2010 49ers Roster Projections: Quarterbacks

But I can’t see why we’d even bother. It seems like a waste if he’s still trying to learn the playbook, as has been rumored, and looking at the picture above of him throwing without the laces makes me cringe. I’m not too interested in the OTA work without pads for Davis. Really the only person who I was interested in seeing out of this group during OTA’s was Smith and how comfortable he was.

I’d take Brown in a second and let him learn rather than waste the effort on Davis. We don’t have an offensive coach and a strict gameplan on offense, so I just think Davis will be wasted once the offense starts to adjust. I don’t ever see him as a starter, and that’s what I want from the backup, a guy who could start.

Something tells me the team likes him enough that they wouldnt want to “showcase” him only to have another team pluck him off the practice squad…In 2011 it’ll be Smith #1, Davis #2, and Brown will really begin the developmental process as the #3

- Alex Smith will be the QB
- D.Carr is great competition for Smith and sufficient backup to take over if necessary
- Brown was brought in to be competition for N.Davis
- N.Davis has 1 year advantage and has shown often his good physical ability, Davis is learning everything but is also used as competition for the #1 and 2 QB’s so they try to get better physically
- most important point is that too many positions that we have decent depth, we need to include other players on the roster to see how they play and actually will get playing time. QB’s are set with A.Smith, and even Carr behind him.

to “Browse more photos” you will get quite an interesting caption for the above picture:

From left to right, San Francisco 49ers quarterback David Carr (5), quarterback Alex Smith, quarterback Nate Davis and quarterback Jarrett Brown, passes during NFL football organized team activities at the 49ers training facility in Santa Clara, Calif., Monday, May 17, 2010. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)

Although I see a way in which it makes sense, it still seems silly.

Positives of Nate Davis based off of college vids and pre-season play last year:

Excellent arm strength, good mobility. Seems to have a knack for finding the open man. Good pocket presence; feels the rush and avoids it extremely well. Even though he throws without laces, he still has good accuracy and touch. (See cross body throw over the shoulder of the defender to Delanie Walker. Talk about postage stamp throws!)

Negatives:

Yes, he has a learning disability. However, this really just means he has to have things explained to him a little differently (almost like Michael Oher in Blindside, except with him it’s a playbook of pictures as opposed to diagrams). More than that, consider this: he ran only a few plays in pre-season last year, but defenses still couldn’t take advantage He still managed to make plays, consistently leading last minute come backs. He did not look completely overwhelmed like some rookie QBs do, and he only threw one interception (on a ball that was bobbled then kicked by his receiver).

I don’t see any evidence based off of his play either in college or in NFL Pre-season play that suggests he won’t be a good QB. Other good NFL players have the same learning disability, no one can give a good reason why throwing without laces won’t work, and all he has shown is a knack for making plays. I say we give him a chance. If he goes out and starts throwing interceptions, holding the ball too long, fumbling snaps, misreading his WRs, etc, then we can consider throwing him under the bus. Until then, GIVE THE DUDE A BREAK!

I want to see alex is doing good but deep down i think this is nate davis is a team in the future

It seems that your main arguement is that Davis is ahead of Brown in learning the playbook. Just for reference, Brown was able to adapt to a new playbook in his final two years at WV. He may not have been the greatest statistically, but he learned a new playbook quickly enough. I highly doubt Davis will be so far ahead of him after practicing mostly as a DB for the scout team last year. If they were so high on Davis and thought he was the future, they would have had him practicing at QB last year.

The next arguement is Davis’ physical abilities. Have any of you seen Brown play??? He also has a cannon arm and throws very accurately on the move. He also keeps his eyes down field when he moves out of the pocket. I’d also bet that based on his time under Rodriguez at WV, he can scramble better due to that offensive philosophy.

Honestly, if the coaches give Brown a fair shot to compete, I see no reason that he can’t beat Davis for the job. Someone please try to argue otherwise because it’s absolutely ridiculous to believe that because Davis beat some scrubs in preseason that he’s the second coming of Montana or Young.