Is Alex Smith, the former #1 overall pick, a draft day bust? I believe just by asking the question you almost have to lean towards an inevitable yes. As I watched the Monday night game against the Seattle Seahawks I can’t help but notice that Alex Smith has yet to live up to his lofty draft status. Smith, who is in his 3rd pro year, doesn’t at all look as confident or as polished as say Carson Palmer did in his 3rd year. Yes, Carson Palmer had and still has some pretty awesome weapons to work with in Chad Johnson and T.J. Houshmandzadeh along with RB Rudi Johnson. Palmer also had an established O-Line with Levi Jones and Willie Anderson anchoring the book ends. But can you honestly say that Alex Smith even remotely resembles Carson Palmer in any way? I doubt it. Even Eli Manning looks and most of the time plays like a franchise quarterback. Alex Smith just doesn’t seem to have it and he looks as if he will go the way of David Carr and Tim Couch.
The first of many things I saw during the Seahawk game were Smith’s eyes looked like a deer in head lights. Smith seems to have that same look of a rookie in his 3rd year. I just don’t see the fire and the passion you need from a franchise QB. A great contrast was last night when you saw the difference between Matt Hasselback and Alex Smith. You could see the fire and leadership in Hasselback; he was the complete opposite of Alex Smith. While Alex Smith looked scared and timid, Matt Hasselback looked confident and commanding.
Alex Smith’s next flaw is his touch. He basically has none. Yes he can throw intermediate throws, but his deep ball is horrific. There was a play where I think it was Darrell Jackson had gotten behind Kelly Jennings and safety Brian Russell. Jackson was wide open all Alex Smith had to do was stand in the pocket set his feet and get some air under the ball. Instead Alex Smith felt some inside pressure from the DT’s and the blitz, and instead of standing tall and taking a hit while delivering the ball right, he got rid of it before he got hit and the ball was overthrown by a mile. That play right there is all I need to see from a quarterback to see if he can play in the NFL. NFL quarterbacks have to be able to take a hit while completing a pass. It’s a must; it’s just the nature of the game.
Also Alex Smith on at least 3 occasions had trouble delivering the ball with accuracy and velocity on the move. This was one of Smith’s positives when he was drafted. Remember? His mobility and ability to throw on the run was something he was supposedly very good at. Something he could do and Aaron Rogers couldn’t do.
His throwing mechanics are also still an issue. I don’t know if it’s because of the system he originates from, but it is obviously still a problem. His footwork has still not developed and he is looking more and more like a spread offense bust. You can see that when he releases the ball his feet just aren’t set right and the ball comes out with no consistency. The ball either sails are is way short and drops right in front of the receiver’s feet. If Alex Smith’s mechanics aren’t rectified by now will they ever be? I highly doubt it.
I don’t know if it’s because Alex Smith plays on a bad team, but it certainly doesn’t help his case that he can’t produce for his Pro-Bowl RB in Frank Gore and his potentially lethal TE in Vernon Davis. So he does have some pretty decent weapons to say the least. But in reality weapons don’t really matter. Payton Manning wasn’t exactly surrounded by All-Pro players when he entered the league, Carson Palmer would have succeeded regardless of what team he would have went too, and Eli Manning, like I said earlier, is showing signs of becoming a franchise QB who will lead the Giants for the next decade. But Alex Smith just doesn’t resemble these three. Smith just doesn’t seem to have the intangibles to succeed in the league of leagues. I just wonder how long it will take before the 49ers front office and coaching staff see it. Hopefully they correct before Alex Smith ruins the franchise the way Ryan Leaf, Joey Harrington, Akili Smith, David Carr and Tim Couch all did to their respective teams. Or maybe he’ll do what those five didn’t do, erase the doubt of fans alike and become what he was picked to be, a franchise QB.
Will Alex Smith suffer the same fate David Carr suffered in Houston? Will the 49ers franchise head honcho’s build around Smith? Or will the front office neglect him just as the Texans did with Carr? Who will the 49ers draft in this upcoming April’s draft? Will they add more defense to this year’s big free agent signings are will they draft players that will grow, help and progress along with Alex Smith’s career? What will the future hold for the University of Utah product?
These are the questions that I’ve been asking myself in the last few months. Especially seeing what has happened to my beloved Carr and the correlations between him and Alex Smith. I’ll start out with a few similarities that I’ve seen with Carr and Smith. First is obvious. They both are from small programs, Utah and Fresno Sate. Both of those schools are not exactly NFL pipelines especially for #1 overall picks. Second comparison is that both are incredibly mobile capable of breaking off 10 or 15 yard gains. Carr and Smith also share a very good understanding for the game and they both are very intelligent. They both don’t have a tremendously strong arm, but they can make every NFL throw. And they also have the accuracy to succeed in the league too. And finally they both have that good boy attitude that makes them very likable in the media and among their teammates. There characters were never a question when being interviewed by the Texans or the 49ers during their respective draft combines and workouts.
