Alex Smith's potential...

Originally posted by nevek:

Originally posted by AB83Rules:
Alex has tons and tons of potential, and if it asnt for the receivers for dropping passes, Alex would have like 4 or 5 TD's.

Sorry... I havn't seen 4 or 5 sure TD passes dropped, most of his endzone attempts end up, out of the back of the endzone. He may have 4 or 5 more receptions, granted.... but there is no way to determine them as TD's.

yes....but if the recievers make catches on third down instead of dropping them...it extends drives putting the recievers in position to drop TD passes.

Originally posted by PennState49er:
First, I'll state my position:

I'm worried that Alex will be a bust.

Second,:

Do you think Nolan should start playing Dilfer when Alex is struggling? Do you think that will light a fire under his ass? I think it's worth a shot. Alex has shown that he's a competitor, and I love that he was yelling at his team the other day (I was at the game in Pitt, and you could see him doing it on the sideline also). Maybe this is what he needs? That's why drafting a QB mid-draft next year might do him well. If nothing changes, well then we have another option.

Let me here you veterans! Get your torches and your pitchforks!

This is my problem....when has Alex struggled? The entire O has struggled, but can you pinpoint a time in any of the three games that Alex was soooo bad that he should be benched?

All I saw it Alex getting crushed or running for his life and throwing the bal away to avoid the sack.

Originally posted by ReturnOfTheDon:

Originally posted by 9erHIGH:
ppl said the same things about the QB on the other side of the field on sunday,
when he was a young QB (big ben.)
he is really starting to come into his own now tho.
i know you are tired of hearing this,
but alex is STILL very young,
and when he first came into the league he was EXTREMELY RAW
as a passer.
we really do have to be patient.
he is getting there.
he will continue to get better,
especially as we add more potent WRs in the future.
we all know that the trio of d.jax, battle and t.jacobs
still leaves 'something to be desired' in the WR corp.
most other good QBs in the league have at least one guy
who will catch a less than perfectly thrown ball,
break a couple tackles and take it to the house.
when's the last time you saw that from one of our guys?
you cant put that all on alex.

he's playing well enough for the time being,
considering where he came from.
he will continue to improve.
you'll be glad he's a niner someday real soon.

Big Ben was polished out of college and never played like a scared b*tch like Alex. Granted he definitely had better supporting cast. We should be kicking ourselves in the head for picking Alex Smith overall #1. Im sorry Donovan McNabb was right about the whole black/white QB, You really think Smith would got of picked if he was black #1 overall being EXTREMELY RAW? I think not. Bottomline is that Alex Smith is a future journey man QB. You see Vince Young last night, You see Tony Romo the other night. We need a QB with balls like that. Not a scared chihuahua

I'm sorry....my BS meter just went into overdrive....

WHAT THE HELL DOES BLACK OR WHITE HAVE TO DO WITH ANYTHING?

Also...to aswer your question......JaMarcus Russell is black....and you may never find a more raw QB prospect.

This has nothing to do with "balls". What I see in Alex is a Qb that is standing in against the pressure and gets drilled play in and play out and keep coming back. He is playing his ass off in the 4th quarter and isn't giving up.

"scared b*tch?". The guy took EVERY SNAP FROM CENTER LAST YEAR....something no 49er has EVER done.......you don't do that withough being tough or by playing scared.

I think it's becoming fairly apparent that Alex Smith will never LEAD us to SuperBowl or to be a dominant team. Alex needs things to be very comfortable and calm around him to succeed. We are going to continue to have to add steller pieces around him to succeed. At his best I think Alex will be a M. Hassleback type quarterback, but even Hassleback shows more ingenuity and creativity in his game than Alex. Alex is pretty robotic and he has never demonstrated the intangibles over a consistent period of time to convince me that he is the quarterback to hang our hat on.

If the stars are aligned then Alex can do well. He's got an adequate arm, is very accurate and is mobile, but he still severely lacks pocket presence and rarely makes it through his progressions quickly enough. We all make excuses for him because he is our guy, but if he played for the Cardinals or the Rams he wouldn't put fear in any of us. In fact we might welcome going up against Alex at this stage in his career. Alex doesn't and he never will have IT, but perhaps his hardwork and dedication will transform him into a Qb that is capable of occassionally helping us, though not LEADing us to the promise land.

i'm still not sold on alex smith either (still wished we drafted aaron rodgers) but d*mn, can the guy just drop back once knowing he's gonna get the pass protection he needs and know that the guy he's throwing to will actually catch the ball.

Originally posted by C0MEBACK:
I think it's becoming fairly apparent that Alex Smith will never LEAD us to SuperBowl or to be a dominant team. Alex needs things to be very comfortable and calm around him to succeed. We are going to continue to have to add steller pieces around him to succeed. At his best I think Alex will be a M. Hassleback type quarterback, but even Hassleback shows more ingenuity and creativity in his game than Alex. Alex is pretty robotic and he has never demonstrated the intangibles over a consistent period of time to convince me that he is the quarterback to hang our hat on.

