An incredible new devolpment regarding "Alex Smith"

[tapajafri]

I really don't understand how people can form an opinion on a guy based on not even one full regular season game. Like what we saw in 3 1/2 quarters is what he'll be the rest of the year, no chance he gets better at all. People saying we didn't pass alot because they don't trust Kap? We barely throw with Smith under center either. Christ people, you'd want people to give you more benefit of the doubt than your giving this kid. My god a few shaky throws and our coaching staff doesn't trust him, give me a ****ing break.

I gotta say that Harbaugh would have let Smith throw at least twice down the stretch of that game. Kaepernick wasn't allowed to throw at all, except for that last OT possession where he got sacked on 3rd down because his line couldn't even give him enough time to finish his drop back. There were calling Kaepernick runs and all that. That's why I said, if people think we never throw with Smith, it's going to be 3x that with Kaepernick. But yes, I definitely agree with you that it's not fair to judge a guy (who isn't even ready to play) based on his short amounts of playing time in only his 2nd year. And I think it's incredibly premature to judge his entire career right now or how he'll turn out in the future, which is what leftymo and some others are doing. I do agree with them though that right now, kaepernick will have his hands full because he's just not ready....and that's in kaepernick's defense. People criticizing him is unfair since he's being put in a tough situation when he's not even ready yet.

[NinerHomer49]

I really don't understand how people can form an opinion on a guy based on not even one full regular season game. Like what we saw in 3 1/2 quarters is what he'll be the rest of the year, no chance he gets better at all. People saying we didn't pass alot because they don't trust Kap? We barely throw with Smith under center either. Christ people, you'd want people to give you more benefit of the doubt than your giving this kid. My god a few shaky throws and our coaching staff doesn't trust him, give me a ****ing break.

My opinion of Keapernick after this game is that he didn't (doesn't...not sure yet) see the field very well. I'm not worried at this point because I think a lot of it is due to the fact that it was indeed his first real NFL game and the fact that he had very limited reps in practice I'm sure. If Smith is a no-go this week, either Keapernick or Tolzein will get most if not all of the 1st team snaps. Tolzein is honestly more than likely the more ready of the 2 to start an NFL game right now, but I doubt Harbaugh will spend two seasons calling Keapernick the backup and then start somebody else the first time Smith misses a start unless he wants Keapernick to have the same role he did as a goal line/change of pace kind of thing and just plug Tolzein in Smith's spot.

[NinerHomer49]

It's only clear for those of you who are Smith "haters". Do you not think Kaep would be starting if he was "Clearly" better than Smith??? Dude wake up already!!!

Slow your roll there cowboy! Again...the question and my point was TALENT!! Not whether or not he is better. We may have an opportunity to find out on Monday night though.

[JCkrazzy]

Slow your roll there cowboy! Again...the question and my point was TALENT!! Not whether or not he is better. We may have an opportunity to find out on Monday night though.

To be honest I don't at all want to find out on Monday against the bears. Sorry but there is no way in he** that Kaep runs like he did against the rams against the bears. The bears will honestly tear him apart. I'd rather see Tolzein to be honest, I feel like he won't be panicing then think RUN RUN RUN then get droped for a loss/sack or fumble because Urlacher pops Kaep. I just think Scott's vision of the field is better and plays a lot more like Alex does.

[mavwar53]

There is no reason to believe Kaepernick can't make the throws Alex makes right now. There is a reason Smith has such a high completion percentage, and it isn't because he is superbly accurate. It's because he makes incredibly safe throws or just checks it down. When he does on occasion try and air it out he's proven to be pathetic in that area.

We haven't seen enough one way or the other, but Kaepernick is clearly a better talent than Smith. The only question is can he do the same things Smith does pre-snap for the team?

Right now it's no, which is why he isn't starting. When he gets to that point it won't be Smith's job any longer.

Exactly, and another reason his completion percentage is so high is because instead of throwing the ball away he will take sacks, just look at the game versus the Cardinals.

[NinerHomer49]

To be honest I don't at all want to find out on Monday against the bears. Sorry but there is no way in he** that Kaep runs like he did against the rams against the bears. The bears will honestly tear him apart. I'd rather see Tolzein to be honest, I feel like he won't be panicing then think RUN RUN RUN then get droped for a loss/sack or fumble because Urlacher pops Kaep. I just think Scott's vision of the field is better and plays a lot more like Alex does.

I'm very interested to see how Tolzein would play. I think he's very cerebral like Smith is, but with more of a ballsy streak. I think he'll make his decision quicker and I think he is more accurate than Smith is with the ball. Preseason is not a practical thing to judge by though so all anybody can do is speculate as far as Tolzein or even Keapernick goes. Last week was a "thrown into the fire" underprepared thing.

I think the gameplan will call for more of Keapernick moving the pocket by design if he gets the nod though. Whichever QB plays will be ready though.

[rapjuicer06]

I honestly see a stronger armed Shaun Hill in Scotty

[bigcheeze]

Exactly, and another reason his completion percentage is so high is because instead of throwing the ball away he will take sacks, just look at the game versus the Cardinals.

Right now Alex is tied for 6th (with Ponder & Newton) with 24 sacks, and from memory I'd say about 8 of those (maybe a few more) are his fault, but the majority aren't. However, with him being #1 in completions, tied at #25 (there are a lot of ties so only 4 have less and 4 are equal) for interceptions, has the #3rd highest passer rating, and only #31 (out of 33) in attempts - he's not out there making bad decisions very often.

