The San
Francisco 49ers have a long standing tradition of
having elite quarterbacks. For a long time now there has been a
general consensus that Alex smith would not be joining the ranks of
previous 49er legends, so obviously the thought of Peyton Manning being
anything but a colt gets our ears buzzing, especially that we do have some cap
money to play around with. Despite being cleared to play last week by his
doctors, a lot is still unknown about his injury and if he will ever be 100%.
He is also 36 years old. Maybe 2-3 years of solid play assuming he remains
healthy. The 49ers are almost right for Manning, a now proven playoff contender
with only a few offensive positions to fill as well as being in a milder
climate. Another choice would be the Miami dolphins, but I think they have too
much work to do for a veteran quarterback. It seems like they will
be out of the loop a few more years. Peyton is looking for a turn-key
system and I think he has that with the 49ers. However, much like Miami both stadiums are
open and not domes, which I think holds Peyton back.
Alex smith is only 27. Sure,
up until this year he had to hide from lynch mobs, but there is not a
Niner fan that can’t question whether the marriage of Harbaugh and Smith can
really turn him into the Elite quarterback he is supposed to be. Alex was
lights out in high school and college, like almost every professional
quarterback. It’s doing well in the Pro's that is the real challenge. Is it
fair to say that he did not live up to his expectations? Yes, to a degree. But
it was not entirely his fault. Every coach has a different offensive scheme.
Aside from the head coaching changes Alex had 7 different offensive coordinators;
he was riddled with shoulder injuries early in his career and was consistently berated
by fans and the local media. All of those things will take a toll on the
strongest of human beings. Then comes Harbaugh, a high end former NFL
quarterback and with him comes Greg Roman. In one year Alex smith went from being
the anti-Christ of the bay area to a winning, playoff bound NFL
quarterback. I will spare the dramatics when it comes to his heroics in the
last few minutes of the New Orleans
game and the fact I think he deserved comeback player of the year. What else
does this guy have to prove? He has proven he can reduce mistakes(5
interceptions), he has proven he can come back from behind(Philadelphia,
Detroit, New Orleans) and has proven he can win big games(New Orleans). Had it
not been for two huge mistakes we might all be celebrating the 49ers instead of
the New York Giants.
As you can see, I'm with camp Alex .
I don’t want to see the 49ers who have built this championship caliber team and
go the way of the Jets and sign a veteran future hall of famer for a short term
deal. I want a future, not just a 1-2 year novelty. I think Smith actually
having an off season and the same offensive coordinator and
leadership on the part of Harbaugh will give this kid something Dan Marino
never had, a Super Bowl Ring. This season is do or die for Alex.
Here are his stats, compare every other year to 2011.
I don't think any player has ever improved at such a dramatic pace.
Lets all be reminded he scored 40 out of 50 on the Wonderlic text. This kid
knows football.
Passing | Rushing | |||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Season | Team | GP | Rating | Att | Comp | Pct | Yds | TD | INT | Att | Yds | TD | ||
2005 | San Francisco 49ers | 9 | 40.8 | 165 | 84 | 50.9 | 875 | 1 | 11 | 30 | 103 | 0 | ||
2006 | San Francisco 49ers | 16 | 74.8 | 442 | 257 | 58.1 | 2890 | 16 | 16 | 44 | 147 | 2 | ||
2007 | San Francisco 49ers | 7 | 57.2 | 193 | 94 | 48.7 | 914 | 2 | 4 | 13 | 89 | 0 | ||
2008 | San Francisco 49ers | 0 | 0.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | ||
2009 | San Francisco 49ers | 11 | 81.5 | 372 | 225 | 60.5 | 2350 | 18 | 12 | 24 | 51 | 0 | ||
2010 | San Francisco 49ers | 11 | 82.1 | 342 | 204 | 59.6 | 2370 | 14 | 10 | 18 | 60 | 0 | ||
2011 | San Francisco 49ers | 16 | 90.7 | 445 | 273 | 61.3 | 3144 | 17 | 5 | 52 | 179 | 2 | ||
Totals | 70 | 76.4 | 1959 | 1137 | 58.0 | 12,543 | 68 | 58 | 181 | 629 | 4 | |||