The New Niner QB
Over at Chuck’s blog they spent the last hundred or so comments last night debating whether this type of QB change has ever happened before. Of course it hasn’t. And who cares if it has or it hasn’t anyway? One thing it definitely is: fantastic theater. Smith made his *statement* about this by wearing his helmet on the sidelines early in the game. He hasn’t said anything else. And really, what’s he supposed to say? Kap has been a revelation. And at the end of the day, if Harbaugh thinks Kap makes our team better as the starting QB then there really isn’t any argument against it.
And now we get to watch this fascinating soap opera unfold. Kap has literally no margin for error. How could you if you are replacing a guy who is 20-6? Brees had a pretty bad game yesterday getting sacked 5 times and throwing 2 picks. He probably didn’t wake up this morning worrying about job security. But if Kap has the same type of game next week will he be afforded the same security? Nope.
This decision has nothing to do with loyalty. To make a move like this you must feel like Kap is a budding super star. Look, Alex Smith is a very good QB, probably top 6 or 7 in the league (in my opinion). So Harbaugh has to think that Kap is top 4 or 5….or better. If Tom Brady was all of a sudden given to the Niners do you think Harbaugh would hesitate in replacing Smith with him? He wouldn’t blink an eye. And Jimmy knows more about QB and football than ALL of the bloggers combined.
Baseball isn’t like football. What you see with your eyes is more important than stat lines and numbers like *qb rating*. And what we have seen with our eyes so far of Kap is exciting. In fact, I’m not sure if I’ve ever seen a QB like this ever…….
Don’t feel sorry for Alex. He’s loaded financially and he’s 28, plenty of time to still carry on his career. In fact, for the rest of this year at least, Niner fans have the best of both worlds: we have a superstar quarterback leading our team and a fantastic back up should he get hurt. No other team in the league can boast the same thing.
Alex has more than nine lives. He will be the Niner QB again. He will always be a Niner QB. When the Niners draft Kap’s son in the first round of the 2033 draft Alex will still be a Niner QB–I’m not sure where he’ll be on the depth chart by then, but he’ll be on the team…….
And it won’t surprise me in the least if Kap gets hurt this year and Alex has to take over. Smith could easily be the one who leads the team to a Super Bowl win this year. I have confidence that either guy could get it done.
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I beg to differ, and think there has been a similar situation…that being the Bledsoe/Brady situation. Bledsoe was still a very serviceable QB, but once he got hurt, it was Brady rest of the way.
And Purdy’s had the following in today’s Merc: “After the victory, Smith said that he thinks he “should” start the next game but “doesn’t expect anything.”
Like I said earlier on the previous thread, it is hard to argue with Smith’s recent success. He took the team to the conference final last year, and is like 26-1 since. But I think Harbaugh is going to go with who he thinks gives the team the best chance to win” (as it should be).
I also think it will be Kap rest of the way.
I don’t recall the details of the Brady thing. Did Beldsoe come back healthy that same year and he still sat? Or did he come back the next season as the back up to Brady?
Bledsoe did come back that year. He actually came in for Brady due to injury in the AFC title game and lead the Pats to a win. But Brady still remained the starter. Bledsoe was shipped off to Buffalo the following year.
Not even remotely similar- Bledsoe had been 5-11 the previous year and he was 0-2 with a 75 QB rating when Brady replaced him.
I agree that either could get it done, but I don’t expect Alex to be here past this year. He will finish the first of a three-year 24 mil deal. Next two years are not guaranteed. If the Niners decide to let Alex go before April 1, they are absolved from a majority of the money they owe him. Here is the breakdown on his contract:
http://tinyurl.com/bmhp35a
I don’t follow football that closely but I caught some UNR games when Kaepernick was there. He’s a stud athlete for sure. They ran that pistol offense and every time you looked up Kaepernick was taking off on a run and looking like a man amoung boys as he juked defenders into the popcorn machine. Throwing the ball was a bit of an adventure but he got it done. Harbaugh must be real confident that he has refined his play under center to be making this move.
