Vernon Davis: "I wouldn't replace Alex Smith with anybody."

In the recent article with Josh Morgan discussing "the whole new Alex" he sees, someone also questioned Davis on the matter:

Quote:
Later in the day, I listened to tight end Vernon Davis and two other panelists discuss the importance of arts education in public schools (yes, more later), in an event at the de Young Museum. The audience got to fire questions after the moderated portion, and at one point, another panelist jumped in to query Davis about his quarterback.

"I love Alex Smith to death," he answered. "There's something about him. I look forward to working with him this season. I wouldn't replace him with nobody. He has it in him. He just has to bring it out. This is the year for Alex Smith."

Is this really a turning point? Are we finally going to see a real break-out this year? Josh Morgan is excited to find out.

Quote:
Morgan noted that Smith's confidence seemed to grow by the week last season, but it really sprouted when the offense finally got together for offseason workouts this spring.

"He took total control over everything," the third-year receiver said. "Like with the offense, we'd go out there and half the time Alex would just run the whole thing, run the whole practice without the coaches even being there. That's what you like to see in your quarterback. You like to see him with that type of fire, take that type of leadership. I mean, he's spitting the plays out, he's explaining everything and it's just like, 'Wow. Thank you.' I'm getting excited about it."

I then asked Morgan about how Ted Ginn might open up the offense for the other weapons. Morgan acknowledged Ginn's speed, but immediately brought the conversation back to Smith and those offseason passing workouts.

"It was like a whole new Alex," Morgan said. "It was like, 'Wow, where did you come from?' I had a couple friends that played with him at Utah, and they said that's how he was at Utah. So it was like, 'Wow, that's what they was talking about.' It's just exciting to see. I'm just hoping he has that same success he had at Utah, and he's gonna really show why he was the No. 1 pick."

http://blog.pressdemocrat.com/49ers/2010/05/morgan-on-his-qb-it-was-like-a-whole-new-alex.html

"I wouldn't replace him with nobody"

Isn't that a double negative?

Championships

I would replace "nobody" with anybody...

Leadership is one of the very few things he needed to work on. I guess it's a little easier when you understand the offense and don't need to defer to the new OC in town who has to draw everything out for everyone, even to Alex.


Now only if he could work on his other very important weakness: Accuracy.

Originally posted by marshniners24:
I would replace "nobody" with anybody...

At first I was like, , but then I was like, .

i lul

I'd replace Alex with Phil Jennings.

I don't put a lot of stock in these kind of comments because we've heard them before and no player is going to say "Yeah he sucks and we're screwed this year"

What encouraging thing I did take from these comments is that he seems to be the most comfortable in an offense since coming into the league which should lead to a better performance this year.

As far as leadership goes it's sorta overrated in the media. Ultimately players respect that you're putting your work in and your performance on the field. Nobody is going to care what you have to say if you don't have the performance to back it up. It's also hard to tear into a guy when you barely know the offense yourself. The less he has to think about the offense the more it'll free him to take more of a leadership role.

Originally posted by Jikkle49:
I don't put a lot of stock in these kind of comments because we've heard them before and no player is going to say "Yeah he sucks and we're screwed this year"

What encouraging thing I did take from these comments is that he seems to be the most comfortable in an offense since coming into the league which should lead to a better performance this year.

As far as leadership goes it's sorta overrated in the media. Ultimately players respect that you're putting your work in and your performance on the field. Nobody is going to care what you have to say if you don't have the performance to back it up. It's also hard to tear into a guy when you barely know the offense yourself. The less he has to think about the offense the more it'll free him to take more of a leadership role.

They could just say nothing, or beat around the bush, or just spout off some cliches like "he's a good player" ... etc.

Are Morgan and Davis both lying, or do you think their feelings are genuine? That's the question.

Originally posted by Jikkle49:
I don't put a lot of stock in these kind of comments because we've heard them before and no player is going to say "Yeah he sucks and we're screwed this year"

What encouraging thing I did take from these comments is that he seems to be the most comfortable in an offense since coming into the league which should lead to a better performance this year.

As far as leadership goes it's sorta overrated in the media. Ultimately players respect that you're putting your work in and your performance on the field. Nobody is going to care what you have to say if you don't have the performance to back it up. It's also hard to tear into a guy when you barely know the offense yourself. The less he has to think about the offense the more it'll free him to take more of a leadership role.

Alex isn't nearly the player that Peyton Manning is, but I'd say the one area in which they are completely the same is the one that's the most relevant here: they both want/need to know a system completely inside out, 100%, down-cold before they can throw a single pass. We've all heard that urban meyer quote, and I don't see any reason to dispute it now.

If Alex can't do it this year, he's not gonna do it period. But me hearing that Alex is "running half of practice" actually makes me excited, because it sounds a lot like what Peyton does. And if he can be 85% of the player Peyton is, that might just be good enough.

I would.