Reasons for an Alex Smith breakout season.

Originally posted by 49time:

Originally posted by dobophile:
It's understandable for fans to want so badly for Alex Smith to succeed that they convince themselves that it's likely to happen. It's comforting to think that an overall #1 pick wasn't wasted, along with the millions of dollars.

The concept of a sunk cost is appropriate here. The fact that millions have been already wasted on Alex Smith is irrelevant. What's done is done. THAT MONEY HAS BEEN WASTED. The relevant question is this: will Alex Smith continue to be a waste of resources, or will he be the best option going forward?

I've seen nothing . . . aside from maybe that one Seahawks game or that one Cardinals game . . . to show that Alex Smith should be a starting QB in the NFL. He's garbage.

I've seen nothing to show that Alex should be in the NFL.

how bout an arm.. which hill lacks. just think ab. alex threw deep a few times to him. i seem to remember a perfectly ball placed right over his shoulder in stride

While I stand firm that Hill will be our starting QB week 1... Alex Smith will have his chance because Singletary isn't afraid to pull a QB that's struggling. That's how Shaun Hill got his shot and almost got yanked from the Rams game (probably shoulda been).

Alex Smith will not have that dark specter named Nolan all over him. Which should loosen him up a bit. I'm not saying that Alex is going to be the guy or that he's going to be much better (I have my doubts), but he'll certainly be in a far better position to succeed than any other time in his career. And if he plays well, I see Singletary sicking him in as our #1 guy. Especially with Scot McCoulaghn having so much invested in him.

AND... **IF** Alex Smith succeeds, it'll be that much more confirmation that Nolan needed to go... too bad it didn't happen sooner.

Those are my reasons for Alex Smith to have a breakout season... I'm just going to have to respectfully declare that I doubt it.

Originally posted by carl:
While I stand firm that Hill will be our starting QB week 1... Alex Smith will have his chance because Singletary isn't afraid to pull a QB that's struggling. That's how Shaun Hill got his shot and almost got yanked from the Rams game (probably shoulda been).

Alex Smith will not have that dark specter named Nolan all over him. Which should loosen him up a bit. I'm not saying that Alex is going to be the guy or that he's going to be much better (I have my doubts), but he'll certainly be in a far better position to succeed than any other time in his career. And if he plays well, I see Singletary sicking him in as our #1 guy. Especially with Scot McCoulaghn having so much invested in him.

AND... **IF** Alex Smith succeeds, it'll be that much more confirmation that Nolan needed to go... too bad it didn't happen sooner.

Those are my reasons for Alex Smith to have a breakout season... I'm just going to have to respectfully declare that I doubt it.

With the positive reports coming out of traing camp so far... you may have to "respectfully declare that you were wrong"

People always like comeback stories from people who looked like they were down and out. Alex Smith has been the down and out poster child, so he would qualify and I hope he does make a good showing.

Originally posted by BigMar:

Originally posted by carl:
While I stand firm that Hill will be our starting QB week 1... Alex Smith will have his chance because Singletary isn't afraid to pull a QB that's struggling. That's how Shaun Hill got his shot and almost got yanked from the Rams game (probably shoulda been).

Alex Smith will not have that dark specter named Nolan all over him. Which should loosen him up a bit. I'm not saying that Alex is going to be the guy or that he's going to be much better (I have my doubts), but he'll certainly be in a far better position to succeed than any other time in his career. And if he plays well, I see Singletary sicking him in as our #1 guy. Especially with Scot McCoulaghn having so much invested in him.

AND... **IF** Alex Smith succeeds, it'll be that much more confirmation that Nolan needed to go... too bad it didn't happen sooner.

Those are my reasons for Alex Smith to have a breakout season... I'm just going to have to respectfully declare that I doubt it.

With the positive reports coming out of traing camp so far... you may have to "respectfully declare that you were wrong"

I have no problem saying I'm wrong if I am indeed wrong. But my money, even at this point, is that Hill is the starting QB week 1.

I think Hill should start the season.(this coming from a Smith supporter) If Alex were to get in at some point and play well, I certainly would be happy for the guy. Hopefully he's got a chip on his shoulder(no pun intended) and comes out trying to prove people wrong. Only time will tell.

Originally posted by GBNinerFan:
I think Hill should start the season.(this coming from a Smith supporter) If Alex were to get in at some point and play well, I certainly would be happy for the guy. Hopefully he's got a chip on his shoulder(no pun intended) and comes out trying to prove people wrong. Only time will tell.

yea but hopefully he doens't try to hard and end up making a ton of mistakes.

Because he doesn't suck?

Originally posted by backontop:

Originally posted by GBNinerFan:
I think Hill should start the season.(this coming from a Smith supporter) If Alex were to get in at some point and play well, I certainly would be happy for the guy. Hopefully he's got a chip on his shoulder(no pun intended) and comes out trying to prove people wrong. Only time will tell.

yea but hopefully he doens't try to hard and end up making a ton of mistakes.

Damn that "other side of the coin". lol

Originally posted by TowelBoy:
The starting point for this analysis is the fact that Alex Smith was the #1 overall pick in the draft, with elite physical tools, measureables, and intangibles.

