As a Frank Gore Owner, for your consideration:

[number9]

Alex Smith = Ryan Leaf with a brain.

49ers WRs, hands = bear cub wearing mittens.

Mrs. Young should insist Steve Young shave before going on the air. Don Johnson, he ain't.

 

BTW, Frank Gore's 72 yards vs. Engram's 53 yards = 2 point win. Lucky.

[chinatown dragons]

the WORSE thing is that the Niners are so bad, they need to abandon the run, resulting in Gore not getting the 20 to 25 carries.

 

the 72 rushing yards came on 13 carries, for 5.5 ypc....not a bad average.....too bad the way they are playing, he wont get the 20-25 carries to get him a 100 yards or so...!

 

the niners are just plan......bad

[Randall]

Alex Smith = Ryan Leaf with a brain.

49ers WRs, hands = bear cub wearing mittens.

Mrs. Young should insist Steve Young shave before going on the air. Don Johnson, he ain't.

 

BTW, Frank Gore's 72 yards vs. Engram's 53 yards = 2 point win. Lucky.

 

 

 

Facial hair? Do you really care?

 

I like Steve Young's commentary.

 

Irish won by 1/10 of a point this week with DJ Hackett.

[MikesVikes]

Facial hair? Do you really care?

 

I like Steve Young's commentary.

 

Irish won by 1/10 of a point this week with DJ Hackett.

 

 

 

Ouch

[detlef]

As a Niner fan, I recall being bummed that they got the #1 pick in a year when there simply wasn't a guy worth taking at #1. After nobody would trade up (because everyone knew what was obvious), they had to go with the QB and, as a result, got stuck paying #1 pick QB money to a guy who had just as much chance of falling out of the top 10 as being taken #1. After all, depending on whom you asked, it was either him or the kid from Cal as the best QB in the draft. GB grabbed him at like 20 and saved a ton of money. At this point is there any reason to believe that Smith was the better of the two?

[The Irish Doggy]

Irish won by 1/10 of a point this week with DJ Hackett.

 

 

I've been saying he would all year.

[detlef]

I've been saying he would all year.

Thats funny

[Caveman_Nick]

As a Niner fan, I recall being bummed that they got the #1 pick in a year when there simply wasn't a guy worth taking at #1. After nobody would trade up (because everyone knew what was obvious), they had to go with the QB and, as a result, got stuck paying #1 pick QB money to a guy who had just as much chance of falling out of the top 10 as being taken #1. After all, depending on whom you asked, it was either him or the kid from Cal as the best QB in the draft. GB grabbed him at like 20 and saved a ton of money. At this point is there any reason to believe that Smith was the better of the two?

 

 

I dunno Detlef, some serious talent came out of that draft. In the first 15 picks alone:

 

Ronnie Brown went #2

Braylon Edwards went #3

Demarcus Ware at #11

Shawn Merriman at #12

Thomas Davis at #13

Derrick Johnson at #14

 

Forget the second half of the first round....

 

This was somewhat of a weak draft class when looking at the number of busts in that top 15 as well, but I think you have to lay a bad pick on the front office of the team involved. Obviously if there are nguys picked high that are stars, they were highly graded prospects that panned out.

 

I think the problem is more the thought process that went into choosing Smith, and I think it's more of a systemic problem not only with the 49ers, but with many NFL teams. Those guys listed weren't thought of as "First overall pick" material, but obviously most NFL GMs would be stoked to have these guys on their team, and I doubt a single one would choose Alex Smith over any of them.

 

I hate to hold up this as an example, because I am not doing it to boast, it just happens to be a situation I remember fairly well. The year that the Patriots took Ty Warren 13th overall, I was really surprised when they called the name. I hadn't even expected Warren to go in the first round, let alone 13th overall. I remember being upset that they didn't go up to get Jonathan Sullivan, and then that Jimmy Kennedy went right in front of their pick. That just goes to show that they know what they are talking about and I don't know squat about scouting for draft picks, especially considering the carreers that Sullivan and Kennedy have had compared to Warren.

 

It was just a bad pick by an organization that has been struggling to get it's act together for a while now. It screamed of "I don't know what to do" at the time.

[NAUgrad]

It looked to me like Smith was just a little gun shy last night. I still think he can be a capable starting QB in this league. SF was not prepared well for that game. Either the players are stupid, or the coaches didn't prepare them for the appropriate blocking schemes. Smith got pummeled all night. That Oline looked amazing during preseason but was just abused last night. Seattle's D is good, but I didn't remember them to be Chicago's 85 D good.

 

Gore, however, looked pretty good I thought. He looked like he had a chip on his shoulder and ran really hard. He may improve just enough for a playoff run. (wait did I just type that outloud?)

[detlef]

I dunno Detlef, some serious talent came out of that draft. In the first 15 picks alone:

 

Ronnie Brown went #2

Braylon Edwards went #3

Demarcus Ware at #11

Shawn Merriman at #12

Thomas Davis at #13

Derrick Johnson at #14

 

Forget the second half of the first round....

