Don't Hesitate -- Time to Evaluate
by Since79 on Dec 21, 2009 5:33 PM PST
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PrintI think you play it one of two ways of your Coach Sing: If you are thinking about your own job and not the future of the team you start Alex Smith and try to win these next two games and end up 8-8 and take your report card home to mommy. See Mommy, I got a C+!
BUT if you are thinking about the future of the team and truly believe you will have next year and even the year after to redeem yourself then you play Nate Davis for at least the first quarter of the next two games. If he's doing well leave him in longer. Then you have some film to evaluate him before the 2010 draft and he gets some experience with live bullets.
Also, let some of the other rooks play at least a quarter if not longer at the position they were drafting to play: I'm talking about Briggs, McKillip, Francois, Coffee if he's healthy, and how about giving Cody Wallace a shot, and/or trying Simms at right tackle to see if he can play as well over there as he did at left tackle. Give Brandon Jones and Jason Hill at least a little bit more playing time. How about bringing in Alex Boone for a series or two? (I wish to heck Kory Sheets was still on the team. I still think he had the talent to return punts and kick offs and be a grea scat back. So he can't block. You could have used him as a return man and given him a few plays a game as a spped back.)
Anyway, I WANT TO HEAR YOUR OPINIONS ON THIS . . . My opinion is we HAVE TO SEE what we have going into next year or this year is going to be another total waste. Getting better in some areas, worse in others. You can't win this way.
And for my two cents, I have been trying so hard to believe in Alex Smith. But IMO he's not the guy that's going to hold up under the pressure of a playoff game and come through consistently on 3rd downs. He's a great guy and has a lot of skills but sometimes I think no matter how amazingly smart he is as a person he's just not football smart as less "intelligent QBs" around the league that know how to win in the 4th quarter.
Coach Sing: Look in the mirror. Ask yourself what your true motivation is in the next two games. It's time to assess, not obsess. We have the money for free agents. We have two number 1 picks. But we need to know what we need! Obviously O-line. But a QB? CB? Safety? We need to evaluate the kids we have, and we're running out of time.
As far as comments, let's talk about the general idea of evaluating players in the last two games vs playing the regs and going for a win. Let's not turn this into another Smith -- to be or not to be post. The question is, do we give Nate a chance in these next two games or let Alex play out the string? And how about all the other kids we either have to play next year or let loose?
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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Nate Davis
I think Maiocco said somewhere he’s been practicing on the practice squad mostly as a DB (for purposes of preparing the team, not because the team is switching him over to a new position). If he hasn’t even been playing much QB, what good will it do to throw him out there at this point. They need to get him involved in practice before they can throw him too the wolves.
There is nothing he can do for the niners in the next two games, he’ll get killed. I totally agree with not throwing him into the wolves because yea he hasn’t played in practice at all. I’m a fan of Nate Davis because he played in the MAC and i go to school at Roethlisbergers old school, so i watched him quite a bit since i’d cover the conference pretty good. Plus my big in the fraternity im in played against him in high school. So i’m a fan of him, and just because he went to a small school, has a learning disability it shouldnt detract him from playing a few downs. It would be ideal to see how he does next year in preseason, and if Smith does not do well at all given a better O-line, then Davis should be considered. To me, Davis has a MUCH better arm in terms of strength, but not sure about accuracy and vision. He’ll learn the plays as time comes, but you’re right, shouldn’t start him now, it’d be just plain death for him
Whenever I see the words “Nate Davis” in a comment or a post, I stop reading.
And I’m not trying to take a shot at your post. I just can’t take anymore Nate Davis talk. I have nothing against him getting some garbage time snaps. But playing him in any other situation would be a complete and total waste of valuable time that we should be dedicating to our continued evaluation of Alex Smith. Every single snap that Alex Smith takes this season informs what we do with our first two picks in April. Every single one. Intentionally taking away snaps from Alex Smith will make us less informed when we draft in April, which will make it more difficult for us to make a pick that is actually good for the team.