Another tough break for Smith though. After the last 2 years that he has had he has to be really questioning what else he has to do to get some respect. JH is generally given credit for his turn around but bottom line is coaching, schemes, whatever; HE is the one who has been executing on the field. For a casual fan looking in it looks to me like Operation Dick Around is in full affect.
twinfan1 said, on November 26, 2012 at 8:25 am (Edit)
Colin plays differently than Alex, which does not mean better.Obviously Harbaugh has chosen Kap, whether it is the right decision is not known yet. They were going to the postseason with Smith- it’s there where Kap will have to prove he was the right choice. Despite ridiculous denials from Room B, it’s been made clear that the move was made because Coilin was the guy to take us farther than Alex. He should get a chance to prove it this year.Can he return punts, too?
twinfan1 said, on November 26, 2012 at 8:42 am (Edit)
As to why Alex wore his helmet, I’m sure there’s someone with that dime store degree who can clue us in. Maybe they can tell us why Harbaugh is still being a dickhead about this- calling fans droolers and saying we don’t care if they win or lose, being hostile to a press who have treated him like deity. He’s always been socially inept but never off the rails as he’s been since Alex went down.I’ll use my penny store degree- frankly, he demonsrtrates some classic bipolar symptoms-unpredictable mood swings,excessive happiness,with the Kap move it would be making grand and unattainable plans- im short, he’s nuts.
BTW- Smith’s helmet is “wired”. He was wearing it so he could hear the play calls.
He only wore to start the game.
Argue it with Maiocco. I know, you don’t believe him either.Anyway, I saw him with it on in the second half. Snarkk claims he saw it all game long.
Funny, I guess VD got handcuffed again. He dropped that pass, but it was the only one thrown to him. This morning he says Alex should be the QB. Don’t worry, I’ll keep you all posted on all the news. I’m your man in Havana..
I saw him (Alex) at different points during the game, and never saw him with the helmet off.
Regardless of how Harbaugh comes across with the media, I think he is a brilliant coach, and trust him to make the right call in regards to who gives the team the best chance to win. I also would hope that he is being clear with each of the QBs on his decision as soon as he has made that decision. Now how/when he communicates that decision to the media is different…I think it is good to keep the other team guessing as to who will be under center. Makes development of their game plan that much more difficult, as they do not know who to plan for as the QB.
As I’ve said, OBVIOUSLY Harbaugh thinks Colin is the right guy. But it’s been said over and over that it’s because he thinks Colin can take them farther. We’ll find out when the playoffs start. Anyone who thinks Kappy deserves a “thanks for the effort, dude” if he goes one and out is wrongo.
This is presuming he keeps the job.
The ’87 Redskins might be an even more extreme case. Jay Schroeder was the starter, got hurt in the season opener and was replaced by Doug Williams; the ‘Skins won. Williams started the next game and the ‘Skins lost. After the three scab games, Schroeder came back and Washington went 2-1. In the next game, Schroeder started off poorly, got replaced by Williams and the ‘Skins won. Williams then started the next game and the ‘Skins lost.
Schroeder came back and Washington went 3-1.
In the regular-season finale, Schroeder started but again was benched in favor of Williams and the ‘Skins won. With a full-blown QB controversy going into the playoffs, Joe Gibbs went with Williams and the Redskins won the Super Bowl. Williams was the MVP.
One other note: The previous year Washington, with Schroeder as the starter, lost to the Giants in the NFC title game.
It’s more extreme but not similar.Schoeder wasn’t playing a high level in 1987 or in the postseason in 1986.
Schroeder won two playoff games in ’86, including a win over the defending champion Bears on the road in which he threw 2 TDs. Yes, there were other factors, as is always the case with football. And maybe his stats don’t show it, but winning twice to get to the NFC title game as a wild card, which was rare in the NFC back then, is pretty impressive.
I thought I remembered seeing him with his helmet off all game (after the beginning). Maybe I’m thinking of the game v Chicago. I KNOW I saw him with his helmet off in that game. Seems curious then that he didn’t listen in on the plays in that game but decided to listen to all of them in yesterday’s game………
Maybe they asked him to for the NO game. But go with the dweeb theory.
the fact that this dude keeps scoring a contract each year is one of the great mysterious in life
Yankees, Eli Whiteside Avoid Arbitration
By Ben Nicholson-Smith [November 26 at 1:00pm CST]
1:00pm: The deal is worth $625K, ESPN.com’s Buster Olney reports (on Twitter). This means Matt Swartz’s projection was within $25K.
Read more at http://www.mlbtraderumors.com/#BVjZcsYoKZZlGmZw.99
Hard to understand why a guy who took them to the title game would get another contract.
(When I posted this, Flavor had only posted that “the fact that this dude keeps scoring a contract each year is one of the great mysterious in life” He added the rest later.)
Well, Jimbo sure cleared things up. He won’t say who starts Sunday but just said that Alex is the starting QB for the Niners.
Daddy needs to smack Jimbo around.We know it will be Colin, If this dickhead thinks saying Alex is the starter makes it all cool with the guy he fucked, he confirms my insanity theory.
The TV pundits seem to have a divide between former coaches and former QBs. The former coaches, like Jimmie Johnson and Tony Dungy, say Kap; the fomer QBs, like Bradshaw and Warner, say Smith.
