Alex Smith

[CrashDavisSports]

Remember when the Chargers decided to go with Rivers instead of resigning Brees, who went on to NO and became one of the best QB's in the league?

Both Smith and Brees have had lackluster careers with their first team they were drafted by, but started getting better the last year they were with their teams.

Could Alex Smith be on the same path as a Drew Brees was? He may not have quite the arm, but may be a good WCO QB with enough weapons around him.

Could Alex Smith be a good options for the Bengals to put against Dalton in TC and let the best player win the job? Then whoever fails to win the starting job would be an excellent backup if anything was to happen to the starter?

Just a random thought for all those who want to see Dalton lynched, even though I am not one of those people.

 

[DanBengalfan]

the cap space would maybe be better served signing other players, than holding qbs, but I'm sure he'd be fine throwing to aj green, who wouldn't?

 

[Upstater]

Alex Smith has worked well with Harbaugh. He wasn't any good before that. Just saying. I toyed around with the idea of the Bills making a move but I don't see him as much of an upgrade over Fitzpatrick.

 

[kramer1]

Alex Smith is a hot commodity. He'd be a major upgrade over Andy Dalton too.

I betcha smith ends up in Cleveland.

 

[Tubbs1518]

Smith will be a crap QB wherever he goes. Probably NY or KC.

 

[kramer1]

Smith will be a crap QB wherever he goes. Probably NY or KC.

If Smith is crap than Dalton doesn't even belong in the league.

 

[cincygrad]

Speaking of Smith.... Did anyone here Bill Cowher suggest they put Smith in during the power outage? Doesn't this at least give you a bit of pause when considering this guy for coaching again in this league? Bench Kaepernick? Umm..... No.

 

[DanBengalfan]

He backpedaled when they called him on it.

 

[jwil007]

Cowher was fucking with them...lol

 

[MHSL82]

Alex Smith has worked well with Harbaugh. He wasn't any good before that. Just saying. I toyed around with the idea of the Bills making a move but I don't see him as much of an upgrade over Fitzpatrick.

Smith started turning it around before Harbaugh got there, in terms of his play. He finished the 2010 year with 8 TDs to 1 INT, after the Monday Night game against Philadelphia. There was an article with Smith talking about after the booing and exchange with his coach, he figured out how to take what the defense was giving him, to not press too much, and to trust in his instincts to make better decisions. He said there was a time where he'd press so much that he would ignore the instincts that say what is a bad pass to attempt, etc.

Not saying he was great before Harbaugh or will be great afterwards, as what was most important with his time with Harbaugh was winning, not his stats. Smith learned how to be a winning QB and will use some of those lessons to lead his next team. Will he be elite or lead them to SBs? No, but he has learned some and made some improvements in his decision-making, fundamentals, and perspective of the game so I don't expect him to go fully back. It wasn't all Harbaugh or all Smith.

 

[CrashDavisSports]

Smith started turning it around before Harbaugh got there, in terms of his play. He finished the 2010 year with 8 TDs to 1 INT, after the Monday Night game against Philadelphia. There was an article with Smith talking about after the booing and exchange with his coach, he figured out how to take what the defense was giving him, to not press too much, and to trust in his instincts to make better decisions. He said there was a time where he'd press so much that he would ignore the instincts that say what is a bad pass to attempt, etc.

Not saying he was great before Harbaugh or will be great afterwards, as what was most important with his time with Harbaugh was winning, not his stats. Smith learned how to be a winning QB and will use some of those lessons to lead his next team. Will he be elite or lead them to SBs? No, but he has learned some and made some improvements in his decision-making, fundamentals, and perspective of the game so I don't expect him to go fully back. It wasn't all Harbaugh or all Smith.

Interesting perspective. It is appreciated. Thank you. Perhaps he could lead the right team to a SB then. Just not sure which team that is or what kind of offensive philosophy is required.

 

[cincygrad]

BTW Crash -- I'd hardly say that Brees has a lackluster career with the Chargers. He led them to a 12-4 record while putting up a qb rating of over 100 in 2004..... In 2005 he wasn't quite as good but did put up big numbers again and would have played in the pro bowl had it not been for hurting his shoulder. He was forced out of town because the Chargers already had another high paid qb on the roster -- Rivers.... But Rivers was drafted before Brees showed such great potential.

 

[CrashDavisSports]

BTW Crash -- I'd hardly say that Brees has a lackluster career with the Chargers. He led them to a 12-4 record while putting up a qb rating of over 100 in 2004..... In 2005 he wasn't quite as good but did put up big numbers again and would have played in the pro bowl had it not been for hurting his shoulder. He was forced out of town because the Chargers already had another high paid qb on the roster -- Rivers.... But Rivers was drafted before Brees showed such great potential.

It was lackluster enough to draft another QB #1 overall, and lackluster enough to have the #1 overall pick to get that QB. Just saying.

 

[Tubbs1518]

The years before Rivers was drafted his wasn't that great. He had a combined 29 TDs and 31 INT's. However he played well enough to keep Rivers on the bench for 2 years. He threw a combined 51 TD's and 22 INT's with 6,735 yards and around 65 %. The only reason the Chargers let him go was his shoulder injury. If not for that you might have seen them trade Rivers and keep him. So to say he had a lackluster career is false. The only reason he was let go was because he got hurt.

 

[cincygrad]

It was lackluster enough to draft another QB #1 overall, and lackluster enough to have the #1 overall pick to get that QB. Just saying.

Yes, it was lackluster in 2003 when they decided to draft Rivers. His performance was fantastic in 2004 and 2005 leaving them with a huge issue.... In those days the rookie contracts were huge. They couldn't continue to pay Rivers big-time money to sit on the bench and they couldn't take a chance on trading Rivers when Brees had injured his shoulder in the last game of the year.