Also did you know that actually right now Alex is #3 in average yards per pass?

1) Josh Freeman - 8.3
2) Peyton Manning - 8.2
3) Alex Smith - 8.0
4/5) Cam Newton & Matt Ryan - 7.9

So his average pass is longer than most other QB's average pass.

You can argue all you want, but the facts say... Alex is rocking the QB position this year. We are a heavy run team, for good reason, but it's not because our QB can't pass. In fact, when he drops back to pass the odds are very much in his favor of completing a longer than average pass - that to me is pretty impressive.

[macc]

Has Alex Smith been officially ruled out for next week? If thats the case then at least we'll get to see Kap with a full week of practice in a game time situation. Win/lose it should be fun to watch or at least see what we got in the back up in Kap.

[bigcheeze]

Has Alex Smith been officially ruled out for next week? If thats the case then at least we'll get to see Kap with a full week of practice in a game time situation. Win/lose it should be fun to watch or at least see what we got in the back up in Kap.

Are you new here?

Just kidding, but you know Harbaugh - we likely won't know for sure who's starting until Monday. No matter when/if Alex is cleared to play. He'll want Chicago to have to try and get ready for both.

[leftymo]

Right now Alex is tied for 6th (with Ponder & Newton) with 24 sacks, and from memory I'd say about 8 of those (maybe a few more) are his fault, but the majority aren't. However, with him being #1 in completions, tied at #25 (there are a lot of ties so only 4 have less and 4 are equal) for interceptions, has the #3rd highest passer rating, and only #31 (out of 33) in attempts - he's not out there making bad decisions very often.

Also did you know that actually right now Alex is #3 in average yards per pass?

1) Josh Freeman - 8.3
2) Peyton Manning - 8.2
3) Alex Smith - 8.0
4/5) Cam Newton & Matt Ryan - 7.9

So his average pass is longer than most other QB's average pass.

You can argue all you want, but the facts say... Alex is rocking the QB position this year. We are a heavy run team, for good reason, but it's not because our QB can't pass. In fact, when he drops back to pass the odds are very much in his favor of completing a longer than average pass - that to me is pretty impressive.

That is shocking b/c Smith has perenially been near the bottom of this stat. I think the biggest strides is that he has just 2 incompletions over his last 2 games and so yards/attempt would be inflated b/c he is completing passes so he gets yards on every attempt!

Typically it has been low b/c Alex hasn't been as accurate for his career, and doesn't throw the deep ball well (which can make up for inaccuracy) to help inflate the y/a stat. But either way, it's impressive. He's been very very good in a good chunk of games, and below average in a handful of games this year.

[leftymo]

Same. Which is probably why so many of my posts are misunderstood and set some people off.


Please explain why he is a train wreck and is not the future of the franchise. I really hope it's a good argument because you don't have much of a sample size to work with. Also, I didn't get to see the game last night but from what I heard, other than the first quarter he did fairly well.

Druckenmiller never got a full year, so let's not give every rookie QB a full year of playing to make a decision on him. Maybe Rattay did (doubt it), don't remember Carmazzi getting a full year. Ken Dorsey?

Dennis Brown was accurate when he said Colin lacks the ability to throw WR's open. He waits til WR's are open before he throws the ball which is not what you want at this point. His throwing motion is slow, it's prone to INT's. Billick stated this week if Kaep plays against the Bears you could be looking at 4 INT's.

I think you have to understand that rookies around the league are being handed the keys, and yes they are struggling, but they are out there. Andrew Luck, Russell Wilson, Tannehil, and RG3... Even last year's rookie class like Cam or Andy Dalton. But too many fans want to coddle Kaep. Oh give him time. He played ok, but i saw major flaws in his game. Turnover prone flaws. He's got more athletic ability than Alex Smith, he's also got a far stronger arm than Alex Smith. But reading a defense, touch with the pass, protecting the football, calling the right play? None of that is there, and frankly sitting a year should do a player good. Aaron Rodgers & Steve Young sat quite sometime but when they got their shot, they did very well. Tom Brady as well.

I do think that Kaep unlike Smith can make plays in the passing game while leaving the pocket, where Smith typically throws the ball out of bounds. But his release time is a huge red flag, and maybe i'm wrong and his arm strength can compensate for the time a CB/DB can read that Kaep is going to a particular receiver on a play. It could be Leftwich syndrome. The reason why Leftwich was a failure as a 1st rounder was his release time. It takes him too long to get rid of the football and DB's can adjust to it.

[leftymo]

It's only clear for those of you who are Smith "haters". Do you not think Kaep would be starting if he was "Clearly" better than Smith??? Dude wake up already!!!

I guess I'd call myself a Smith "hater" since I did hate him for about 7 of his 8 years as a QB...

But Smith is playing very well, and despite the fact that Kaep has some obvious skills that Alex doesn't, I've seen NOTHING from Kaep that warrants taking over as starter now, next year, or in the near future.

He reminds me of Jim Druckenmiller when he's in the pocket. But his rollout ability, and speed are far from Druck. His rollout ability to make plays is something the 49ers haven't had since Jeff Garcia or Steve Young were QB.

[WhoDat]

"Yes, Alex Smith is your best option, play him." -Saints Fans-

[NinerHomer49]

"Yes, Alex Smith is your best option, play him." -Saints Fans-

Haha...yeah, if I was a Saints fan that's what I'd want also.