Now, he hasn't been successful at all, so the question you have to ask yourself is "why?" If all the reasons for his downfall seem to have been remedied by now, there is pretty good reason to suspect that as his young age and intelligence, Smith still has a breakout year in him.

Poor line protection? Well, it's pretty solid now.

Lack of weapons? Bruce is the man, Morgan is already a breakout performer, and Crabtree is a #1 prospect on the level of a Braylon Edwards/Brandon Marshall/Anquan Boldin. And these aren't the only weapons.

Health issues? He will be ready to go this year. Knock on wood.

Coaching continuity? It seems we're finally putting together a great staff.

Now, I'll sign off with a reminder of Smith's best moment as a pro. This is when I thought he finally turned the corner and showed the "it" factor to be a stud. It was not to be at the time, but at least he has displayed the flashes.

http://www.cbssports.com/nfl/story/10344718

1) Smith does not nor has he ever possessed elite physical tools - His arm strength is average for the NFL and his accuracy is far below average. Furthermore, he certainly does not possess elite intangibles - Lacks pocket presence, slow at moving through progressions, and garners no respect from his teammates as a leader.

2) That play that you refer to IN NO WAY shows progression as a quarterback. We only converted the 4th down because the Cardinals lost containment allowing Smith to use the only tool in which he has any confidence - his legs... If you watch closely, while dropping back, smith immediately diverts his attention from his receivers downfield to the oncoming rush and turns perpendicular to the line of scrimmage looking to run - not really the preferred method to operating the 2-minute offense.

"1) Smith does not nor has he ever possessed elite physical tools - His arm strength is average for the NFL and his accuracy is far below average. Furthermore, he certainly does not possess elite intangibles - Lacks pocket presence, slow at moving through progressions, and garners no respect from his teammates as a leader." ( from abowers1984 )

At A.Smiths pro day he got a standing ovation from the scouts...were they all wrong?
he also got kudos for arm strength and accuracy

as far as elite intagibles....Pocket presence and Progressions, I agree that those are his weakest attributes, but those are things gained with experience

as far as respect from his teamates...what happend at the"Hill" today is the best response to that

Im not on Smiths bandwagon, in fact i think Hill should start, but i do feel pretty good about Smith's potential as a future starter and leader of this team

[ Edited by cools on Aug 10, 2009 at 22:48:33 ]

Originally posted by bigmike55:
Sure he'll have a breakout season.....

























Holding the clipboard behind Shaun Hill. Alex Smith sucks. sorry all you Smith lovers, he had his chance. Time to move on.

i feel sorry for you... your whole life is probably dedicated to talking bad about one of players that play for your 9ners. PS hill aint bad. but alex has twice the tools... and pocket presence and leadersip seams to be working out for smith now according to sing. so ill def. go with his word over yours.

Ps. When did he get a chance...... Rookie year. lol i dont even need to speak on that. 2nd year 3000 yards and huge improvement. 3rd year, he got injured but was 2-1 before the injury. Losing to the #1 d in the nfl for the 1 loss. Yup looks like hes had a shot.....

[ Edited by fan49 on Aug 10, 2009 at 23:21:25 ]

Originally posted by fan49:

Originally posted by bigmike55:
Sure he'll have a breakout season.....

























Holding the clipboard behind Shaun Hill. Alex Smith sucks. sorry all you Smith lovers, he had his chance. Time to move on.

i feel sorry for you... your whole life is probably dedicated to talking bad about one of players that play for your 9ners. PS hill aint bad. but alex has twice the tools... and pocket presence and leadersip seams to be working out for smith now according to sing. so ill def. go with his word over yours.

Ps. When did he get a chance...... Rookie year. lol i dont even need to speak on that. 2nd year 3000 yards and huge improvement. 3rd year, he got injured but was 2-1 before the injury. Losing to the #1 d in the nfl for the 1 loss. Yup looks like hes had a shot.....

How are you going to say that Smith has pocket presence... He has absolutely none of it. Im not a big fan of Hill either, but he has Smith dwarfed in that department.

And to my previous debator - Bringing up Smith's pro-day as evidence of his physical tools is completely baseless - that is in a completely protected evironment with no pads and no defense. The only aspect that can be judged there is arm strength - maybe I was a bit too critical in saying average at best, but I honestly dont feel that its much better than that... I'll tell you right now - he cant hold a candle to Nate Davis in that department.

I dont mean to be abrasive, but I just feel that many of our fans are incapable of judging smith honestly, because they want him to succeed so badly.

I agree that Hill probably starts , but like some have pointed out I do think Singletary would be very comfortable at pulling one and replacing him. That's the great thing about this close competition assuming that they both perform about the same in the pre-season games.

Just a question for all you Smith homers on the zone, is this also his " last chance year"? If Alex doesn't do anything of note in 2009 will you stop making excuses for him, and stop talking about his potential? Also realize Hill is just a "stop gap" fix and realize this franchise needs to risk another high draft choice or trade for a QB. Then when that happens label Smith the bust that he is? We have a first pick overall in the draft fighting a career 3rd stringer for starting QB and not many seem to see how really sad that is, especially from a franchise that had names like Tittle, Brodie, Montana, Young and even a guy named Garcia.