Originally posted by dj43:
Originally posted by GolittaCamper:
Originally posted by 49ersalldaway126:
Originally posted by JayBee:
The Alex Smith apologists always make me laugh.
He is extremely inaccurate. His passes are often high and receivers tend to have to adjust to his throws. It's rare that he leads receivers.
His short and intermediate passes are awful. Bubble screens, swing passes, slants, etc...all inaccurate and the receiver has to adjust. And a big reason for his inaccurate passes is his awful footwork and mechanics. It's very difficult to tell a 6 year NFL vet to forget everything he's learned up to this point and start from scratch. You can't develop someone who has already been developed. You can tweek things, but that's about it. I'd much rather Harbaugh spend all that developmental time on a rookie or a 2nd, 3rd year QB who is raw.
Alex isn't raw (like Steve was). He is a poor QB. His ceiling is game manager.
Steve was better than Alex...but lets sway he was worse than Alex in Tampa....for every Steve Young that makes it....there are 100's of Trent Dilfers, Gus Ferrote's, Heath Shulers that don't!
its pretty easy for him to forget everything he has learned a new system practically every year
and about developing him he hasnt had the chance to be developed only person who did was norv turner and mike johnson in 2006 norv turner did very good with alex smith and alex played ok considering our team
under mike johnson this year he had a rating of i believe 93 when he was OC
other than that his teachers were nolan, raye hostler and sing
all whom are less than desirable coaches to develop a project qb
Fundamentals are exactly that, fundamental. They don't change from coach to coach, they don't change from team to team, or even collage to pros. If Alex really wanted to be a winner he would have hired an offseason trainer with experience in the fundamentals.
Hostler, is not a bad QB coach, Alex has never put in the offseason work to warrant all the loyalty his fans give him.
I've never seen heard or read about Alex working with WR's in the offseason, I've never seen heard or read about Alex running hills, or working with other QB's or even with a retired coach or personal position trainer, have you?
Have you ever even read about Alex staying late with his receivers DURING the season? Alex putting in extra work to get better?
Don't make Alex a victim, he is a grown man. He has not done the extra work pro's do to elevate themselves, he does not deserve your loyalty and respect.
Is it too late, no of course not, but what is he doing RIGHT NOW to improve his game?
Were are the stories of running his, throwing a hundred passes a day, or meeting with anyone, to work on FUNDAMENTALS!
Alex fails because his fundamental mechanics suck! Alex ONLY YOU CAN FIX THIS!
WOW! I'm surprised at this post. You seem like a pretty knowledgeable guy who stays up on a lot of things about the team. Therefore it surprises me to hear you say he hasn't worked in the off-season. There have been numerous stories of his off-season work, however, he has been somewhat limited by injury and the fact he needs other players as well as a good coach to work on things.
IMO, Smith's loyalty has been good news/bad news. He has been loyal to the organization but the organization has never supplied him with a decent position coach prior to Mike Johnson.
During the pre-season this past year, I researched all the other teams to learn the background of QB coaches around the league. What I found was that something like 22 of the 32 teams had former college or pro QBs in the position! Of the remaining 10, all but two, the 49ers and one other team, had players who had played skill positions on offense.
Think about that. Only the 49ers and one other team used DEFENSIVE players to coach the QB position...and that has been the way it has been since Nolan arrived. Consequently, Smith's loyalty has been his greatest enemy. By being loyal to the team coaches instead of going out and hiring his own coach, he has certainly slowed his progress.
Everybody in the NFL works in the offseason, guy's like Jerry Rice set the bar for excellence in the offseason. Alex does not seem to go beyond the normal expected kind of offseason.
Alex has had some awful coaching, I even said before on this forum he should sue Mike Nolan for malpractice!
All of Alex's bad coaching does not excuse the fact he did not go above and beyond the minimum. He could have hired Archie Manning, Archie runs a QB camp, if Alex volunteered some time I bet he could have gotten help himself.
He could have called Peyton Manning, or just about any other pro for tips, these guys love to work out together in the offseason.
He could have hired a personnel QB coach, it's not like he was to poor to afford one.
Jumping sports here but Barry Bonds had his own hitting coach, year round!
My point is this, don't make Alex a victim, he could have fixed his mechanics, and built up his fundamentals any time he wanted to do the work needed to be great, Alex is what he is because he let himself become what he is.
Everybody made excuses, for him, and even though he shrugged them all of and manned up and put the responsibility on himself....I think deep down he believed his failure wasn't his own...until a man takes his failures as his own he can never improve... at anything at all...ever!
Oh yeah, Bono, cause he was a winner, and he studied along side Joe and Steve under Bill Walsh!
[ Edited by GolittaCamper on Feb 14, 2011 at 11:29:28 ]
