K9's NFL QB Rankings

[Mulli]

IMO, part of the Chargers' struggles is directly linked to the environment created by AJ Smith, Norv Turner (the sitting duck), and the very real possibility of a move to Los Angeles as early as next season. There are distractions everywhere on that team, and I feel sorry for the players and their fans. More than half of their games are blacked out.

If SD offered Rivers in a trade, I'd jump on that in a heartbeat.

Me too. And I would stick up for him, untilhe was terrible, and then I would say he was terrible. Like just about every Card QB except for Cliff Stoudt.

 

[kerouac9]

I don't think you watched Monday's game vs the Broncos.

And Alex Smith doesn't know the offense yet? Heh? Did he know the offense when they went to the NFC Champ, but forget it?

I know we are splitting hairs, but I can't help myself arguing just to argue.


Agree about Cutler. I find him unwatchable and he is a big reason I get Sunday Ticket and watch Cardinals and Pats games instead of the Bears, the local team.

It's not that he doesn't know the offense, it's just that the offense isn't asking him to make downfield throws all the time. He looked perfectly comfortable in the Divisional Championship game last year going down field 4/6 passing for 153 yards and a TD. In the NFC Championship game he went 3/7 for 130 yards and 2 TDs on deep passes.

I just don't get the hate for Alex Smith. The last four years, he's 829 for 1349 (61.5%) for 9291 yards (6.9 YPA), 58 TDs, 32 INTs plus 2 more rushing TDs (and, to be fair, 17 fumbles). I wish he was more aggressive downfield, but his YPA has risen each of the last four years. He's only 28 years old.

 

[Mulli]

It's not that he doesn't know the offense, it's just that the offense isn't asking him to make downfield throws all the time. He looked perfectly comfortable in the Divisional Championship game last year going down field 4/6 passing for 153 yards and a TD. In the NFC Championship game he went 3/7 for 130 yards and 2 TDs on deep passes.

I just don't get the hate for Alex Smith. The last four years, he's 829 for 1349 (61.5%) for 9291 yards (6.9 YPA), 58 TDs, 32 INTs plus 2 more rushing TDs (and, to be fair, 17 fumbles). I wish he was more aggressive downfield, but his YPA has risen each of the last four years. He's only 28 years old.

Sorry, I changed it from "not comfortable" to "not knowing the offense." I just don't see how he can't be comfortable yet.

But, like you said once, it is hard to throw the ball down the field. He is only 28, but isn't it time for him grow up...

 

[TJ]

Me too. And I would stick up for him, untilhe was terrible, and then I would say he was terrible. Like just about every Card QB except for Cliff Stoudt.

Let me add to my last post:

Trade for Rivers, but solidify the damn offensive line at the same time.

No use in replacing our current QB corp with another punching bag.

 

[kerouac9]

Let me add to my last post:

Trade for Rivers, but solidify the damn offensive line at the same time.

No use in replacing our current QB corp with another punching bag.

Here's the thing on the 2013 offensive line: Levi Brown comes back and immediately becomes the best OL. That pushes out the worst OL in Batiste. Massie has a year of experience under his belt, as well as a year in the strength and conditioning program. Adam Snyder has a year to get healthy on his arm.

For depth, Nate Potter and Senio Kelemete have a year in the system and in strength and conditioning. Based on the preseason, it's possible that Kelemete is competing for a starting guard job.

Can't we say with some degree of confidence that the offensive line is going to be an order of magnitude better in 2013 if the Cards simply stand pat? If they re-sign Jeremy Bridges and invest a 2nd round pick in a backup OT, aren't they much better?

 

[kerouac9]

Sorry, I changed it from "not comfortable" to "not knowing the offense." I just don't see how he can't be comfortable yet.

But, like you said once, it is hard to throw the ball down the field. He is only 28, but isn't it time for him grow up...

Comfort also goes both ways. Alex Smith can only run the plays that get called in from the sideline. Do I think that Alex Smith can be as successful in Denver's offense or New England's or Dallas's as in is currently in San Francisco? No. But I think you could offer him straight up to the teams that are starting QBs named below him in my ranking and if they wouldn't immediately say yes, they'd think real hard about it.

Real hard.

 

[Russ Smith]

There are only 23 veteran starters in the NFL right now. Sanchez doesn't have a lot of tools to work with in the offense, either in the receiving corps or on the offensive line. This is a team that traded for Jason Smith in hopes of improving their offensive line. All four of our wideouts would start for the New York Jets right now.

People are getting hung up on the numbering. If you want to push someone down, you have to bring someone up. I could listen to the argument that Schaub should be above Cutler and Alex Smith, but as I said, that is a group where I'm splitting hairs to rank them. Clearly all seven of those guys are capable of leading their teams to division championships, but they're all limited players. I think that Alex Smith still has upside in a way that Jay Cutler just doesn't.