If the stars are aligned then Alex can do well. He's got an adequate arm, is very accurate and is mobile, but he still severely lacks pocket presence and rarely makes it through his progressions quickly enough. We all make excuses for him because he is our guy, but if he played for the Cardinals or the Rams he wouldn't put fear in any of us. In fact we might welcome going up against Alex at this stage in his career. Alex doesn't and he never will have IT, but perhaps his hardwork and dedication will transform him into a Qb that is capable of occassionally helping us, though not LEADing us to the promise land.

You're right about the last part. I wouldn't be scared at all of Alex. In fact, I know if we blitz the hell out of him, stuff gore by putting 9 in the box, and not turn the ball over on offense (like arizona or rams) we'd probably win. We'd probably be a top 10 defense after we played him esp. on pass defense. he's averaging like 150 yrd a game thanks to his last one. You're right, we have to think objectively. If we asked lets say, the giants (random team) about alex, their opinion might be more relective of the truth than what we think because he's on our team. good job comeback.

Originally posted by tradeDown:
well what year can we Yank him if he is stinking up the place. the right thing would have been to sit him year one.. we played him, almost got him killed, and he looked terrible. then he was injured and watched as rattay, pickett, and dorsey all outplayed him.

we paid him 50 bazillion bucks.. suck it up and learn..

warner came in for leinart and lit it up.. why do we even have dilfer ?? do we really have that many clipboards to carry ? he has a qb coach, an OC who was his qb coach, nolan, etc...

i think alex is improving.. and it will take time (probably right to when we have to decide to resign him to another HUGE contract - cuz you know he aint takin less)

the niners are to blame also... changing OC's with a new QB every year is destructive.. but it does give them MORE EXCUSES...

What were they supposed to do? Both McCarthy and Turner left to become Head Coaches. By league rule, they could not prevent it although they still had valid contracts in place.

Who in their right mind would not move from OC to HC if given the chance?

What decent offensive mind would come to the 49ers if they knew, based on history, that they would be prevented from a vertical move if one became available?

I don't think you thought your post through very well.

Originally posted by ReturnOfTheDon:

Originally posted by 9erHIGH:

Originally posted by ReturnOfTheDon:

Originally posted by 9erHIGH:
ppl said the same things about the QB on the other side of the field on sunday,
when he was a young QB (big ben.)
he is really starting to come into his own now tho.
i know you are tired of hearing this,
but alex is STILL very young,
and when he first came into the league he was EXTREMELY RAW
as a passer.
we really do have to be patient.
he is getting there.
he will continue to get better,
especially as we add more potent WRs in the future.
we all know that the trio of d.jax, battle and t.jacobs
still leaves 'something to be desired' in the WR corp.
most other good QBs in the league have at least one guy
who will catch a less than perfectly thrown ball,
break a couple tackles and take it to the house.
when's the last time you saw that from one of our guys?
you cant put that all on alex.

he's playing well enough for the time being,
considering where he came from.
he will continue to improve.
you'll be glad he's a niner someday real soon.

Big Ben was polished out of college and never played like a scared b*tch like Alex. Granted he definitely had better supporting cast. We should be kicking ourselves in the head for picking Alex Smith overall #1. Im sorry Donovan McNabb was right about the whole black/white QB, You really think Smith would got of picked if he was black #1 overall being EXTREMELY RAW? I think not. Bottomline is that Alex Smith is a future journey man QB. You see Vince Young last night, You see Tony Romo the other night. We need a QB with balls like that. Not a scared chihuahua

you do know that t.romo is in his 5TH YEAR AT 27 YEARS right?
if we can only save this thread for 3 years when alex will be 26 in his 6th year,
we'll see who's right. plus we have no TO on this team for alex to throw to.
big ben WAS INDEED POLISHED coming out of college.
that's my point.
college is where QBs get their training.
big ben was prepared better during his college career
than was alex who ran the spread in college.
that is why we shouldnt be surprised if the learning curve is more steep with alex.
that is why nolan is being more patient with alex.
that is what ppl mean when they say alex was RAW.
he needed more polishing that almost any #1 overall pick.
mcnolan was able to look inside alex and see the player he could be in the future.
that is who they drafted.
they player he can/will be.
they liked what they saw.
so do i.

Point is you dont take a player who is EXTREMELY RAW #1 OVERALL!!!!! Wtf are you talking about Romo and his 5th year. He sat on the bench all those years. No game experience, very little in pre season. I was talking about the fact that he has the fearless instinct. Alex Smith doesnt have that. I know he is your blonde haired blue eye all american kind of guy, but he sucks. He will never be the worth the top pick.

He will be a journey man QB like Steve Deberg. Good for some games, but not reliable for the long term. Bottomline if we had patience and waited til the 2006 draft, I gaurantee we would look at better on O.

ok then smart guy.
if we dont take a.smith #1 overall in 2005, who do we take?
we've been over this a million times.
it was our best chance to draft a franchise QB for a million different reasons,
not all of them being football related.
dont even bring up alex's eye and hair color. keep it relevant.

if you cant grasp the concept that there is a difference between a...

