Can Randy Moss & Alex Smith pull this off.....

Joe Montana said he only throw deep if he like what he sees. And that's about what I want Smith to do. Forced something downfield just for the sake of doing it, ended up a wasted play, when he could be hitting something underneath, get positive yardage and move the chains, continued a drive. Convert 3rd downs. Don't care how Smith and the offense do it. Just get it done. Without converting those critical 3rd downs, the complaint about the deep ball is just BS. I'm sure they will try to hit a deep one here and there but getting another 1st down is more important than trying to hit a home run.

Originally posted by BayArea:
I think it srems from him not wanting to f**k so we all go oh yeah theres the same old alex smith again.

Originally posted by Pillbusta:
I don't think Alex lacks for much of anything physically. His problem has been his hesitancy to be aggressive in his play when the situation arises. He made some strides last season in this area. He has good arm strength and is physically gifted enough for the position, he just has to put the ball in play and let the receiver come down with it

While I don't disagree, it is necessary to point out that hesitancy comes from failure. That is, being hit before the play develops or having receivers not where they should be. Very few QBs have an instinct to be hesitant. Jim Plunkett was hit so often in NE that he started just falling down before the DL got to him. His career was shattered for a while. Pounded year after year, his self preservation kicked in.

Smith has proved to be a tough guy and as he starts to trust the line and WRs they will have as much success as VD has had. And they are not that far off...so I hope neither group, OL or WR, has a set back. If they can give Smith an average of a half second more and the WRS are able to shake defenders...watch out!

Originally posted by BayArea:
I think it srems from him not wanting to f**k so we all go oh yeah theres the same old alex smith again.

Can you give me a brief translation for this?

Originally posted by dtg_9er:

Originally posted by BayArea:
I think it srems from him not wanting to f**k so we all go oh yeah theres the same old alex smith again.

Can you give me a brief translation for this?

I think it stems from him not wanting to turn into Phil Jennings so we all go "yea there's the same old Alex again".

During the 1984 edition of America's Game Keena Turner made a quote about Dan Marino, he said no matter how good a quarterback is if he gets hit enough he becomes very ordinary. This Niner team brings more pressure as the game goes on. By the 4th quarter the opposing line is hammered into submission. Everyone is talking about the Packer offense, I can't wait to see the 49er offense unleashed.

Originally posted by oldman9er:


.... but yes, Alex can deliver the ball to Moss, if he is open. Question should be.. will the pass protection hold up long enough to encourage Harbaugh to allow for more passing?

This! Alex became the #1 overall pick b/c of his success in the PASSING GAME...spread. But he came to SF and we turned him into a "protect the ball" QB. Yet, when you look at his career, when asked...when needed, Alex has delivered EVERY SINGLE TIME when he has gone to a more spread, wide-open offense. So why are people still questioning whether Alex can throw this type of game? Its been stated over this last week that Harbaugh/Roman (reinforced again by the latest Roman video) that their game-plan and offensive philosophy is to protect the ball b/c THAT stat alone is the strongest correlated stat to wins and loses by a mile.

So, again...it's not a matter of IF Alex can get Randy the ball. It's:
1) Will the OC call plays where we can get isolation for Randy on "safer" big plays.
2) Will the pass-protection consistently hold up for Alex/Randy to connect on said plays called

Simple...

Originally posted by oldman9er:

Originally posted by niners4lyfe:
I don't know if Alex has the arm strength to "chuck it" to Moss. It's gonig to be interesting to see how all of this will work.

He was chucking it a good 50 yds last season.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zHN1UPg5zHs

After working with mechanics guru Tom House, I'd say his throwing power will have a little more zip now, if he's got time to set his feet.

He has enough arm strength. He just refuses to throw it because he doesn't want to throw the pick.

Originally posted by SanDiego49er:

Originally posted by oldman9er:

Originally posted by niners4lyfe:
I don't know if Alex has the arm strength to "chuck it" to Moss. It's gonig to be interesting to see how all of this will work.

He was chucking it a good 50 yds last season.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zHN1UPg5zHs

After working with mechanics guru Tom House, I'd say his throwing power will have a little more zip now, if he's got time to set his feet.

He has enough arm strength. He just refuses to throw it because he doesn't want to throw the pick.

Maybe it has to do with playing the high/low percentage game? Why throw the more risky Moss slant when you see VD running easily open on a drag route vs a slow ILB? Alex's brain plays the % game, and that's a big part of our success last season.

Now that he allegedly has better WRs (Alex already gushing about Moss' range for toss up passes), maybe he can worry less about the extra INT risk?

One thing I definitely want to see this year, deep ball or not is more of a connection to WRs.

Smith was 32nd in the league last season in completions to WRs...if I'm not mistaken. Doesn't have to be top 10, but shouldn't be that low.

Originally posted by JTsBiggestFan:
One thing I definitely want to see this year, deep ball or not is more of a connection to WRs.

Smith was 32nd in the league last season in completions to WRs...if I'm not mistaken. Doesn't have to be top 10, but shouldn't be that low.

Yes! There were some open receivers down field that Smith simply over threw. A good part of that was the lack of camp. So this year should be better. But when Smith missed a few this year, and he will, you know the usual suspects will harp on that. He just need to hit on most of them like all the other qb in the NFL.

Not sure how you got 32nd completion .... he had 61.3% completion, good for 11th.

Of course the inner fan wants me to say yes. But realistically, no.

Originally posted by niners4lyfe:
I don't know if Alex has the arm strength to "chuck it" to Moss. It's gonig to be interesting to see how all of this will work.

I don't think it's a question of arm strength so much as a question of accuracy. Alex has a knack for overthrowing open receivers especially down the sideline. I don't know if he just can't do it or if it's his overly cautious nature making him overthrow a guy deep rather than risk an under-thrown ball that gets picked off.

Originally posted by dtg_9er:

Originally posted by BayArea:
I think it srems from him not wanting to f**k so we all go oh yeah theres the same old alex smith again.

Can you give me a brief translation for this?

i am sure there were more than a few and maybe even they are here who really really wanted to scream last year,,,,, its the same old alex smith,,,,they never got the chance

I know this has been discussed many times already, but... apparently people still want to discuss it. Heh.

I wonder if some people got the impression that Smith has a weak arm from when his shoulder was injured. Remember, that was a long period of time... you could probably say that it effected him for three years. I doubt he was 100% in '09. That's a lot of scar tissue to loosen up.

I dunno... I just remember him being able to throw the ball deep before the injury and obviously he can now, as evidenced by the video clip of his pass to Crabtree.

Meh, we'll find out soon enough.