When is Smith going to realize that upside? They have given him everything a QB friendly offense a great OL they signed WR's drafted WR's and he still sucks.

He was good last year until the big playoff loss where he left all kinds of plays out there.

Last week awful, last night awful.

He has a perfect situation to be a good QB and his own coach doesn't trust him. They pull him out in the redzone often now because Kaepernick can run and because they're so bad in the redzone with Alex at QB.

 

[kerouac9]

When is Smith going to realize that upside? They have given him everything a QB friendly offense a great OL they signed WR's drafted WR's and he still sucks.

He was good last year until the big playoff loss where he left all kinds of plays out there.

Last week awful, last night awful.

He has a perfect situation to be a good QB and his own coach doesn't trust him. They pull him out in the redzone often now because Kaepernick can run and because they're so bad in the redzone with Alex at QB.

They're 5-2, Alex Smith is completing better than two thirds of his passes at 7.5 YPA and a 93.9 QB rating. He played 2 of the 3 best defenses in the NFC the last two weeks, one of them on 3 days rest (his own defense is the third). He has 9 TDs and 5 INTs on the year.

I'll take that kind of awful every year. Especially at a $4.5 million salary.

 

[Mulli]

Comfort also goes both ways. Alex Smith can only run the plays that get called in from the sideline. Do I think that Alex Smith can be as successful in Denver's offense or New England's or Dallas's as in is currently in San Francisco? No. But I think you could offer him straight up to the teams that are starting QBs named below him in my ranking and if they wouldn't immediately say yes, they'd think real hard about it.

Real hard.

9. Alex Smith - No one is going to pay him money, but he's in a great situation in San Francisco with a good offensive line and supporting cast. Must be managed.
10. Jay Cutler - No interest in trading for Alex Smith.
11. Matt Schaub -No interest in trading for Alex Smith.
12. Matt Stafford - No interest in trading for Alex Smith.
13. Tony Romo - No interest in trading for Alex Smith.
14. Josh Freeman - No interest in trading for Alex Smith.
15. Michael Vick -No interest in trading for Alex Smith.
Pretty Sure You're Not Winning Your Division With These Guys:
16. Mark Sanchez - Would be interested.
17. Carson Palmer - Not interest
18. Matt Hasselback - No interest
19. Kevin Kolb - No interest.
20. Sam Bradford - No interest
21. John Skelton - No interest.
22. Ryan Fitzpatrick - No interest
23. Matt Cassel - Interest.

 

[Russ Smith]

It's not that he doesn't know the offense, it's just that the offense isn't asking him to make downfield throws all the time. He looked perfectly comfortable in the Divisional Championship game last year going down field 4/6 passing for 153 yards and a TD. In the NFC Championship game he went 3/7 for 130 yards and 2 TDs on deep passes.

I just don't get the hate for Alex Smith. The last four years, he's 829 for 1349 (61.5%) for 9291 yards (6.9 YPA), 58 TDs, 32 INTs plus 2 more rushing TDs (and, to be fair, 17 fumbles). I wish he was more aggressive downfield, but his YPA has risen each of the last four years. He's only 28 years old.

In the NFC championship game last year he had 2 chances to make huge plays. One he didn't throw it and took a sack, the other he pulled it down and dumped it to a RB. It was the difference in the game and you could see Harbaugh on the sideline telling him when the play is open, let it go.

Because of their OL and run game he gets more easy shots downfield than any other QB.

Look at last night all day to throw misses Kyle Williams, missed another guy. The TD pass he got the guy is wide open underneath.

Comparing his game managing to Kolb's is laughable, Smith has all day to throw and has still been sacked 18 times. He's got 9 TD's and 5 picks in the most QB friendly offense in the NFL. He's got a HOF WR running wide open in the back of the endzone and he throws a pick that nearly costs his team the game.

Harbaugh didn't even think of letting Alex throw on that last drive he had him run left and fall down to make sure he didn't give them the ball with another turnover.

He's better than he used to be but they had the best defense and as good a run game as anybody last season. They didn't win the SB for 2 reasons, Kyle Williams, and Alex Smith being afraid to go downfield when the plays were there.

If he played behind our OL he'd be out injured by now too. When he didn't have a great OL in SF he was terrible.

Kolb has 1 less TD pass, 2 less picks in just slightly less attempts. Kolb has a lower % but then Kolb has to throw the ball out of bounds 4-5 times a game to avoid a sack which is the only reason Smith has a higher YPA. Kolb misses passes absolutely, so does Smith. Every week he seems to miss a guy open deep, they've been talking about it on Comcasts weekly show the last 3 weeks now when is Alex going to start hitting those plays. The only guy he seems to hit downfield is Davis.

