Originally posted by Spoonerism: This is how we get in trouble. We either say he sucks or say he could be Drew Brees. What happens if he has a bad game(which every QB does)? Then everyone is going to say he is a bust.
Here are the facts: He is a QB behind a bad offensive line and a QB on a team that really has no running game to this point. He is doing an exceptional job and he is very accurate and taking great strides.
He isn't Drew Brees or Ryan Leaf or Brad Johnson. He is Alex Smith and I'm happy he is our QB.
Originally posted by Spoonerism: This is how we get in trouble. We either say he sucks or say he could be Drew Brees. What happens if he has a bad game(which every QB does)? Then everyone is going to say he is a bust.
Here are the facts: He is a QB behind a bad offensive line and a QB on a team that really has no running game to this point. He is doing an exceptional job and he is very accurate and taking great strides.
He isn't Drew Brees or Ryan Leaf or Brad Johnson. He is Alex Smith and I'm happy he is our QB.
Originally posted by Spoonerism: This is how we get in trouble. We either say he sucks or say he could be Drew Brees. What happens if he has a bad game(which every QB does)? Then everyone is going to say he is a bust.
Here are the facts: He is a QB behind a bad offensive line and a QB on a team that really has no running game to this point. He is doing an exceptional job and he is very accurate and taking great strides.
He isn't Drew Brees or Ryan Leaf or Brad Johnson. He is Alex Smith and I'm happy he is our QB.
You can't compare them in any way. Smith has not been successful yet. May be coming. Hope so. Success is based on wins. No others stats matter if they mostly end up as losses. I think Smith needs all of next year to prove what he can or can't do. Anything less than 10 wins and he should be gone. He has definitely had plenty of chances. This should be the last one and how the story ends is up to him. Don't know if he can do it. He deserves the chance and hope he does outstanding. Would love to see a winning season. If not, then the team needs to move on. The time is now for Alex to prove he is an NFL starting QB.
Originally posted by Marvin49: Follow me for a second here.
The more I see Alex this year the more he reminds me of Drew Brees. I'm not talking physically, I mean their career path.
Drew struggled early and was eventually deemed NOT the QB of the future for the Chargers. They Chargers selected Eli Manning and traded him for Phillip Rivers because Brees was NOT the guy.
Brees responded by working his butt off and didn't allow Rivers to get on the field because he was playing so well. Eventually, the Chargers let Brees go due to a shoulder injury and Phillips huge contract.
Brees has since become one of the best QBs in the NFL.
Now for Alex...we all know he struggled (ALOT) early, and after two years of injury, the Niners all but gave up on him. He has responded by working his butt off and is now the QB of the 49ers because he is playing better than the other QBs on the roster.
His career is tracking up and maybe, just maybe, he can be the guy the Niners thought he would be.
Steve Young has said on his radio show that sometimes guys just take awhile to "get it". They need to stick around the league and very often they don't get the opportunity. Maybe Alex has stuck around long enough to "get it".
In year three, Brees struggled. Smith got hurt in week 4 and shouldn't have been playing. 3 INTs came in games AFTER the injury and were on WAY underthrown deep throws. Nolan NEVER should have allowed him to play.
Smith didn't get another shot to play the following season after another year of alternating OCs and an injury based on the prior seasons injury. For that reason, I'll count THIS season as Smiths year 4.
Keep in mind tho that at this point Brees has been in the same O for 4 years and Smith is in a new O for the 5th time in 5 years.
I don't want to make it sound as if I'm saying Smith will throw for 5000 yards next year, I'm just saying Brees is an example of what happens when you hang around long enough and work yard enough. It will eventually all come around.
THAT is why I never really gave up on Smith. He wants it and he warks HARD.
He's not Ryan Leaf or Jamarcus Russell, two players with a world of potential but are/were total nutcases.
Excellent Post!!! It's also worth pointing out that Brees played with better teams in both SD and NO than Alex has ever had the benefit of playing with. This year's team is the best that Alex has played with and is still a work in progress..
