Nate Davis vs Alex Smith 2010

[NinerBob]

Originally Posted by Hobbes2d

Anyone who thinks Alex Smith is a franchise QB needs to have their head examined.

Ok for fun let's list all of the starting QB's for each team in the league k?

AFC East:

NE - Tom Brady

Buffalo - Scrubs

NYJ - Mark Sanchez

Miami - Chad Pennington/Chad Henne

AFC North:

Cincy - Carson Palmer

Baltimore - Joe Flacco

Pittsburgh - Big Ben

Cleveland - SCRUBS

AFC South:

Indy - Peyton Manning

Houston - Matt Schaub

Tennessee - Collins/VY

Jacksonville - David Garrard

AFC West:

Denver - Kyle Orton

SD - Phillip Rivers

Oakland - Fatty McRussell

KC - Matt Cassell

NFC East:

Philly - Donovan McNabb

Dallas - Tony Romo

NYG - Eli Manning

Washington - Jason Campbell

NFC North:

Chicago - Jay Cutler

Green Bay - Aaron Rodgers

Minnesota - Brett Favre

Detroit - Matthew Stafford/ Daunte Culpepper

NFC South:

Atlanta - Matt Ryan

New Orleans - Drew Brees

Carolina - Jake Interception

Tampa Bay - SCRUBS

NFC West:

Seattle - Matt Hasselbeck

St. Louis - Mark Bulger/Kyle Boller

Arizona - Kurt Warner

SF - Shaun Hill/ Alex Smith


By my count there are at least 20 other starting QB's better than Alex Smith. And 2 other guys who are rookies and have shown some promise this year in Sanchez and Stafford.

Anyway, to my main point, only half of those 20 QB's are really LEGIT franchise QB's. So if Alex Smith isn't better than 2/3 of the other starting QB's, and only 1/2 of that 2/3 is even legitimate franchise (we can ride your back to a SB) kind of QB, than one has to wonder why we should keep wasting our time with Smith.

Now if we can't find a better QB, it makes perfect sense to ride Smith until a better opportunity comes along at this point, but if we can even do that remains to be seen over the rest of this season. However, don't fool yourself into thinking he is a longterm answer. He simply does not possess the talent to be a franchise QB. And he doesn't possess the talent to even be on the tier below that which is a legit starting QB that can generally get you to the playoffs each year, but who once you get there aren't good enough to take the team on their back and get you a SB. That's guys like Tony Romo, Matt Schaub, Chad Pennington, Donovan McNabb.

And before you all go calling me a hater, truly look objectively at this list and try to tell me that Smith is better than the majority or more than half of these team's QB's. You can't. Hopefully Nate Davis is....

I hear what your saying but a lot of people said the same things about a couple of other 49er QBs in the past and they turned out to be greats. I remember when Dolphin fans swore that Mrino was going to show Joe how to play in the Super Bowl (we all know how that turned out). So the stories still being written and I still believe Alex has a lot more potential than some of those names you listed. All I have to say is we need to see where his play takes us and not waste a pick on another QB or start another rookie when we have a lot greater needs on this team.

[Doug]

Originally Posted by Candlestick Kid

Im tired of this Nate Davis talk. He is a late round draft pick who hasnt showed us nothing, get off his nuts people. Smith will probably start next year or a free agent. After a few decent games against 3rd stringers doesnt even make him credible to even be close to starting a a game

I don't understand all this "We have all the time in the world" stuff. SBs are hard to come by. Even when we had all the pieces together and should have won SBs 22 through 25 inclusive, we ended up getting into only half of them. Right now we have a really good nucleus of outstanding players and the older ones like Franklin and Spikes won't be here forever. We can't wait to get the weaker positions ironed out in two years. We need to get them established now. Nate Davis hasn't even been active this year. We need to get him some garbage time against starters to see what he has. I don't know whether he can do it or not, but we need to find out.

[belgium49er]

Nate Davis has a better arm,better awareness,better mechanics and better poise so why would Alex Smith be better than???

A lot of kool-aid drinkers here.

[Iamavictory]

I don't know why some of you refuse to admit Nate has any talent. He may have went to a small school and he may have only played a couple pre-season games but to not see the talent he has is beyond me. Alex, if he can handle it, should start the rest of the seasonn and then in camp next year we'll let the professionals decide whether he ha stalent or not. Since when have any of you become professional scouts for a NFL team? Unless you can prove to you have, your opinon is just that, your opinon. It doesn't mean you are right or wrong so please quit trying to pretend that you know eveything because anyone with a half of a brain knows that just because you believe somthing to be so does not make it so. And yes, that includes my opinon also. So before you start tell everyone the future, all you Nostradumazzes, try using a little disclaimer or something so you don't sound so freakin arrogant.

[TRAVELER_9ER]

Not saying Davis is the answer but how would the naysayers react if Nate came in and became a top QB?

[ninerman80]

Originally Posted by TRAVELER_9ER

Not saying Davis is the answer but how would the naysayers react if Nate came in and became a top QB?

That's just it. I don't see any naysayers. I just see people like me that are willing to beleive he can be good, but can also be bad (we just don't know), and we reccognize that he does in fact have a slight learning disability.

Whether that learning disability hinders him or not, that has yet to be determined.

HOWEVER, I am seeing a lot of Fortune Tellers, telling us how great Nate will be though. Shouldn't they be the ones we should be questioning.

[TRAVELER_9ER]

Also wanted to add that I agree with giving Smith a 2nd chance due to his potential, but he has to win the rest of the season out to really give NINERS something they have been looking for, for a long time. A potential franchise Q/B. The NINERS have a very good recving core if utilized properly and Smith is a mobile Q/B that'll give defenses problems plus he looks a heck of a lot sharper than when he 1st came out.I say give him this season and next season to see what he does before we start the Q/B competetion chant. Davis if he is still around would make a really good backup and maybe a starter soon.

[TRAVELER_9ER]

I see your point there NINERMAN80

[ninerman80]

Originally Posted by TRAVELER_9ER

I see your point there NINERMAN80

For the record, and even though I'm looking forward to Smith working out, I like what I see in Davis, both character wise and on the field.

[ManCans]

Smith has always had the physical talent of a franchise quarterback, but he is still lacking in critical areas that are keeping him from taking the next step. He has shown vast improvement in his pocket awareness and his mechanics, and his release has dramatically accelerated. However, he still has a tendency to revert back to his old bad habits of locking his front leg and overthrowing targets in critical pressure situations.

When he entered the Houston game, you could tell he was relaxed and ready to play. He quickly got the team back into the game, but then he tried to do too much when they got within striking distance of winning the game, which resulted in the drive ending interception to effectively end the ballgame.

He performed well in Indianapolis showing good poise and proper mechanics, but again started locking his front leg and overthrowing receivers during the final critical minutes with the game still on the line. First he overthrew Crabtree on an out pattern, then he overthrew Bruce on a crossing pattern, and finally took a sack while scrambling out of a perfectly good pocket instead of hanging in and throwing to Crabtree for a first down on an X out pattern.

Smith has made dramatic strides, but he still needs to learn how to finish by remaining calm in critical situations. If he can do that, he can take that next step and become the franchise quarterback we'd all like to see (except Puppet/Prophet, and Hobbes).