Kolb is clearly going to have a hard time staying healthy and he's not the long term answer but if Smith were here, he'd be out injured too.

You can't blame his early career struggles on situation and then refuse to admit his current "surge" is completely because of situation too.

 

[john h]

I'm saddened that Mao's QB Draft troll thread was taken over by a discussion of whether I consider Ben Rothlisberger one of the 3 or 5 best quarterbacks in the NFL. It's kind of a dumb conversation to begin with, because clearly a really good passer.

To continue the conversation and let people who are more interested in talking about QB prospects than current players have some space, I wanted to move the convo over here, and just give my ranking of the Top 32 starters in the NFL with a little bit of annotation. It's by no means meant to be a perfect list (none of them are), but it'll give you an idea what guys I prefer over others.

Clear Franchise Quarterbacks
1. Aaron Rodgers - There's no one I'd rather have under center for my favorite team. If you really want to bang your head against the wall, compare his contract to Kevin Kolb's.
2. Eli Manning - The proof is in the pudding. 2 Super Bowl titles in 5 years, and he hasn't really done it with elite offensive players around him. He's a goof ball, but he's a great quarterback.
3. Peyton Manning - Eli's brother is pretty good, too. He's averaging 8.0 YPA this season with a noodle arm and a top receiver who was in an option offense running nothing but vertical routes three years ago.
4. Ben Roethlisberger - I hate how he sexually assaults co-eds, but I love the way this guy plays football. Does a lot of backyard quarterback stuff that likely drives his coaches crazy, but really gets the most out of his surrounding cast. Might be the most irreplaceable player in the NFL right now.
5. Tom Brady - Giselle's husband is really good at wearing Uggs. I'm not sure that he's always getting the most of his supporting cast, and needs more help from the running game as he ages than someone like Peyton Manning does. He's still really, really good though.
6. Matt Ryan - I may or may not be overvaluing him because he's my fantasy quarterback, but he's really taken control of the Atlanta offense and it gritting out some tough wins. He's the case study on how NFL teams should handle a young quarterback. Can't rise much higher without proving it in the playoffs.
7. Joe Flacco - Love this former Blue Hen's game. He gets a lot of support from a defense and supporting cast, but finds a way to get wins and keep his team competitive. Tough and physical.
8. Drew Brees - Maybe more of a system quarterback than even I thought. Needs to find passing windows, but gets the most of his supporting cast and everyone in the organization believes in him.
9. Phillip Rivers - Screw you. Phillip Rivers is awesome. Shut up.

Guys I Have to Start Splitting Hairs On:
9. Alex Smith - No one is going to pay him money, but he's in a great situation in San Francisco with a good offensive line and supporting cast. Must be managed.
10. Jay Cutler - Speaking of guys who have to be managed, huh? Jay Cutler makes me want to cut myself every time he takes off his helmet or says anything. But he's also really good at playing football and has immense physical talents.
11. Matt Schaub - Has been incredibly statistically productive while not always converting that production into wins. Has always had a lot of support from the running game. Can't get over that the Texans continued to win once he went on IR.
12. Matt Stafford - Another guy with immense physical talent, but needs a lot of moving parts around him to be successful. Had a great statistical season the last two years, but has struggled to maintain consistency as the book's gotten out on him.
13. Tony Romo - Tony Romo's now won in the playoffs, and he'll go as far as his defense and running game will carry him. He's kind of the master of a three-ring circus, but between him, Jerry Jones, and Jason Garrett, it's difficult to take his offense seriously sometimes.
14. Josh Freeman - Just keep reading. Josh Freeman is good. Don't worry about it.
15. Michael Vick - I don't know what's going on with Vick right now. His offensive line is clearly still a mess, and his coaching staff doesn't have any answers. He probably needs to be managed as much or more than any quarterback in the NFL, and it seems like the Philly staff just lost him.