Well, I spoke about the positives the two shares, but what about the negatives that Carr and Smith have. As I said before their good ol’ boy attitude is not exactly a great thing in the rough and tumble ego heavy NFL. What I mean is that they are both quiet family orientated guys. Will Alex Smith hold up when being criticized heavily? Obviously one of David Carr main down falls was that he had a tremendous time trying to thrive under the pressure of the media and horrid treatment he started to receive in the final games of the 2005 season. Next, when you talk about Alex Smith or David Carr you will never find any knowledgeable fan say that they are a pure franchise QB. They both are quarterbacks who need their franchises to surround them with offensive talent for them to succeed. They will never be mistaken for Carson Palmer, Payton Manning, Donovan McNabb, or Tom Brady. All of whom can succeed with minimal talent around them.
David Carr could’ve succeeded in Houston had the organization provided him the talent and veterans he deserved. Only selecting 1 offensive player with the 1rst round pick in five years isn’t exactly installing confidence in the David Carr run offense. After the selection of Andre Johnson the Texans managed to pass on plenty of offensive talent. None of which was more shocking than in 2005 when the Texans passed on offensive tackles Jammal Brown and Alex Barron and selected a one year wonder in defensive tackle Travis Johnson. Even in free agency I bet you can’t name one offensive significant signing that the Texans made during that time. I’m not saying that David Carr didn’t regress during the past two seasons or that he could’ve gone deep, or he stared down his receivers a little too much, but most of the blame is on the shoulders of the GM Charlie Casserly and the last coaching staff. We as NFL fans literally watched a QB with an enormous amount of potential totally and completely waste right before our eyes. It was quite horrifying to watch if you were a fan of David Carr.
As for Alex Smith the comparisons aren’t that far off when talking about the 49ers organization. The 49ers have now for the past five years been a laughing stock right along with the Houston Texans. And the media sure didn’t let up until the end of the 2006 season. But as you probably already know after the Houston Texans first two seasons they looked to be on the right track too. But now look where we are at……starting all over again. Before Mike Nolan was the 49ers coach in 2005 the San Francisco front office had been making horribly bad personnel decisions. Drafting guys like Reggie McGrew, Mike Rumph, Kwame Harris, and Rashaun Woods. None of whom except Harris is still with the team. But since Mike Nolan came in he made sure that the draft is how he would build the franchise. And after taking Alex Smith they made sure to take the 2nd best guard in the 2005 NFL Draft out of Michigan, David Baas. The 49er organization also found a 3rd round steal in RB Frank Gore who in 2006 was one of the best backs in the entire NFL. With the first four picks in 2005 the 49ers drafted offense to go along with Alex Smith. In the 2006 NFL Draft the 49ers again drafted 3 out of 4 of their first 4 choices on offense, adding a playmaking TE in Vernon Davis and a WR in Brandon Williams. Can you see where I’m going with this? The 9ers also have signed veteran offensive lineman. In the 2005 free agent singing period they netted offensive tackle Jonas Jennings away from Buffalo. And in 2006 they signed guard Larry Allen the All-World, Hall of Famer away from Dallas and also signing a very capable and solid WR in Antonio Bryant. Not to mention also in 2006 they traded for QB Trent Dilfer to backup and mentor Smith. They are building around Alex Smith surrounding him the talent to succeed in the NFL. And in the upcoming 2007 draft I wouldn’t be surprised if the 49ers would draft wide receivers Dwayne Jarrett or Ted Ginn Jr. Two of the most highly touted and productive wide receivers in college to also go along with their 2005 #1 pick.
The way the 49ers have been fortifying their team with offensive talent is how you build around a young QB. This is where the Texan organization failed David Carr. As a matter of fact the 49ers literally turned a laughing stock into a playoff contender in just two seasons. Had the Texans GM and coaches made sure to build around Carr instead of trying to build a fledgling defense maybe Carr might be a top 10 QB.
Thus answering my burning question at the beginning of my thread. Alex Smith won’t turn out like David Carr despite his physical similarities. What a shame, maybe David Carr can resurrect his flailing career in Carolina. Maybe even following in the footsteps of Steve Young, who once was a high draft choice, but soon became a tackling dummy playing for the God awe full Buccaneers. To then go on to become one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time.
