplaceable? Maybe you're right, maybe instead of handing off the ball, Kaepernick will fall down. Maybe instead of checking down, Kaepernick will crap his pants. This could all happen.

Are you trying tell me though, if not Kaepernick, we can't find a QB that could do what Alex Smith did last year, in a passing league? We can't find a QB that will not throw risky passes, that if the first guy is not open, he'll immediately check down? We can't find another guy that can throw for less than 200 yards a game? We can't find another guy that can lead an offense that was 30th in the red zone? Sure, we can blame some of that on the wideouts but come on, the wideouts are not exactly getting a lot of help from their quarterback either. It goes both ways.

I thank Alex forever for his service. I thank him for last year, especially. But what the hell have you been watching?

I'd be down with Alex Trebek....

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2012/03/20/breaking-down-ten-intriguing-free-agent-fliers-left-on-the-market/

1. Quarterback Josh Johnson — Johnson is still developing after four seasons, but he can power the football downfield with a deceptively strong arm and is a dynamic athlete with blazing straight-line speed. Even if the Niners re-sign Alex Smith, Johnson would make sense as competition for projected No. 2 quarterback Colin Kaepernick in San Francisco.

Why the hell not?

Originally posted by GetoThunderFist:

Originally posted by dj43:
I was typing in a hurry. What I should have said was that Crabtree did not begin practicing regularly until during week 12. Even then, he was on the "limited participation" list through week 14. In order for a passing offense to run effectively the QB and the receivers MUST have practice time together so they can settle the patterns and timing of the routes. There was NEVER a time when the 49ers went through a full week from training camp on, when they had the full compliment of WRs healthy enough to accomplish that. They were virtually play pick-up games with kids off the streets as far as building the confidence and rapport needed to develop the passing game.

Look. It is clearly evident that the 49ers need WRs in a big way. Every draft pundit has recognized it in their mocks. You can knock Alex Smith all you want but the facts are that Harbaugh never trusted him even once in a significant game to come in and play. Smith, with all the limitations imposed on the offense, still finished with quality work and a very solid rating. So while that certainly does not put him on the same level as PM but to say that Colin Kaepernick was capable then of doing what Smith did is to ignore reality.

But we come back to the question: What did Alex Smith do that was irreplaceable? Maybe you're right, maybe instead of handing off the ball, Kaepernick will fall down. Maybe instead of checking down, Kaepernick will crap his pants. This could all happen.

Are you trying tell me though, if not Kaepernick, we can't find a QB that could do what Alex Smith did last year, in a passing league? We can't find a QB that will not throw risky passes, that if the first guy is not open, he'll immediately check down? We can't find another guy that can throw for less than 200 yards a game? We can't find another guy that can lead an offense that was 30th in the red zone? Sure, we can blame some of that on the wideouts but come on, the wideouts are not exactly getting a lot of help from their quarterback either. It goes both ways.

I thank Alex forever for his service. I thank him for last year, especially. But what the hell have you been watching?

Minus the bolded (since I respect dj43 a lot), I agree with everything you just said.

Originally posted by GhostofFredDean74:
Minus the bolded (since I respect dj43 a lot), I agree with everything you just said.

And I don't mean disrespect, either, since I am a noob, relatively. That was just a flourish. Still...what the hell?

Anyone but Josh Johnson! Come on Baalke, don't do it man

Originally posted by GetoThunderFist:

Originally posted by GhostofFredDean74:
Minus the bolded (since I respect dj43 a lot), I agree with everything you just said.

And I don't mean disrespect, either, since I am a noob, relatively. That was just a flourish. Still...what the hell?

I get it since I catch a lot of hell for my opinions of Alex, but people see what they want to see. And with Alex, it's a tough situation because he did do a lot of good things last year (great QB rating, excellent completion %, great TD-to-INT ratio and of course tons of wins including clutch plays in his first playoff game). But if you look at his play from a purely objective standpoint, there's a ton of room for improvement.

And to your point, given what is asked from our QB (around 28 attempts a game), I don't see it as a stretch to get 17 TD passes (a little over 1 per game), 60+% completion rating and around 3100 passing yards (196 per game) from someone else. So as much as I appreciate what Alex did for us last year (especially considering how mediocre he had been in past years) I don't think it's stretch to get the same type of play from other QBs given our system, our defense and the Harbaugh factor.

Originally posted by WillistheWall:
Anyone but Josh Johnson! Come on Baalke, don't do it man

Hah, I bet Baalke said the same thing to Harbaugh last off-season when JH said he wanted Alex Smith as his QB!