Pretty Sure You're Not Winning Your Division With These Guys:
16. Mark Sanchez - Bill Barnwell wrote a couple of weeks ago that Sanchez isn't good enough yet to be the best player on his team. Maybe Sanchez is an embryonic Eli Manning, but he had a better defense from his early time in the league and so his expectations were higher. I don't know; I just know that he's been to 2 AFC Championship games the last three years and is 3-3 right now. So he's better than the clowns below him.
17. Carson Palmer - Did you know that Carson Palmer is still playing football?
18. Matt Hasselback - I hope that Matt Hasselback hangs around the NFL long enough to be featured in a season of Hard Knocks.
19. Kevin Kolb - Yup. Kevin Kolb is back to being worse than Mark Sanchez.
20. Sam Bradford - But not worse than Sam Bradford. What is it that Sam Bradford does well? I understand that he's been through some major coaching turnover, but I'm struggling to identify one outstanding skill that Sam Bradford possesses.
21. John Skelton - John Skelton is running out of excuses. He makes the same stupid decisions over and over again. I love watching him play, and think that he could maybe fight his way to the top of this list. But I just don't think his ceiling is very high.
22. Ryan Fitzpatrick - Ryan Fitzpatrick does a really good job of racking up stats before the winds come to Buffalo. One of those stats was his 2011 contract extension.
23. Matt Cassel - Yeah. Matt Cassel is capable of being the 8th or 9th best player on a playoff offense.

Jury's Still Very Much Out: I just can't really put these guys on the above list, because I don't feel like I know enough about them. I'm ranking them separately. Deal with it.
1. Robert Griffin III - Looking good in the offense that the Shanaclan built for him. It'll be interesting to see what happens as the NFL gets more film on him.
2. Andrew Luck - I expect him to vault to the top of this list by the end of the season and comfortable ensconce himself among the Top 15 QBs by next year. He's not very good-looking, though, which I think could hold him back in the long run.
3. Christian Ponder - It's just hard not to cheer for this kid once you hear a little bit about him. Good game manager when protected and handing the ball off to Adrian Peterson. He's sort of the ceiling for Kevin Kolb.
4. Ryan Tannehill - Hard to leave him off this list at this point. Just getting the job done and making plays when there aren't a lot of good options at the skill positions after Bush.
5. Cam Newton - I'd like to see him work himself higher by the end of the year, but that's as much up to him as anyone. I fear that his coaching staff might have dropped the ball on moving him along after a Rookie of the Year campaign.
6. Colin Kaepernick - Don't sleep on Kaepernick. He's been involved in 25% of San Francisco's offensive snaps the last two weeks, and not just in junk time. Really interesting case of integrating a gimmick college QB.
7. Russell Wilson - Don't count me a believer.
8. Andy Dalton - The Red Rifle's nickname is bigger than his game. Can do some things with really nice weapons and backed up by a good defense, but is kind of a rich man's John Skelton.
9. Jake Locker - I'd like to see more of this kid, because I'm not sure I've really seen him play. I think he'll kill a couple of coaches before his career is done, though.
10. Brandon Weeden - The old man has some game, just not enough to be really good. He can manage a team, though.
11. Blaine Gabbert - If one team is going to take advantage of dumping a cheap first-round QB contract, it's going to be the Jags, right?

I do not know that there is any QB on your list I would not trade both our QBs for. That is without considering the money involved.

 

[kerouac9]

9. Alex Smith - No one is going to pay him money, but he's in a great situation in San Francisco with a good offensive line and supporting cast. Must be managed.
10. Jay Cutler - No interest in trading for Alex Smith.
11. Matt Schaub -No interest in trading for Alex Smith.
12. Matt Stafford - No interest in trading for Alex Smith.
13. Tony Romo - No interest in trading for Alex Smith.
14. Josh Freeman - No interest in trading for Alex Smith.
15. Michael Vick -No interest in trading for Alex Smith.
Pretty Sure You're Not Winning Your Division With These Guys:
16. Mark Sanchez - Would be interested.
17. Carson Palmer - Not interest
18. Matt Hasselback - No interest
19. Kevin Kolb - No interest.
20. Sam Bradford - No interest
21. John Skelton - No interest.
22. Ryan Fitzpatrick - No interest
23. Matt Cassel - Interest.

Well, I guess you would know?

Especially at his salary, Smith would be really intriguing to these teams that you assert without explanation would have no interest. The ones that I think clearly wouldn't be interested are Chicago, Houston, and Tampa. In those cases (and I'm a huge Josh Freeman fan), I personally like what Smith brings to the table more than the guys that they have RIGHT NOW. That's why I have them rated higher.

 

[Mulli]

Of course, I know. Duh.

 

[kerouac9]

In the NFC championship game last year he had 2 chances to make huge plays. One he didn't throw it and took a sack, the other he pulled it down and dumped it to a RB. It was the difference in the game and you could see Harbaugh on the sideline telling him when the play is open, let it go.

Because of their OL and run game he gets more easy shots downfield than any other QB.

Look at last night all day to throw misses Kyle Williams, missed another guy. The TD pass he got the guy is wide open underneath.

Comparing his game managing to Kolb's is laughable, Smith has all day to throw and has still been sacked 18 times. He's got 9 TD's and 5 picks in the most QB friendly offense in the NFL. He's got a HOF WR running wide open in the back of the endzone and he throws a pick that nearly costs his team the game.

