Thoughts on Alex Smith?
 

after a terrible first year (1 td, 11 ints in 7 starts), he rebounded pretty well and had a solid year with 16 TDs, and a 75 QB rating.


Now his OC is gone and who knows if Frank Gore can repeat his great year.


What do you see in the future from Alex Smith? He was the #1 pick in the draft, yet no one talks about the guy and you cant stop hearing about Vick, Eli Manning, David Carr and Carson Palmer. But no one really talks about Smith...


What do you see in Alex Smith next year and in the future?

I think Smith could be a very good starting QB, his teams need to get him a true #1 WR, and I think he'll continue to progress just fine.

Vernon Davis?

I completly agree. And Frank Gore, WILL continue to be a stud

I see him making a pretty significant jump from year 2 to year 3. He's still only 22 years old, and you see a lot of quarterbacks have a significant jump in production in that transition.

A true #1 WR is different than a beast TE. If they can grab a true #1 WR along with Vernon and Gore, Smith will be a very happy quarterback.

Average QB so far.

He's a real inteligent QB, and will be great in this league. I consider him to be in the mold of tom brady, not great physical skills, but a very smart QB. Oh, and with a stud WR, I could see them in the playoffs next year.

I think he'll be a good QB as long as they keep upgrading the talent around him. Gore and Bryant were nice starts, and the OL is pretty solid, now Vernon needs to have a good year, and they could probably use another WR. He's still 22 years old as well. I liked him better than Aaron Rodgers, but I guess that still remains to be seen.

Has good upside, but will be setback by the loss of Norv Turner, which was clearly responsible for his substantial improvement in play.

Smith is progressing quite nicely. I think he was picked over Aaron Rodgers because of his intelligence. With a #1 WR, the 9ers could defenitly make a push at the playoffs. He sort of reminds me of Chad Pennington.

I think he can be a solid tight end, but he was marred by injuries this year, I think.

He needs a go-to-guy. Vernon Davis can easily fill that role but they will still need a big possession receiver and a burner. I don't know if Smith has the arm power to take advantage of a burner, but screens would take advantage of their speed and YAC ability.

Vernon will develop into a great tight end. However, the 49ers still need a #1 WR target, because they love to use Vernon in different blocking schemes.

With his strength, he's already developed into a fierce blocker. Mike Nolan commented at the Senior Bowl that Vernon had already become one of the best blocking tight ends in the league.

And because we want to use him in that role, as well as use him as a receiving threat, we also still require a #1 guy.

"He's a'ight."

I dont think he'll be a good QB but I'll wait untill after this year.

i think it was a very bad call not bringing back turner, they should have done everything they could

wtf, you can't block any coach on your staff from becoming a HC.

I mean like a Chad Johnson, Terrell Owens, Marvin Harrison type of WR someone who is an elite WR <---- note the position.

I see him underachieving for much of his career. Fast starts that grow stagnant as the season wears on.

I like the guy but he has no talent around him other than Gore and with Norv gone i see him struggling a bit here without any true #1 WR.

Bryant is pretty good and he has a good O-Line.



How come everyone and their mother is against Eli, But Smith was selected with the same pick 1 year later and no one says anything when Eli greatly outplayed Smith?

I see where you're coming from, and I think Eli has received a lot of unwarranted criticism for a young quarterback who is still developing, but there are a few of reasons.

1. Smith was the first pick in a weak draft class, whereas Eli was the first pick in an absolutely stacked draft class.
2. People understood there would be growing pains for Smith, as he didn't run a pro style offense in college.
3. Eli has an NFL pedigree.
4. Of the two quarterbacks selected after Eli, one had the best quarterback rating ever for a rookie and won a Superbowl and the other one has made the Pro Bowl.
5. The talent difference between the Giants and 49ers isn't even close.
6. Eli plays in a huge market, whereas Smith plays in a small one.

The 49ers are still one of the weakest teams in terms of pure talent, but they get by due to good coaching, and the fact that they have Frank Gore and an offensive line that specializes in run blocking. They need to add a big time red zone receiver and some better defensive players and they'll be set.

I was never a fan of Smith, and I don't think he'll come close to the level of Palmer, Manning, McNabb, and Culpepper (in his prime anyway). Coming out of college he graded out significantly lower than Young, Rivers, E.Manning, Roethlisberger, and maybe even Leinart. He can be a decent NFL starting QB, but I don't think he'll ever be a pro bowl or stud QB.