 

This was somewhat of a weak draft class when looking at the number of busts in that top 15 as well, but I think you have to lay a bad pick on the front office of the team involved. Obviously if there are nguys picked high that are stars, they were highly graded prospects that panned out.

 

I think the problem is more the thought process that went into choosing Smith, and I think it's more of a systemic problem not only with the 49ers, but with many NFL teams. Those guys listed weren't thought of as "First overall pick" material, but obviously most NFL GMs would be stoked to have these guys on their team, and I doubt a single one would choose Alex Smith over any of them.

 

I hate to hold up this as an example, because I am not doing it to boast, it just happens to be a situation I remember fairly well. The year that the Patriots took Ty Warren 13th overall, I was really surprised when they called the name. I hadn't even expected Warren to go in the first round, let alone 13th overall. I remember being upset that they didn't go up to get Jonathan Sullivan, and then that Jimmy Kennedy went right in front of their pick. That just goes to show that they know what they are talking about and I don't know squat about scouting for draft picks, especially considering the carreers that Sullivan and Kennedy have had compared to Warren.

 

It was just a bad pick by an organization that has been struggling to get it's act together for a while now. It screamed of "I don't know what to do" at the time.

I agree with everything you just said. Everything. FWIW, I think taking a QB at #1 is nearly always a bad idea. I see them as the least quantifiable position out there so they pose the biggest risk. I mean, if a guy is 300 lbs, has 10% body fat, and runs a 4.5 40, you can be pretty damned sure he's going to be at least a very good DE. He has the tools to be insanely good but even if he's a total head case or lazy, he'll be at worse serviceable. With a QB, however, the brain and nerves are possibly the most important things and it's just too hard to tell.

 

You're right, there were plenty of guys out of the top half of that draft that turned out nice, but like you said, for what ever reason they'd be a hard sell to the fans as a #1. This is lame but you can always seem to sell the QB. That's the point I was making. There wasn't a RB/WR/DE, or QB for that matter who had #1 written all over him. Not even a guy like Russell this year who at least has insane upside in terms of his size and strength even if people are concerned about his ability to grasp the game. A guy like that can at least take games over and carry the team on his back a few times a year even if he never turns into a Brady/Manning/Montana.

 

It's just like the NBA, when there's some freakishly tall guy in the draft, teams are petrified to take anyone else at #1, so dudes that pretty much any casual observer knows are going to be busts like Shawn Bradley end up going long before insanely talented swingmen do.

[Caveman_Nick]

I agree with everything you just said. Everything. FWIW, I think taking a QB at #1 is nearly always a bad idea. I see them as the least quantifiable position out there so they pose the biggest risk. I mean, if a guy is 300 lbs, has 10% body fat, and runs a 4.5 40, you can be pretty damned sure he's going to be at least a very good DE. He has the tools to be insanely good but even if he's a total head case or lazy, he'll be at worse serviceable. With a QB, however, the brain and nerves are possibly the most important things and it's just too hard to tell.

 

You're right, there were plenty of guys out of the top half of that draft that turned out nice, but like you said, for what ever reason they'd be a hard sell to the fans as a #1. This is lame but you can always seem to sell the QB. That's the point I was making. There wasn't a RB/WR/DE, or QB for that matter who had #1 written all over him. Not even a guy like Russell this year who at least has insane upside in terms of his size and strength even if people are concerned about his ability to grasp the game. A guy like that can at least take games over and carry the team on his back a few times a year even if he never turns into a Brady/Manning/Montana.

 

It's just like the NBA, when there's some freakishly tall guy in the draft, teams are petrified to take anyone else at #1, so dudes that pretty much any casual observer knows are going to be busts like Shawn Bradley end up going long before insanely talented swingmen do.

 

 

FWIW, I thought taking Russell #1 overall would be a big mistake for the Raiders at the time, and I still do. I thought it had Alex Smith written all over it.

 

 

[detlef]

FWIW, I thought taking Russell #1 overall would be a big mistake for the Raiders at the time, and I still do. I thought it had Alex Smith written all over it.

 

 

FWIW, I agree but not to the extent that I thought it had Alex Smith written all over it. Alex Smith can't throw the ball 80 yards and isn't big enough to run over LBs if he had to. If Alex Smith is going to be great, it's going to be because of great mental capacity to understand the game and lead men, not because he's a physical freak of nature. Because that's near impossible to tell when he's a 20 year old college kid, there's just no way you can take him over somebody who shows strong measurable traits. Pretty much all the guys who have succeeded at QB despite having mortal size and strength were gems found late. Montana in the 3rd, Brady in the 6th, Warner not drafted, Favre (though dude's got a cannon), hell they'd be happy if he turned into the next Jeff Garcia (and don't fool yourselves into thinking that I'm putting him into the same league as the others I just mentioned). These were the types of QBs that SF could hope Smith could become but none of them cost their team a high #1 pick.

 

Both he and Russel were drafted young and there's no way to tell if either has the brains to be a great QB. However, it's much easier to see which one has the ability to brush-off a blitzing safety and then throw a frozen rope 50 yards down the field.