Harbaugh didn't even think of letting Alex throw on that last drive he had him run left and fall down to make sure he didn't give them the ball with another turnover.

He's better than he used to be but they had the best defense and as good a run game as anybody last season. They didn't win the SB for 2 reasons, Kyle Williams, and Alex Smith being afraid to go downfield when the plays were there.

If he played behind our OL he'd be out injured by now too. When he didn't have a great OL in SF he was terrible.

Kolb has 1 less TD pass, 2 less picks in just slightly less attempts. Kolb has a lower % but then Kolb has to throw the ball out of bounds 4-5 times a game to avoid a sack which is the only reason Smith has a higher YPA. Kolb misses passes absolutely, so does Smith. Every week he seems to miss a guy open deep, they've been talking about it on Comcasts weekly show the last 3 weeks now when is Alex going to start hitting those plays. The only guy he seems to hit downfield is Davis.

Kolb is clearly going to have a hard time staying healthy and he's not the long term answer but if Smith were here, he'd be out injured too.

You can't blame his early career struggles on situation and then refuse to admit his current "surge" is completely because of situation too.

I get that you're still offended that the 49ers drafted Smith instead of Cal product Aaron Rodgers, but I think it's time that you let that go and just look at Alex Smith for the player that he is.

Yes, if you look at only the bad plays that he made against a very, very good defense, Alex Smith is going to look bad. That's why I don't have him among the top veteran players at his position. He has to be managed. He's playing above his abilities right now because he has a great coach and a great supporting cast.

So take away that situation and downgrade him to a 62% passer with a 3:2 TD to interception ratio. That's still pretty solid. I'd take that. For half the money we're paying Kolb, that's pretty similar production.

 

[Russ Smith]

They're 5-2, Alex Smith is completing better than two thirds of his passes at 7.5 YPA and a 93.9 QB rating. He played 2 of the 3 best defenses in the NFC the last two weeks, one of them on 3 days rest (his own defense is the third). He has 9 TDs and 5 INTs on the year.

I'll take that kind of awful every year. Especially at a $4.5 million salary.

I don't care if he makes a dollar, the reason SF isn't 7-0 right now is Alex Smith.

He beat them last week against the Giants and against Minnesota he had Randy Moss open for a Td in the first half and missed. in the 2nd half he missed Manningham and Crabtree both open for big plays and he didn't throw one to Kyle Williams when he was wide open that they're still talking about on local tv.

35 attempts, 204 yards with guys running open all game. even late in the game they get the gift challenge where the ref calls the fumble on Gerhart when SF was out of timeouts. SF gets the ball 24-13 and what does Alex do, throw an INT to seal the game.

He was very good last year. This year they're behind in a few games and the real Alex Smith has reared its head again.

 

[Russ Smith]

I get that you're still offended that the 49ers drafted Smith instead of Cal product Aaron Rodgers, but I think it's time that you let that go and just look at Alex Smith for the player that he is.

Yes, if you look at only the bad plays that he made against a very, very good defense, Alex Smith is going to look bad. That's why I don't have him among the top veteran players at his position. He has to be managed. He's playing above his abilities right now because he has a great coach and a great supporting cast.

So take away that situation and downgrade him to a 62% passer with a 3:2 TD to interception ratio. That's still pretty solid. I'd take that. For half the money we're paying Kolb, that's pretty similar production.

I don't care if they didn't pick Rodgers I'm not an SF fan remember? I'm glad they picked Alex it's probably cost them a few wins a year since they did it.

My point is when he played bad you blamed the situation around him now that he's "good" you want to compare him straight up to Kolb. the only advantage Kolb has is Fitz.

SF has top 3 OL, Arizona has bottom 3, and we're all 3 spots. SF has a great RB and a solid backup, we have neither right now. SF has a great TE and a very good TE. We have 2 over the hill TE's one hurt and a young TE who might be good eventually.

If you put Kolb on SF I think they're at least 5-2, maybe better. Put Alex here we're under .500 and he's probably hurt.

He has proven repeatedly in his career without great protection he's bad, and given a choice between going for the big play or not, more often than not he'll pull the ball down.

I live here, I watch tv etc, and I was at the gym last night in the first half listening to everyone complain the Giants lost again and "now it's clear Alex Smith was a fluke last year". you may believe in him but most people around here don't.