 

[MHSL82]

The years before Rivers was drafted his wasn't that great. He had a combined 29 TDs and 31 INT's. However he played well enough to keep Rivers on the bench for 2 years. He threw a combined 51 TD's and 22 INT's with 6,735 yards and around 65 %. The only reason the Chargers let him go was his shoulder injury. If not for that you might have seen them trade Rivers and keep him. So to say he had a lackluster career is false. The only reason he was let go was because he got hurt.

Brees >>>>>> Smith. But that does sound like Smith. The years before Kaepernick was drafted Smith was not performing, the 8/1 TD/INT to finish 2010 notwithstanding. He had a combined 51 TDs and 53 INTs. However, he played well enough to keep Kaep on the bench for 2 years, if he hadn't gotten the concussion. Now, Kaep is better than Smith, don't get me wrong, but Smith would likely have stayed had he not gotten injured. It wasn't his play that got him benched, it was Kaep's play, who wouldn't have had the opportunity if it weren't for the injury. Smith wouldn't have had his college opportunity if the starter ahead of him hadn't injured his wrist. Alex might have been replaced this offseason anyway. Perhaps the Niners could have gotten more in a trade because we really wouldn't know if the Niners would keep Smith or not.

But if he were to be replaced anyway, the way it turned out is best for Smith. He was winning, playing well, and could have been the SB QB. Now, it would have been with a different game plan, running-based offense, and defense-leaning run to the SB, but he could have gotten there. Losing there or before, would have been worse. So his benching was at a good time. I think losing in the first round wouldn't have said anything about the QB switch but people would act like it meant something and some would act like Smith would have lost, too. Truth is, we wouldn't know

As a Niners fan, I wish Kaep would have won, just as I wanted Smith to win, but oh well. I don't think Smith enjoys Kaep losing, especially a game people think was rigged. But a 22 point comeback win would be minutely worse for Smith, though I think he has stronger pride than to let that bother him. He'd have a ring. I think there are PR-guys and then there is Smith. I think Smith is genuinely classy, but also quietly competitive. You can't get through 8 years of being in the league (5 playing seasons) without being competitive.

 

[CrashDavisSports]

Yes, it was lackluster in 2003 when they decided to draft Rivers. His performance was fantastic in 2004 and 2005 leaving them with a huge issue.... In those days the rookie contracts were huge. They couldn't continue to pay Rivers big-time money to sit on the bench and they couldn't take a chance on trading Rivers when Brees had injured his shoulder in the last game of the year.

Listen, I am not denying what you guys are saying about Brees. However, it wasn't like he was having a great career, but he did start to come around.

Andy Dalton over his first two years:
60.2 Comp / 7,067 Yards / 47 TD's / 29 INT's (32 games)

Brees in his last two seasons with San Diego:
65.0 Comp / 6,735 Yards / 51 TD's / 22 INT's (31 games)

Alex Smith in his last year and half with the 49ers:
64.3 Comp / 4,881 Yards / 30 TD's / 10 INT's (26 games)

Now Alex Smith has not had near the yards, but he is in a run first offense, or at least had been. His job was to move the chains, but be efficient and protec the ball. Because the offensive focus was Gore.

I threw Andy Dalton in here because a lot of people on here think Dalton is complete horse shit and will never amount to anything as a QB. In his first two years he has had his struggles, but he actually improved his QBR by 7 from year 1 to year 2, and put up comparable numbers to Brees who did this in years 4 and 5, before signing a big FA contract with NO.

All I am trying to prove is, if Andy Dalton is never going to lead the Bengals anywhere because of his first two seasons of production, and Alex Smith hasn't earn enough respect over the last two years with his body of work, then Brees doesn't get as much credit as you are giving him for his final two seasons at SD. There was a reason SD let him leave, and it was more than a contract, because they could have moved Rivers instead, and yes, the arm questions were there, but he got a full bill of health from the doctors before the trade, otherwise NO would have voided the FA deal.

 

[MHSL82]

I noticed today that Smith has played in 80 games in his career - an exact multiple of 16. So just for curiosity sake, not trying to make a point good or bad, I grouped each 16.

Now, some games are not complete, for example, his first game in 2005, he went 0-1. His last two games of 2012, he went 7-8 and 1-1 respectively. I still counted those as games. He's only started 75 out of the 80 games, playing one half in the Houston Texans game, one half against Carolina Panthers, and 1 snap against Seattle in 2007 when he got injured. But I counted all of those.

Again, not making any serious claims, thought I would show what my curiosity found rather than just deleting. The only thing I can see, and I would say this without this chart, is that he could have perhaps 3 years of 3000 yards and 20+ TDs if he played 16 games (the last year here had the Rams tie game and the Arizona 1-throw as 2 total games). That isn't great, of course. Durability is an issue and I know you can't combine years. But I read comments to articles as if he couldn't reach those numbers in a years worth of games (couldn't his first 2 years of games) until last year and even then, not the TDs. This was when he had 18 TDs in 11 games in 2009 and people would say, "he can't get even 20 TDs." I'd stick to not being able to beat out Shaun Hill in the off-season, that means more.

View attachment 4463

 

[MHSL82]

Kaep is no comparison, here are the numbers for the 7 starts and it extrapolated. It isn't close. The record would be 11.4 - 4.6 so I indicated "> 11-5" Didn't want to put "11-4-1" because I hate ties and one might think I was putting the Rams tie game on him.

View attachment 4464

 

[MHSL82]

My computer apparently is having problems with the bolding, I didn't mean to bold the data, but it's a bit Freudian as YPA is big. It isn't bold on Excel or Word.