Playing Alex Smith now is good for the team. It is better for the team than playing Nate Davis. This is because it specifically affects our draft to play Alex Smith. It does nothing to force Nate Davis into first-quarter situations except to put a young guy who has not been practicing into a terrible situation.
I don't know about that, to the groin.
by howtheyscored on Dec 21, 2009 5:48 PM PST reply actions 1 recs
If you’re saying that every single snap should help us with our first two picks, then there should be a tackle or guard picked, in the draft, not necessarily in the first round… But also i truly believe the other first round pick should go toward a FS or someone better than Roman and Lewis…
Well, I just mean that every single snap Alex Smith takes this season increases the sample of data from which we can most accurately address our needs at quarterback.
I don't know about that, to the groin.
by howtheyscored on Dec 21, 2009 6:23 PM PST up reply actions
uh FS?
His stats are 86 tackles 3 ints and 2/3 FFs. Might want to get SS to match that. Based on position and need in the draft, a decent OG and RT for the first round.
Merry Christmas! 49ers friends and family!
by chriscream on Dec 21, 2009 11:07 PM PST via mobile up reply actions
Both in the 1st round
I posted the specifics in the draft thread but move our #10 down to Seattle and Get Bulaga/Campbell at 15 and Iupati around 23
Gimme 1 round!
by ItBurnzWhenIP on Dec 22, 2009 4:34 AM PST up reply actions
Two things
First of all really nice post enjoyed it. Second I disagree let smith finish the season and show the world what he can do. As of right now smith is our qb of 2010 like how they score I agree that we should evaluate our qb and see if he is our future.
by manraj7 on Dec 21, 2009 5:58 PM PST via mobile reply actions
Forget Davis
Lets learn from our mistakes and let our young backups learn from the sidelines for a couple of years before we throw them to the wolves..
J GO
Fix the O-Line
Regardless of what Alex Smith does or doesn’t do in these next two games, I think we can all agree that the O-Line needs to be fixed, via free agency or via draft.
The one constant that we’ve seen this whole year, with Smith and Hill at QB, with and without Crabtree, when we’ve been run-heavy and pass-heavy, I-Form or Raye Gun, is that the O-Line cannot protect the quarterback.
We cannot even begin to properly assess Smith vs. Hill when neither have any time back there to pass. The shotgun was a temporary band-aid for the O-Line, but even that stopped being successful against the Eagles’ pass rush.
We can’t even say for sure whether Smith is better than Hill. When the protection breaks down, Alex Smith throws picks and Shaun Hill curls up into the fetal position. Who knows what will happen if we throw somebody else back there. There’s no point in trying to figure that one out.
"We Deserve"
my question is, what style of offense BEST suits Smith, i mean, there’ve been 2 different types of schemes for him, and i want to know which one best fits.
Just a silly opinion but,
The one where the OL actually Pass Protects. Favre was awful Sunday against the Panthers because the Pass Rush overwhelmed the Pass Protectors. No QB can be effective without protection and most QBs can be effective with protection. The scheme may be important, but not as important as the job of the pass protectors.
Welll….. i just look to the Steelers, with their poor line and Big Ben having that elusiveness and strength to get through people… But i guess people have said here that it’s that he’s holding the ball too long. But he still gets it done
Aaron Rodgers is another one. The Packers’ O-Line may be as bad as ours, but that guy still gets it done and I don’t know how. All I’m saying is that we’d have a really tough time putting any other new QB into this situation and expecting him to do better than Smith or Hill did. The sure-fire and easiest way of improving this offense in the longterm (regardless of who our QB-of-the-future is) is to improve the O-Line.
"We Deserve"
Well, first: Rodgers is really, really, really good. Second: it doesn’t suck for him to have Greg Jennings and Donald Driver to throw to.