 

[kerouac9]

Jury's Still Very Much Out: I just can't really put these guys on the above list, because I don't feel like I know enough about them. I'm ranking them separately. Deal with it.
1. Robert Griffin III - Looking good in the offense that the Shanaclan built for him. It'll be interesting to see what happens as the NFL gets more film on him.
2. Andrew Luck - I expect him to vault to the top of this list by the end of the season and comfortable ensconce himself among the Top 15 QBs by next year. He's not very good-looking, though, which I think could hold him back in the long run.
3. Christian Ponder - It's just hard not to cheer for this kid once you hear a little bit about him. Good game manager when protected and handing the ball off to Adrian Peterson. He's sort of the ceiling for Kevin Kolb.
4. Ryan Tannehill - Hard to leave him off this list at this point. Just getting the job done and making plays when there aren't a lot of good options at the skill positions after Bush.
5. Cam Newton - I'd like to see him work himself higher by the end of the year, but that's as much up to him as anyone. I fear that his coaching staff might have dropped the ball on moving him along after a Rookie of the Year campaign.
6. Colin Kaepernick - Don't sleep on Kaepernick. He's been involved in 25% of San Francisco's offensive snaps the last two weeks, and not just in junk time. Really interesting case of integrating a gimmick college QB.
7. Russell Wilson - Don't count me a believer.
8. Andy Dalton - The Red Rifle's nickname is bigger than his game. Can do some things with really nice weapons and backed up by a good defense, but is kind of a rich man's John Skelton.
9. Jake Locker - I'd like to see more of this kid, because I'm not sure I've really seen him play. I think he'll kill a couple of coaches before his career is done, though.
10. Brandon Weeden - The old man has some game, just not enough to be really good. He can manage a team, though.
11. Blaine Gabbert - If one team is going to take advantage of dumping a cheap first-round QB contract, it's going to be the Jags, right?

Just because the Alex Smith discussion has kind of become a flex point in this conversation, I wanted to look at where these young QBs would fit in on this ranking if I absolutely had to put them in among the veterans that I think that I get.

I'd put RG3 right now 8-A after Brees but before Rivers.
I'd put Andrew Luck 8-B after RG3 but ahead of Rivers (just can't figure out what's going on with Phil Rivers the last two years).
I'd put Christian Ponder 9-A after Rivers but before Alex Smith.

I still don't know what to do with Ryan Tannehill. I need to see more.

I'd put Cam 15A after Josh Freeman but before Michael Vick.
I'd put Russell Wilson 16A after Vick but before Sanchez, because I think you can maybe win a division with Russell Wilson.
I'd put Andy Dalton below Wilson, 16B.
And I'd put Jake Locker 16C, still ahead of Sanchez.
Brandon Weeden I'd put ahead of Skelton.
Blaine Gabbert might be the only starter worse than Matt Cassel.

 

[kerouac9]

I don't care if they didn't pick Rodgers I'm not an SF fan remember? I'm glad they picked Alex it's probably cost them a few wins a year since they did it.

My point is when he played bad you blamed the situation around him now that he's "good" you want to compare him straight up to Kolb. the only advantage Kolb has is Fitz.

SF has top 3 OL, Arizona has bottom 3, and we're all 3 spots. SF has a great RB and a solid backup, we have neither right now. SF has a great TE and a very good TE. We have 2 over the hill TE's one hurt and a young TE who might be good eventually.

If you put Kolb on SF I think they're at least 5-2, maybe better. Put Alex here we're under .500 and he's probably hurt.

He has proven repeatedly in his career without great protection he's bad, and given a choice between going for the big play or not, more often than not he'll pull the ball down.

I live here, I watch tv etc, and I was at the gym last night in the first half listening to everyone complain the Giants lost again and "now it's clear Alex Smith was a fluke last year". you may believe in him but most people around here don't.

You believe in John Harbaugh as a great football mind, and without question the San Francisco front office is superior to ours.

Harbaugh and York decided they had no interest in acquiring Kevin Kolb, and preferred to go with Alex Smith. Perhaps you should defer to their judgement. Do you think for a moment if we offered them Kolb for Smith straight-up they'd take that deal?

I don't trust San Francisco fans' opinion of Alex Smith any more than I trust TJ's on Kevin Kolb. Yes, Alex Smith struggled against two of the best defenses in the NFC the last two weeks. That happens when you play good defenses. Peyton Manning struggled early against some really good defenses, too.

If Alex Smith had excelled against those two great defenses, I would have moved him into the higher tier of quarterbacks. He struggled against 'em, which is why he's in the tier of guys that you can win a division title with, but who's above whom is kind of a matter of taste.

If you ask me where Smith ranks on his own offense, I'd say that he's probably the seventh or eighth best starter on his own offense. That has no bearing on this conversation, though.

 

[Russ Smith]

You believe in John Harbaugh as a great football mind, and without question the San Francisco front office is superior to ours.

