Originally posted by 9erfanAUS:
Originally posted by taney71:
Originally posted by mrgneissguy:
Originally posted by 9erfanAUS:
If you're tired of seeing mediocre QB play, then why the hell would you want to put Davis out there? 
The purpose of preseason games is to evaluate unknown talent....
-9fA
Probably has a lot to do with hope. Alex Smith no longer gives some niner fans any hope. They feel he has plateaued or is at least near his plateau and there isn't anything to look forward to. With Davis, even if he is mediocre now, at least there is more hope that he will improve. At least, there is more room for improvement.
And if preseason games are to evaluate unknown talent, why are all the folks down on Davis dismissing his preseason play outright?
Some 9er fans have always hated Alex Smith. As for hope, what has this team in general given us to hope for over the last 8 years? Sure we got Gore and Willis but as a team we have sucked.
As for your last point, most people dismiss his preseason stats because he played against 3rd and 4th string players who aren't in the NFL. The talent level wasn't the same in the 2nd half as in the 1st half when the starters and backups play.
You're right on the first paragraph. I've said something on this topic before - at the end of every season, fans want hope. They want someone fired so that they can feel better about the upcoming season and release all their anger on someone losing their job. Whether it is a coach, a player, a coordinator, a GM, it's doesn't matter. Someone just has to be fired no matter how much of a direct or indirect impact they had on the non-ideal season or whatever reasonable long term reason there may be for retaining them.
What they don't realize is that this is EXACTLY what we've been doing for the last 7 years and it hasn't worked. Continuity DOES help in the NFL. I feel that fans just seem to miss the big picture.
As for Davis and the preseason, every year there's a preseason king. Thomas Clayton and Kory Sheets are prime examples. While Davis may be an exception, he hasn't had any snaps at all with our offense since training camp and has been limited to clipboard duty yet people want to stick him in a game "to see what he has". This is the same guy who came out and said that he has bad mechanics.
-9fA
If anything, preseason is a GREAT way to determine a backup QB's skill. The starter gets to work with the team that has been together the previous year. They know their assignments, run the right routes, know the plays, etc. It is relatively easy for them.
When the new guy comes in it is chaotic, assignments are missed, pass rushers come unblocked, the receivers run the wrong routes, there is little timing going on, just plain old throws into defenses.
It is a lot harder for rookie QBs to shine in preseason.
Also, those college all-star types that are "mere" 3rd-stringers are pretty damn good. And they play preseason at a much higher level of enthusiasm and ferocity than the starters who are just trying to not get hurt.
Fans saw Davis do well under these trying circumstances. He even ran the two-minute drill to perfection.
Why then did they not work with him? You draft maybe a future star, pay him a ton of money and just ignore him. WTF is that? What is the QB coach doing in practice? Going over Raye's seven plays written on the back of an AARP envelope? Marking spots on the field to show Smith where to put his feet?
Smith has been given the job, which is fair. He deserves this last chance to shine. At the same time, lots of us see something special in Davis. Supposedly there are those in and out of the organization who feel this way as well. The coaches must at least try to develop this talent unless they want to hitch their futures to Smith alone.