And Jermichael Decorean Finley probably has the coolest name out of anybody who is catching passes in the NFL. So they get extra points for that.
I don't know about that, to the groin.
by howtheyscored on Dec 21, 2009 10:53 PM PST up reply actions
James Jones is pretty good too.
What we've got here is a failure to communicate.
by SportsChicken on Dec 23, 2009 12:25 AM PST up reply actions
Positons needing an upgrade--
Positions of need with the players we have without FA/Draft
RT- Barry Sims- great on the left side lets throw him on the right, I’d like to see Alex Boone play also.
S- Goldson is here to stay but he needs help, I wanna see Reggie smith…. Maybe Clements play SS for the last game???
CB- Brown could be good(very physical) but Walt Harris is coming back and could add some depth. But I like what I have seen from Spencer.
OLB- Ahmad Brooks- I have a feeling he could be a great pass rusher. Lawson/Harolson/Brooks One more guy and we have great depth and potential in our OLB.
RB- Glen Coffee, I feel like everyone has forgot about this guy. Who knows how he is going to turn out. I would like to see more from him.
Coffee
is injured; likely out for season
I want winners! I want people that WANT to win!
by FearTheTree on Dec 22, 2009 10:20 AM PST up reply actions
RT- Barry Sims- great on the left side lets throw him on the right
He played on the right side last season.
Don’t you remember that nightmare?
What we've got here is a failure to communicate.
by SportsChicken on Dec 23, 2009 12:25 AM PST up reply actions
Did anyone see bear pascoe
on monday night!! first play of the game! haha anyways no big deal just thought it was funnny
I liked how Gruden mentioned him
He was all like:
“The Redskins are getting pounded, even Bear Pascoe got in on the action”
What we've got here is a failure to communicate.
by SportsChicken on Dec 23, 2009 12:26 AM PST up reply actions
Exactly
Smith time is up. If u cannot play under center, u cannot be a starter. With 2 weak teams for our final games and we can’t rotate players in the lineup. Our defense can beat these teams hands down. We need to see something to get us excited for the future. Somehow I see clauson falling to us with our second 1st round pick
Merry Christmas! 49ers friends and family!
by chriscream on Dec 21, 2009 11:13 PM PST via mobile reply actions
The real problem:
It’s not “under center,” its less than three seconds, sometimes less than two.
This
If u cannot play under center, u cannot be a starter.
Umm did you ever see Manning his first year or so? Or Aikman? They had horrible lines and were getting eaten up. Interesting that Manning has been in the league 13 years and Saturday 11 and Diem 9 and they have all played for Indy for the full time.
by ChesapeakeBay9er on Dec 22, 2009 9:44 AM PST up reply actions
okay
But you also hear about the hard work and sacrifice. QB makes everybody better. Alex is just not that accurate. He is a backup and he has not shown me anything to say that he is the franchise. So are you willing to give him 8 more years or get the ball rolling for the future.
Merry Christmas! 49ers friends and family!
He seems accurate when he's not throwing off his back foot
When he has time in the pocket, and when he’s NOT rolling to his right.
The nicest throw I’ve seen him make was an incompletion to Crabtree (dropped) that would have gone for a TD.
It was absolutely perfect.
What we've got here is a failure to communicate.
by SportsChicken on Dec 23, 2009 12:27 AM PST up reply actions
Alex Smith is still an inexperienced QB.
He’s played under a dozen games in the past three years.
I think it makes more sense to get him more experience. Experience usually helps with consistency, and quite frankly I think that’s much more important that seeing what Davis can do when he hasn’t even practiced the position since camp.
Let’s say they gave Davis the first-team reps in practice this week. And then he went out there and stunk up the joint. Have you learned anything about him?
Absolutely not! A guy with a week or two of practice is expected to suck. You learn nothing.
Another thing: your premise is faulty. Singletary’s job is not on the line, even if the team loses its last two games. He is not motivated by trying to keep his job because he’s our HB next year no matter what.
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