Harbaugh and York decided they had no interest in acquiring Kevin Kolb, and preferred to go with Alex Smith. Perhaps you should defer to their judgement. Do you think for a moment if we offered them Kolb for Smith straight-up they'd take that deal?

I don't trust San Francisco fans' opinion of Alex Smith any more than I trust TJ's on Kevin Kolb. Yes, Alex Smith struggled against two of the best defenses in the NFC the last two weeks. That happens when you play good defenses. Peyton Manning struggled early against some really good defenses, too.

If Alex Smith had excelled against those two great defenses, I would have moved him into the higher tier of quarterbacks. He struggled against 'em, which is why he's in the tier of guys that you can win a division title with, but who's above whom is kind of a matter of taste.

If you ask me where Smith ranks on his own offense, I'd say that he's probably the seventh or eighth best starter on his own offense. That has no bearing on this conversation, though.

Kolb has been injured so much of course not. they kept Smith because of the lockout. Smith was out there working out the players during the lockout the team wanted him. They had a brief break in the lockout where Harbaugh committed to Smith and gave him the playbook and then Alex ran "camp" during the lockout, You can't do that with a new QB except maybe a guy like Peyton Manning.

Smith had a good year and got a new deal, after the team drafted a QB and then tried to sign Manning.

I'm a huge Harbaugh fan but if there was no lockout last year Alex Smith is FAR less likely to be with SF. Harbaugh was smart he realized this is going to be a very unusual offseason I'm better off sticking with the guy who knows the team than trying to throw a whole new guy into the team.

Let me put it this way, if the Cards fired Whiz and hired Harbaugh before last season do you think we'd have Alex Smith at QB or would we still have traded for Kolb? My guess is Kolb.

Now there's no question one has had major injury issues for 2 years, the other plays a whole game without his jersey getting dirty it's a no brainer.

2 years ago, lots of NFL teams would have taken Kolb over Smith.

Hell last week Tim Kawakami wrote a story in the mercury News predicting it was too early for fans to clamor for Alex to be benched but "in a month it could happen if Kaepernick continues to make plays and Alex struggles more."

They do not see Alex Smith as the QBOF, he's the guy now until Kaepernick is ready.

 

[Russ Smith]

As for the great defenses thing, who was the defense that kolb came off the bench cold and took us right down the field for the winning TD against again? I forget was that one of the great defenses you're talking about?

As opposed to say Smith who gets the ball in great field position with a chance to put the game away and throws a pick in the endzone. Note he completed ONE pass on that drive it was largely on the ground then he throws the pick.

Then gets the ball back in even better field position and again the "drive" he throws ONE pass and they settle for a FG. how much does Harbaugh trust Alex Smith? 3rd and 7 from the 13 yard line and he calls a QB draw for 3 yards and kicks the FG to go up 7.

 

[kerouac9]

As for the great defenses thing, who was the defense that kolb came off the bench cold and took us right down the field for the winning TD against again? I forget was that one of the great defenses you're talking about?

As opposed to say Smith who gets the ball in great field position with a chance to put the game away and throws a pick in the endzone. Note he completed ONE pass on that drive it was largely on the ground then he throws the pick.

Then gets the ball back in even better field position and again the "drive" he throws ONE pass and they settle for a FG. how much does Harbaugh trust Alex Smith? 3rd and 7 from the 13 yard line and he calls a QB draw for 3 yards and kicks the FG to go up 7.

Sigh. I broke down every play on Kolb's super-clutch 4th quarter drive, and every throw was underneath and not a single pass was contested. You should ask Horton whether coordinators call the same defenses in Week 1 as they do in Week 7, or whether a team is better prepared against the quarterback they'd spent all week studying and game-planning against or a guy that they don't expect to come out. Or whether a defense plays differently defending a lead or trying to get the ball back to go and have a chance to win.

You add in the young quarterbacks in my rankings and Smith goes from 10 to 13. I get it; you hate Alex Smith. You think that apparently he's a 55% passer with a 2:3 TD:INT ratio in any other offense but the one that he's currently in. What are you arguing about? I've liked Alex Smith for two straight years now; you're not going to suddenly convince me that he's worse than Blaine Gabbert.

If you prefer to rank him ahead of everyone except Cassel and Gabbert, go ahead. Put together your own ranking. I put Smith at the top of a class of guys where I admit they're of similar quality, but moving them around is a matter of personal preference, largely.

I'm only really going to have beef if you can put together a reasonable argument that he should be rated lower than Sanchez, that he's not a guy that you can win a division with.