The World Series full share for the Giants was a record setting $377,002.64. They voted 50 full shares, don’t know if Whiteside got a full share.
I’m sure he did, the players love that dude.
Well, if you hold Harbaugh to his statement after yesterday’s game that he only kept Alex out because if his health, then Smith will start next weekend. After yesterday’s game, I think Cappy deserves to keep going, but that has no bearing on how Harbaugh feels.
Harbaugh must think he’s Dr. Frenkenquarterback. He can mold an NFL starter from a lump of clay . . .
So, I’m guessing you guys aren’t comparing this to Young replacing Montana because Montana was out for almost two years?
The 1987 season is more apt. Walsh had just brought in Steve Young, and was pusihing Montana for the starting job. Joe was pulled in the Minn playoff game after stinking up the joint. There were huge questions going forward if Montana was going to be traded away that offseason.
In the 1987 offseason, Glenn Dickey wanted to trade Joe for Billy Ray Smith from SD, or some shit.
After the 88 and 89 seasons I’m pretty sure Wash was glad he didn’t trade Joe. 1990 Joe got us to the Championship game before getting the injury that led to Young taking his spot.
Yeah and I think Dickey started the Rice should retire back around 91 or some bull shit.
Just read where Melky gets a full share of the WS pot ($377K)…this is automatic based on him being on the roster after June 1, and being eligible to play in the WS…
Whoever gets the most reps in pratice this week will be the starter.And that will be Kappy.
JH can play all the mind games he wants with the media and opposing coaches,but it won’t change a thing.Teams are preparing for Kappy for sure.
Kevin McHale’s 23-year old daughter died of lupus today. Heartbreakingly sad news.
I was always pulling for the Lakers back in the ’80s vs. the Celtics, so McHale was always the “enemy,” to me, I guess. But the news today is far beyond sports competition. It’s just so sad. I wish he and his family well. I’d kind of lost track of his career. I didn’t even realize he was coaching still.
Those Laker/Celtic wars in the ’80s were epic, and put the NBA on the map with the entire nation.
Interesting. I was a huge Celtic fan back in those days. Yes…sad news re: McHale’s daughter. Wishing he and his family peace during their time of loss.
Kyle Williams out for year with torn ACL…
McHale will always go down as the player the Celts got when the Dubs traded Chief (their last good big man) and their 3rd overall pick for Joe Barry Couchpotato.
I don’t understand the panty-wringing everyone is doing about JH not naming a starting QB. Who cares? The players know who it’s going to be. What possible outcome could he get from announcing it to the public that ends up a *positive* for the 49ers?
Well, according to Cappy, he didn’t find out til Saturday night at 10:00 pm that he was starting Sunday.
Everyone seems to be in the dark . . .
Like I said somewhere, he’s doing it to keep them both ready.
Tension this week with the Beard…
http://blog.sfgate.com/giants/2012/11/26/why-this-could-be-brian-wilsons-final-week-as-a-giant/ I don’t blame SF one bit if they don’t offer him a guaranteed deal. They paid him a full year of no playing, so to me, they don’t owe him anything more, except a new, fair deal that accounts for the uncertainty of his arm. He might be good; chances are better he might not be, given this is TJ #2. A low base with incentives getting him to a high salary seems fair to me. Otherwise, it’s been real, and thanks. They won another WS without him, so that answers the question of whether he’s critical to come back…
to me it’s a no-brainer. He’s a non-tender candidate for certain. If he wants to come back for 2 mill + incentives, fine. But Romo is the real deal. And he was a better closer than *heart attack* Bee-Wheezy (who I loved). But it’s time for a change, time to move on (unless the price is right)
Harbs has chosen a lonely road. He has his FO, coaching staff, and his guys in the locker room. I’m sure he says and does things he has seen and heard from long ago, and has decided he doesn’t have to explain any part of what he is doing to anyone outside the inner circle.
I think losing to NYG at home last month did Smith in. Harbs and staff figured the only thing holding back Kaps was lack of experience, and once Smith got hurt his fate was sealed. With all the crummy QBs in the league, he’ll be in demand and SF can extract whatever they can from top bidder after this season.
But at the same time, the continued success of young QBs in the league shows the right guys can come in and make it happen immediately. Hrbs has plenty enough talent around Kaps for his team to take it all and he’s beaten GB and the Saints again–but he is going to have to show everyone he can beat Coughlin, eli, and the Giants first. And if he does, the known media world will get the giant sized middle finger from him for life.
Willie, it’s the perception that you build among the team that the press, and the rest of the world, is the ememy.
Walsh was the master at doing that. Walsh was nicer about it, but the result was the same. Coughlin does the same shit all the time, albeit in a different way.