Dickey: Believe it or not, Smith should start
By: Glenn Dickey
Special to The Examiner
June 19, 2009
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| Quarterback Alex Smith has looked better so far this year than he has at any other time during his tumultuous time with the 49ers. (Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images) |
The good news for 49ers fans: Alex Smith is healthy again and throwing more sharply and with more confidence than he ever has in his troubled NFL career.
Many Niners fans won’t regard that as good news. They’ve castigated Smith with regularity and are convinced that Shaun Hill is the better choice at quarterback.
But in truth, Smith has been fighting an uphill battle since he was taken as the first choice in the 2005 draft, coming to a bad team with a porous offensive line and inadequate receivers. Not surprisingly, he looked terrible.
He made good progress in his second year, but then offensive coordinator Norv Turner took the coaching job with the San Diego Chargers. In his third season, he suffered a serious shoulder injury that required surgery. He tried to come back last season, but needed another surgery.
“Even before that, I just didn’t feel right,” Smith said when we talked on Tuesday in Santa Clara, after the 49ers’ last workout before the start of training camp in late July. “Now, I feel very comfortable throwing any kind of pass.”
That was evident the way he was zinging the ball on all types of passes, whether it was over the middle to tight end Vernon Davis or a deep throw to wide receiver Dominique Ziegler. General manager Scot McCloughan said last week that Smith was throwing better than he had at any time since he’s been a 49er, and I would echo that thought.
In the offseason, McCloughan had said Smith would have to re-negotiate his contract or be released. Smith chose to re-negotiate.
“I felt I had some unfinished business here,” he said.
He feels comfortable now, with himself and with the offense new offensive coordinator Jimmy Raye is installing.
“There are some similarities in the terminology with Norv’s offense, so that makes it easier for me to assimilate,” he said. “I think he’s very good at making use of what he has. He realizes that Vernon is a special talent who can create matchup problems, so he’s making the tight end more a focal part of our offense.”
Smith had to play catchup this spring, proving that he was healthy and in a good frame of mind. Coach Mike Singletary declared Hill the presumptive starter after last season but, after a lot of verbal side-stepping, said Tuesday that the two quarterbacks were in a virtual tie in their competition for the starting job.
Hill is the favorite of many writers, who have promoted the idea that he hadn’t been a starter because he didn’t practice well. In fact, Hill is fine in practice, but his deficiencies show up there, too.
Hill has been flying under the radar for NFL teams because they knew nothing about him. This year, they will. If you want to know what can happen, look at his two games against the Rams last season. The Rams are a terrible team, and Hill had his best game against them in his first matchup, winning NFL Offensive Player of the Week honors. In the second game, the Rams knew what to expect and they intercepted him three times in the first three quarters.
That’s what other teams would do to Hill this season if he were the quarterback, which is why 49ers fans should hope that Smith is the starter this fall.
Glenn Dickey has been covering Bay Area sports since 1963 and also writes on www.GlennDickey.com. E-mail him at glenndickey@hotmail.com.