 

[TJ]

9. Alex Smith - No one is going to pay him money, but he's in a great situation in San Francisco with a good offensive line and supporting cast. Must be managed.
10. Jay Cutler - No interest in trading for Alex Smith.
11. Matt Schaub -No interest in trading for Alex Smith.
12. Matt Stafford - No interest in trading for Alex Smith.
13. Tony Romo - No interest in trading for Alex Smith.
14. Josh Freeman - No interest in trading for Alex Smith.
15. Michael Vick -No interest in trading for Alex Smith.
Pretty Sure You're Not Winning Your Division With These Guys:
16. Mark Sanchez - Would be interested.
17. Carson Palmer - Not interest
18. Matt Hasselback - No interest
19. Kevin Kolb - No interest.
20. Sam Bradford - No interest
21. John Skelton - No interest.
22. Ryan Fitzpatrick - No interest
23. Matt Cassel - Interest.

I would add to the "not interested" list:

• Tannehill
• Ponder
• RGIII
• Newton
• Dalton
• Locker
• Luck
• Wilson (mostly because Carrol is a clown)
• Weeden

"Maybe"

• Agree on Cassel
• Agree on *************
• Gabbert

For all intents and purposes, this would put Alex Smith around 25-29 in QB rank.

 

[Russ Smith]

Sigh. I broke down every play on Kolb's super-clutch 4th quarter drive, and every throw was underneath and not a single pass was contested. You should ask Horton whether coordinators call the same defenses in Week 1 as they do in Week 7, or whether a team is better prepared against the quarterback they'd spent all week studying and game-planning against or a guy that they don't expect to come out. Or whether a defense plays differently defending a lead or trying to get the ball back to go and have a chance to win.

You add in the young quarterbacks in my rankings and Smith goes from 10 to 13. I get it; you hate Alex Smith. You think that apparently he's a 55% passer with a 2:3 TD:INT ratio in any other offense but the one that he's currently in. What are you arguing about? I've liked Alex Smith for two straight years now; you're not going to suddenly convince me that he's worse than Blaine Gabbert.

If you prefer to rank him ahead of everyone except Cassel and Gabbert, go ahead. Put together your own ranking. I put Smith at the top of a class of guys where I admit they're of similar quality, but moving them around is a matter of personal preference, largely.

I'm only really going to have beef if you can put together a reasonable argument that he should be rated lower than Sanchez, that he's not a guy that you can win a division with.

And yet you're touting Smith who throws underneath and not a single pass contested week after week. That's my point, you're saying I hate Smith but apparently you don't realize you hate Kolb.

Kolb came in needing that drive to win the game and he did it. Smith had 2 easy chances to put the game away last night and got 3 points. And again his own coach doesn't trust him QB draw before the FG, then has him run left and fall down at the end of the game choosing to give the ball back because he has a good defense and is afraid his QB might throw a pick if he throws the ball.

You can tell how a coach REALLY feels about his QB by what he calls in such situations and Jim Harbaugh clearly doesn't think Alex can be trusted.

 

[kerouac9]

And yet you're touting Smith who throws underneath and not a single pass contested week after week. That's my point, you're saying I hate Smith but apparently you don't realize you hate Kolb.

Kolb came in needing that drive to win the game and he did it. Smith had 2 easy chances to put the game away last night and got 3 points. And again his own coach doesn't trust him QB draw before the FG, then has him run left and fall down at the end of the game choosing to give the ball back because he has a good defense and is afraid his QB might throw a pick if he throws the ball.

You can tell how a coach REALLY feels about his QB by what he calls in such situations and Jim Harbaugh clearly doesn't think Alex can be trusted.

Alex Smith came out of the game and got the "W". Isn't that what matters? Would Kolb's accomplishment be nullified if Seattle had gone down the field the other way and Baldwin hadn't dropped the TD pass?

I don't like Kevin Kolb. I'm not going do deny that. I don't like the price we paid for him, I don't like that his contract is going to hang around this franchise's neck like an albatross likely through the 2014 season. I don't like the three-and-outs that he continually produces. I don't like his body language on failed plays. I don't like his goatee.

Whis doesn't put the ball in Kolb's hands to win the game unless he absolutely has to, either. That's why he has him check down and takes numerous three-and-outs and rarely has Kolb take shots downfield. What do you hear in every press conference? "We trust our defense, and I understand that there's no problem punting the ball on fourth down, because we know that the D is going to get the ball back for us."

If Kolb and Smith's play on the field is absolutely equivalent, then I'd still take Smith because Kolb's suffered serious injury in three straight seasons.

 

[Mulli]

Great, Alex Smith is better than Kolb simply because he get paid less. Good job, good effort.

Why should I care who the Cards spend their money (not mine) on again? Did they miss out on players because of lack of $$?