1. QB who is a 27yo more mature human being who has been studying, practicing and getting preseason reps against NFL defenses since 2003, with the aid of a savy veteran in the film room (bledsoe) and who finally gets a chance to step in and has the luxury of throwing to a very good veteran TE and 2 very, very good veteran WRs who dont run the wrong routes often at all, and a...

2. QB who is only 23yo and in 2003 when romo was going thru his 1st NFL TC and preseason, was getting his first job as a starting QB IN COLLEGE and learning the spread offense in the MAC. when alex throw the ball he has guys like a.battle, d.drops.jax and t.jacobs to throw the ball to and his potential all-world TE cant stay healthy long enough to develop chemistry with.

if you cant understand the difference, there really is no point to further this discussion.

The only real gripe I have with Smith is his tendancy to retreat deep into the backfield and towards the right sidelines at the slightest hint of pressure. At this point, it's not as common as before, but it can still do major damage to the passing game when he eliminates half or even more options when leaves the pocket (whether he had to, which is usually so, or not).

Unfortunately, there's not much our O-Line can do, because teams will continue to send in 5-6 from all angles, and there's no O-line and RB combination in the NFL that can keep the rushers off the QB like that. All Smith and Hostler can really do is find ways to get the ball out of Smith's hands quickly, or for Smith and Heitmann to find ways to minimize the potential damage brought on by blitzes. This is going to be the key against the Ravens in 2 weeks.

Originally posted by NolanMustDie:
Unfortunately, there's not much our O-Line can do, because teams will continue to send in 5-6 from all angles, and there's no O-line and RB combination in the NFL that can keep the rushers off the QB like that. All Smith and Hostler can really do is find ways to get the ball out of Smith's hands quickly, or for Smith and Heitmann to find ways to minimize the potential damage brought on by blitzes. This is going to be the key against the Ravens in 2 weeks.

I agree, but even when we have 4 wideouts for some deep routes, alex rarely gets enough time to set for a pass. There's only like 3-4 guys rushing and they still get pressure right in his face everytime. Starting to annoy the f**k out of me

Originally posted by Method:

I agree, but even when we have 4 wideouts for some deep routes, alex rarely gets enough time to set for a pass. There's only like 3-4 guys rushing and they still get pressure right in his face everytime. Starting to annoy the f**k out of me

It's weird, but that's what happening. However, Alex needs to find ways to evade the rush that doesn't involve going backward. He's been doing that better than before, but he still needs major improvement in that area.

Originally posted by NolanMustDie:

Originally posted by Method:

I agree, but even when we have 4 wideouts for some deep routes, alex rarely gets enough time to set for a pass. There's only like 3-4 guys rushing and they still get pressure right in his face everytime. Starting to annoy the f**k out of me

It's weird, but that's what happening. However, Alex needs to find ways to evade the rush that doesn't involve going backward. He's been doing that better than before, but he still needs major improvement in that area.

Yeah, he of course has to improve in a lot of areas, but I think it's hard for a guy to continually get rushed right in the face of the pocket (almost every time he steps back to pass) and get the confidence down to do it again and again without rolling out.

Originally posted by dj43:

Originally posted by tradeDown:
well what year can we Yank him if he is stinking up the place. the right thing would have been to sit him year one.. we played him, almost got him killed, and he looked terrible. then he was injured and watched as rattay, pickett, and dorsey all outplayed him.

we paid him 50 bazillion bucks.. suck it up and learn..

warner came in for leinart and lit it up.. why do we even have dilfer ?? do we really have that many clipboards to carry ? he has a qb coach, an OC who was his qb coach, nolan, etc...

i think alex is improving.. and it will take time (probably right to when we have to decide to resign him to another HUGE contract - cuz you know he aint takin less)

the niners are to blame also... changing OC's with a new QB every year is destructive.. but it does give them MORE EXCUSES...

What were they supposed to do? Both McCarthy and Turner left to become Head Coaches. By league rule, they could not prevent it although they still had valid contracts in place.

Who in their right mind would not move from OC to HC if given the chance?

What decent offensive mind would come to the 49ers if they knew, based on history, that they would be prevented from a vertical move if one became available?

I don't think you thought your post through very well.

true, but $$$$ talks.. look how the steelers keep their D coordinator... some will leave.. singletary will be the next coach gone.

Originally posted by dj43:


Who in their right mind would not move from OC to HC if given the chance?

Turner. As Dirty Harry said, "A man's got to know his limitations."

HEY......THIS IS NOT ALEX SMITH'S FAULT THAT THE O IS DOING BAD......ITS THE REST OF THE OFFENSE......PUT IN PEYTON MANNING AND SEE WHAT HE DOES WITH THIS TEAM......NOTHING