Monday Morning, who is to blame for the fall of Alex Smith?

by youngbuckeroo on Aug 25, 2008 11:20 AM PDT

I read an intersting article about the bust of Alex Smith, it pointed out points from both sides about how the 49ers or Smith himself was to blame for his fall from grace.. I wonder what do you think and who is to blame..

my opinion: I believe that the 49ers are to blame for rushing Alex Smith into the starting role. He may not have ever been a John Elway but he has a terrific arm and plenty of potential and i believe the 49ers organization failed to groom him..

This is a FanPost and does not necessarily reflect the views of Niners Nation's writers or editors. It does reflect the views of this particular fan though, which is as important as the views of Niners Nation's writers or editors.

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by David Fucillo on Aug 25, 2008 11:24 AM PDT reply actions

I think at least some of the blame, if not most, has to fall at the feet of the offensive coordinator shuffle that happened each year.

Neglectful father of David Quinowski

by marcello on Aug 25, 2008 12:37 PM PDT reply actions

article

from dan brown: http://www.timesheraldonline.com/sports/ci_10264151

J GO

by youngbuckeroo on Aug 25, 2008 12:40 PM PDT reply actions

Dan Brown?

I haven’t read it yet, but I’m guessing he says Mary Magdalene is to blame?

STEVE HOLM! refuses to be the odd man out.

by UnleashTheGore on Aug 26, 2008 8:15 AM PDT up reply actions

I found Kreidler article on ESPN

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/trainingcamp08/columns/story?columnist=kreidler_mark&id=3552257#

Joe and Steve were under the same system for years... don't expect Smith to be super so soon.

by bayboy on Aug 25, 2008 3:07 PM PDT up reply actions

Yeah

That’s the same article I was linking.

Never forget: I am a complete idiot

by Exhibit G on Aug 25, 2008 3:33 PM PDT up reply actions

I think it's clear

at this point that drafting Alex Smith was a mistake. Either he was actually a bad scouting error (and not really a 1st round – let alone 1st overall pick in the first place), or the niners staff badly underestimated how bad the supporting cast would be, and it was just a bad combination.

In either case, you can’t really blame Smith. He is who he is, I don’t think his failures are due to lack of effort, or will power, or mental state, or drugs, or anything.

Most likely, I think he’s just not that good. But my guess is that if some other team sees some potential in him, they are going to swoop in with an offer by the end of this season (unless, for example JTO goes does, and Smith leads the team to the playoffs or something equally improbable)

FIRE BRIAN SABEAN

by zenbitz on Aug 25, 2008 1:21 PM PDT reply actions

I could see him having a career path sort of like Steve Young's

Where when Young first hit the NFL, he kind of sucked on a sucky team. Then the Niners nabbed him, put him on the bench to learn, and when he got his shot to start, he excelled.

I’m not saying Smith IS Young, but I could see his career being resurrected by going to a currently successful franchise. I don’t see him setting passer records or anything, though.

"He called the sh** POOP!" -- Adam Sandler

by JRPhillips on Aug 25, 2008 2:38 PM PDT up reply actions

Great point

I think people forget how badly Young played his two years in Tampa — it was every bit as ugly as Smith:

Smith — first 30 starts: 11-19 record, 19/31 TD/INT, 54% completions, 63 QB rating.
Young — first 19 starts: 3-16 record, 11/22 TD/INT, 53% completions, 63 QB rating.

Young got the “bust” label, was benched, watched as his team drafted a new “QB of the future” (Testaverde), and was dealt to a contender for peanuts, all before he showed the slightest sign of living up to his potential.

"I been waitin' a long time for this! I been waitin' since the f**kin' amateurs!" --WILL "THE THRILL" CLARK

by Josh from Hollywood on Aug 25, 2008 4:29 PM PDT up reply actions

yeah, maybe

all Alex needs to do is hold, say, Peyton Mannings’ clip board for 4 years.

Funning aside, I have no idea whether Smith could make it with a new team, or if the outcome would have been different if he’d been drafted by a better – or even better fitting team.

FIRE BRIAN SABEAN

by zenbitz on Aug 25, 2008 10:05 PM PDT up reply actions

yeah, except

Young showed signs having special abilities. He could run, (IIRC) was pretty accurate, and was extremely competetive. Smith is inaccurate, can’t run, is indecisive, and seems to have crumpled under the QB competition.

STEVE HOLM! refuses to be the odd man out.

by UnleashTheGore on Aug 26, 2008 8:18 AM PDT up reply actions

You're judging him based off his performance with the Niners...

And the Niners are a bad team. Obviously it’s pretty fair to judge him based in the circumstances he’s in, as that’s probably the best indicator of his abilities (college play rarely translates to professional success).

But… Steve Young had the benefit of a talented supporting cast on offense when he started with the Niners, and Smith hasn’t. Now again, I’m not saying Smith is the second coming of Steve Young, but I am definitely saying that there’s a good chance he’d show improvement if he ended up a second string quarterback on a talented team. It’s not out of the realm of possibility.

"He called the sh** POOP!" -- Adam Sandler

by JRPhillips on Aug 26, 2008 9:27 AM PDT up reply actions

I agree Smith could do better with a different team

But I think the difference between the two cases is that Young showed flashes of his talents and abilities while he was with the Bucs, which eventually came to fruition with the 49ers. I don’t think Smith has those kind of skill sets, and in fact does not have some of the skills necessary to excel as a QB. I realize I am looking through crappy-49ers-teams colored goggles, but I think it would be different if he was a good QB on a crappy team. We’d see him make a number of plays where we’d go, “WOW, that was impressive!”. However, I think even on a different team, the things he lacks (that I described above) would keep him from excelling on a different team.

