Alex Smith after 3.5 games

[Chris Raiden]

Some stats on Alex Smith after 3.5 games:

64.8% completed, 808 yards at 6.6 per attempt, 6:6 TD:INT, 79.5 rating, one lost fumble.

And most importantly: 1-2 record as the starter.

Is he turning the corner, or should the 49ers continue to look for a starting quarterback for an otherwise pretty solid team in 2010?

[|(evin|(olb|(ritik]

Is he turning the corner

Does that statline impress you?

This dude needs to play well above average if not great to make this team believe that they don't need a QB going forward. He hasn't done that. Better than horrible is still not good enough.

[Chris Raiden]

Does that statline impress you?

No, I just ask the questions.

[Zero]

They need an O LINE!!!

[StevenSD]

he has shown a lot of progress since he was last given a chance, it's just too late.

the team resigned him though, so it wont hurt at all to keep him around as the #2

[Parrish]

Get a consistent line in front of him and the guy can succeed.

[pentekno2]

Ive wondered if the guy can be it or not, and still continue to wonder. I don't think that he is the long term solution though, so I say they need to look for a QB moving forward.

[Chris Raiden]

Ive wondered if the guy can be it or not, and still continue to wonder. I don't think that he is the long term solution though, so I say they need to look for a QB moving forward.

I think at this point, the 49ers have to keep him around for next year to give him one full season to see if he's the guy.

(As I said on The Big Bald Football Show, Tuesday nights at 8 Eastern, PSH Radio, yesterday)

If he fails, bail and give Nate Davis a shot to shine, if not, great, move on.

[pentekno2]

It just seems like one whole year to see if he's the guy is a while, especially for a guy who has been given a few chances already. Maybe Aaron Rogers just should have been the number 1 pick afterall, but he got to sit back and learn from Brett Farve for a few years, had he been the one drafted by the Niners and thrown to the wolves, who knows how things would have turned out. And likewise for Alex Smith, had he been drafted by a team and allowed to sit and learn under a great QB.

Anyway, at least the Niners have a good run game to depend on, and Vernon Davis has looked good as a weapon at the TE position for most of this season. If Crabtree comes along and can become a good receiver, this all may go a long way in helping Alex Smith become a little closer to what the 49ers wanted him to be.

[|(evin|(olb|(ritik]

It just seems like one whole year to see if he's the guy is a while, especially for a guy who has been given a few chances already. Maybe Aaron Rogers just should have been the number 1 pick afterall, but he got to sit back and learn from Brett Farve for a few years, had he been the one drafted by the Niners and thrown to the wolves, who knows how things would have turned out. And likewise for Alex Smith, had he been drafted by a team and allowed to sit and learn under a great QB.

Anyway, at least the Niners have a good run game to depend on, and Vernon Davis has looked good as a weapon at the TE position for most of this season. If Crabtree comes along and can become a good receiver, this all may go a long way in helping Alex Smith become a little closer to what the 49ers wanted him to be.

Its not "learning from behind a great QB" that gives guys who sit for a year or two an advantage, its just the sitting. These great QB's in most cases aren't teaching players anything that their coaches aren't already teaching them, and in Rodgers' case Brett Favre refused to mentor him. Sure Rodgers got to watch Favre play but how does it help a guy with a radically different playstyle to watch Favre chuck the ball around the field all day?

Rodgers got to sit on the sideline for a few years and learn the speed of the game and the defensive schemes and the nuances of the NFL game without being put under pressure to perform. Because of this he didn't develop the bad habits that young QB's often do and wasn't open to the criticisms that young QB's attract when they make mistakes. Rodgers had an advantage there early on but lets be fair and call a spade a spade here, Alex Smith has now had a few years to sit back and learn himself. He's now had time to figure out his struggles with the pro game, learn the nuances he was missing and repair any bad habits he had developed. After a couple of years of sitting Alex Smith is an average QB at best. This particular discussion holds some interest to me because when these 2 were being drafted I was very vocal in my belief that Rodgers was fundamentally the better prospect and had more upside but so many people were sour on him because of how he held the ball and because he was a Jeff Tedford product. At this point though its just about calling a spade a spade, Rodgers always was the better prospect and its a disrespect to him and what he has accomplished to make these excuses for why Alex Smith isn't better than him.