QB Alex Smith returning to the San Francisco 49ers? Please.
New season, new coach but it looks like it might be the same old quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers, yes Alex Smith might return. Exactly, why? CSN Bay Area is reporting that 49ers new head coach Jim Harbaugh might try to get QB Alex Smith to stick around for some time to come. Again, why exactly?
Alex Smith is scheduled to become a free agent, whenever the free agency period might be, but Niners fans thought they would finally be rid of Alex Smith. Not so fast as Matt Maiocco reports.
The Comcast reports states that Harbaugh and Alex Smith have met several times, Harbaugh even admitted, “Yeah, we were two out on the field- just two guys throwing the ball around”. This is disturbing news.
Mr. Maiocco points out that Alex Smith has played for six different offensive coordinators in his first six seasons in the league and played for defensive minded head coaches. That does not overcome the fact that Smith has never thrown for more than 18 touchdowns in a regular season and has never finished with a passer rating above 82.1. It is time for the 49ers to move on, let this young man take his “potential” elsewhere.
Did the 49ers ownership spend all the tens of millions of dollars in the hiring of Jim Harbaugh to start another season with Alex Smith under center? Since he is scheduled to become a free agent, Smith will likely want a long term contract deal, and do the fans seriously want Smith to continue to be linked to this team?
I realize that many 49ers fans were hoping for a clean start with the announcement of Jim Harbaugh being named head coach. It appears, at least at the outset, that that might not be the case at all. The prospect of starting 2011 with Alex Smith under center should be disheartening to all Niners fans.
49ers legend says San Francisco made a huge mistake by not selecting Aaron Rodgers
Two San Francisco 49ers and NFL legends joined Dan Patrick this week to talk about the state of the game and who they liked in this weekend’s Super Bowl, one 49ers legend said that San Francisco made a big mistake by not selecting Aaron Rodgers.
You can listen to the two legendary 49ers players on the Dan Patrick Show right here.
The quarterback situation in San Francisco has been well documented, and it is very likely that the organization will go another direction at the position this season. The only question that remains is whether or not the franchise will draft for the future or decide to move forward by selecting a veteran free agent.
Legendary WR Jerry Rice was asked about if he had any input with the 49er’s decision to draft Alex Smith in the same season that Aaron Rodgers was available. Rice responded, “I remember being over there catching balls with Aaron Rodgers and I knew this guy could really help the San Francisco 49ers.”
He didn’t stop at that comment though. When he was asked if he was rooting for the Steelers, Rice responded, “Green Bay because Aaron Rodgers was at Cal and I thought we were going to draft him to the San Francisco 49ers, but we decided to make the worst move ever, not sign him and we decided to go with Alex Smith.”
I don’t think you can get anymore to the point than that comment.
Rant Sports Live Super Bowl Chat on Friday, 11am EST
I will be conducting a live Super Bowl Chat here on Rant Sports tomorrow morning at 11am EST, (February 4th) The chat will be conducted on the Pittsburgh Steelers website, SteelersChronicle.com. We have scheduled other internet NFL bloggers to participate, and we will be discussing all things having to do with the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Green Bay Packers, and every other thing surrounding the NFL and the Super Bowl.
You know tomorrow morning, you’ll be at work, you’ll be waiting for the clock to hit 5:00 so you can kick off Super Bowl weekend. If you live in the areas just blasted by the record snowfall, you are likely looking for an excuse not to go outside, so join in and submit your questions to me and the panelists.
To join the discussion on Friday morning, bang it right here, and submit your questions, comments and predictions.
San Francisco 49ers should ask the league for a “do-over” of the 2005 draft
The San Francisco 49ers should petition the NFL league office for a “do-over” of the 2005 draft. 49ers fans remember that fateful day in April, the 23rd of 2005. The Niners had the first overall draft pick in the draft, and they were going to select a franchise quarterback.
The problem is, that they selected the wrong quarterback. The 49ers decided that they would go with Utah quarterback Alex Smith. That was a solid choice. Or so it seemed at the time, because 23 spots lower in the first round, another West coast college quarterback was selected which has become a modestly amount more successful in the NFL.
23 teams passed over Aaron Rodgers of the University of California. Of course, Rodgers did have the benefit of going to a team which was quarterbacked at the time by Brett Favre, and Rodgers did not need to be thrown into the fire right away, but with the money and time the 49ers have invested in Alex Smith, investments have not paid the same dividends.
Smith, in his career with the Niners has been lackluster. Passing for 9,399 yards, 51 touchdowns and 53 interceptions. Rodgers, however, has been on fire since gaining the reigns in Green Bay. He has already thrown for 12,723 yards, 87 touchdowns and 32 interceptions. Rodgers is the first quarterback in NFL history to throw for over 4,000 yards in each of his first three seasons. He has been electric in his postseason performances as well, tossing 10 touchdowns in his first three playoff games.Against the Atlanta Falcons during the NFC divisional game, Rodgers completed a mind-blowing 86.1% of his passes.
So, just how great would Aaron Rodgers look in a San Francisco uniform right now? Alex Smith has cashed his paychecks from the 49ers and will likely be moving on next season to assume his role as a career backup with another club.
It’s easy to look back at past drafts in hindsight, but the fact that Rodgers played his college ball in the same state as the 49ers, is really disappointing. It’s not like he played at Miami of Ohio or Penn State, he played at Cal. With Rodgers under center and Frank Gore in the backfield this season, the 49ers might have gone 13-3 this season.
49ers need a quarterback, Vernon Davis has an idea
The San Francisco 49ers are in serious need of a quarterback, and TE Vernon Davis has an idea who it should be in 2011. Current Washington Redskins QB Donovan McNabb.
Davis was a guest on the T. Ocho Show this week and said, “Oh man- I’d love to catch some passes from Donovan McNabb”.
McNabb may be one of the veteran free agent quarterbacks available next season as his status with the Washington Redskins is in doubt. Despite being given a contract extension mid-season after being benched in a game against the Detroit Lions, McNabb was demoted and did not start the final three games of the season for the Redskins.
Redskins head coach Mike Shanahan said that he would welcome McNabb back next year, but as a back-up. McNabb struggled on a Redskins team which was devoid of serious playmakers on offense and had the worst season of his career.
The Redskins will most likely be looking for a trade for McNabb but there is a chance that McNabb would simply be released before the Redskins are slated to pay him a roster bonus. What complicates matter for the 49ers is the current lack of a Collective Bargaining Agreement. If the CBA expires on March 4th, there can be no free agency period or player trades until a new agreement is reached. The new agreement could be reached after the NFL draft in April, so the Niners might have to address their quarterback situation through the draft instead of free agency.
49ers general manager Trent Baalke told Mike Florio on Tuesday of this week, “Is the quarterback of the future on this roster? I think it’s obvious that he isn’t at this point, but things can change through one of those vehicles”. The three vehicles Baalke spoke of were- draft, trade or free agency.