STEVE HOLM! refuses to be the odd man out.

by UnleashTheGore on Aug 26, 2008 10:01 AM PDT up reply actions

I agree mostly (with one major exception)

I agree with your point that Alex Smith is not in Steve Young’s class, but I really, really disagree with how you remember Young’s time with the Bucs. Though he did show a unique ability to run the ball from the QB position, he was NOT accurate with Tampa. In fact, that was the major question about him — so much so, there was talk that he was really just a RB or DB playing QB and should be moved to another position. Even Bill Walsh said when they acquired him that his accuracy and mechanics were things they’d need to work on before he’d be ready to run his offense.

Not only was Young’s accuracy nothing special with Tampa (53% completions), but it didn’t even improve right way with the Niners (53.6% in 1987, 53.5% in 1988). It was only in his third season with the Niners (at the age of 28) that he was able to get it over 60% — where it would consistently stay for the rest of his career.

I don’t really think you’re looking at Smith thorough crappy-49ers-teams colored goggles as much as it’s hard for anyone (myself included) who saw Young at his best to remember how ugly his play was in Tampa (Sort of like how it’s hard for Giants fans to remember how pathetically bad Matt Williams was when he first came up). I certainly don’t remember many of the “flashes of his talents” you seem to recall as much as I remember him getting sacked (68 times in his 19 starts there), chasing after his own fumbles (15 in 19 starts), and getting benched during games in favor of Steve DeBerg.

"I been waitin' a long time for this! I been waitin' since the f**kin' amateurs!" --WILL "THE THRILL" CLARK

by Josh from Hollywood on Aug 26, 2008 2:48 PM PDT up reply actions

49ers vs Smith

I don’t think you can really blame either side. While I certainly agree that Smith was NOT a #1 overall pick, the 49ers did need a QB and couldn’t deal away their #1. Aside from that, Smith probably would have gone #2, and most certainly, wouldn’t have made it out of the top 5. I don’t remember who mentioned that here a couple of weeks ago, but that’s what I remember.

I think there really isn’t a “blame,” in the conventional sense. There are reasons, though, why he hasn’t/didn’t succeed. The primary one, in my opinion, starts and ends with the revolving door at offensive coordinator. It’s likely that there is not a QB in the league right now that could have come out of that situation during their first three years and been a decent QB. Two systems (supposedly Hostler kept Turner’s intact) in three years is a lot to handle. This is especially true when your “breakout” year is being handled by a guy who turned out to be unprepared for the job.

Of course the 49ers failed to give him a very good supporting cast, but I think that has less to do with his “failure” than the offensive coordinator situation.

by sfgfan on Aug 26, 2008 9:03 AM PDT up reply actions

Re: supposedly Hostler kept Turner’s intact

I loved that the season started with that assertion, but ended with the following scheme:

1st and 10: Let’s run a sweep!
2nd and 10: Let’s run up the middle!
3rd and 7: We have a lot of yards to make up… Let’s pass!
4th and 7: Bring in The Amazing Andy Lee!

Repeat any time the offense has the ball.

"He called the sh** POOP!" -- Adam Sandler

by JRPhillips on Aug 26, 2008 12:27 PM PDT up reply actions

Empty promises.

Hostler also promised we’d see a lot more of Davis and Walker. While Davis did increase his production, we saw VERY little of Walker (if I recall correctly).

by sfgfan on Aug 26, 2008 1:28 PM PDT up reply actions

Let's stop blaming everyone else

Smith is the reason Smith hasn’t done well. It was certainly the 49ers’ fault that they drafted him and paid him the ridiculous amount of money. But if we’re talking about why he hasn’t succeeded…it’s Smith.

STEVE HOLM! refuses to be the odd man out.

by UnleashTheGore on Aug 26, 2008 8:20 AM PDT reply actions

I think you’re taking it too far in the other direction. I do think it’s perfectly fair to say that Smith has failed to this point because he didn’t have the personal ability to overcome a bad situation, but I also think it’s fair to say that he obviously has the tools and intelligence to have been able to succeed in different circumstances.

My Dave Righetti is better than your Dave Righetti.

by howtheyscored on Aug 26, 2008 1:15 PM PDT up reply actions

maybe, it's hard to say

if he’d succeed on a better team. Maybe his inaccuracy, indecisiveness, and lack of confidence would never have surfaced on a better team, where he succeeded right away (say, landing in Pittsburgh like Big Ben did).

STEVE HOLM! refuses to be the odd man out.

by UnleashTheGore on Aug 26, 2008 4:33 PM PDT up reply actions

Interesting

I saw a piece in the paper where Mike Nolan told Sports Illustrated that J.T. O’Sullivan flat out won the job and also said that the quarterbacking hasn’t been this good for three years. So he wouldn’t hurt Smith’s feelings, he said to another reporter, “I meant with all the quarterbacks” – yeah, right. With the money that Smith gets paid, why does everyone in the organization tiptoe around the fact that the kid from Davis has more talent?

by Danny Boy on Aug 26, 2008 5:47 PM PDT reply actions