I post this only because it has relevance to the situation on this team, with Ryan Tannehill and Matt Moore. Apparently Jim Harbaugh is toying with the idea of making Colin Kaepernick his starting quarterback? Personally I can't believe that. Kaepernick had a great game against the Bears Monday night, but my lord, the team is 7-2-1, and Alex Smith is currently THIRD in the league with a 104.1 QB rating, behind only Peyton Manning (106.2) and Aaron Rodgers (107.3). I know Smith was out Monday because he had a concussion, but look at this part of the story: My lord! Fight for his job? Taking Smith's job? Would be a huge mistake on Harbaugh's part IMO. http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/8...first-team-reps-practice-according-alex-smith
How does the SF situation have any relevance to the Fins? Moore didn't play anywhere near the level of Kaep when he relieved Ryan against the Jets. Kaep tore up one of two or three or the best defenses in the league
Harbaugh is a smart guy. There is something here that he likes. Something Colin Kaepernick is doing that Alex Smith is not. Although I am not well versed in 49er nation I do know enough to make a reasonable assumption. Colin Kaepernick is an improvement over Alex Smith, at least in Harbaugh's eyes
Perhaps so, but Kaepernick has started one game as an NFL pro, and Alex Smith led his team to a three-point loss in the conference championship game last year, posting a 90+ QB rating during the regular season, and his team is now 7-2-1 off the strength of his third-ranked QB rating in the league. Colin Kaepernick better be the second coming of Johnny Unitas IMO.
And remember Smiths last game he almost pitched a perfect game..It's a ballsy move.. CKap would of been on the dolphins if I was GM, so I'm interested to see how this develops.
More Randall Cunningham, me and Deej were big fans of CKap when he was coming out. Of course the guru types disliked him, and Orakpo et al
There isn't much downside here. SF has the luxury of going back to Smith. I don't think Miami has the luxury of going to Matt Moore once they went with Tannehill.
I think if you subscribe to the idea that nothing divides a locker room like a quarterback controversy, and you believe that Smith's teammates are currently 100% behind him (as they should be, IMO), then if you're Harbaugh, and you're 7-2-1, why create the controversy yourself?
I think your missing part of the equation. Many of the teammates of Kaepernick have spoken up and they seem to believe that he may actually be a potential superstar. We've never had that with Moore, he was nothing more than a very good backup QB/ mediocre at best starting QB. If you think you have the next Tom Brady, you don't bring Drew Bledsoe back after injury.
The Patriots were 0-2, and Bledsoe had a 75 QB rating when he went down. By the time Bledsoe was ready to return, Brady had led the team to a 5-3 record, not just a single win a la Kaepernick. The year before, the Patriots were 5-11, and Bledsoe had a 77 QB rating. The 49ers' situation is a far cry from all that.
It is the job of the head coach to make these type decisions. If he feels the team will be better with Kaepernick as the starting QB, so be it. It is his job on the line and I doubt he would be making this decision if he felt Smith was the better answer at this time. While he has played better since Harbaugh took over the team in 2011, Smith is still just an average QB who has been helped by the offense Harbaugh has implemented and the fact the 49er's have one of the top defenses in the entire NFL. The reality is that no team other than the Dolphins, had any interest in him when he was a free agent after the 2011 season. This would appear to show that he is not highly thought of by the GM's around the NFL. Being the QB of the team which reached the NFL championship game is also no reason to think he is anything but an average NFL QB. The last I checked, Sanchez was the QB of the Jets when they went to two straight AFC championship games and no one is saying that he is anything but a mediocre QB at best. If Harbaugh feels that Kaepernick is the better option at the QB position, I'll certainly accept that he knows what is best for his team.
Why would the team be behind one or the other? If they both believe the two QBs give the team the same chance to win, they likely won't care. In this case, I don't think there is one QB that is markedly better than the other. Where you run into problems is when you play someone that doesn't give the team the best chance to win.
I don't think it's that big of a discrepancy. Alex Smith is highly overrated despite what his QB rating says. If he was an elite QB, the team wouldn't have let him explore his options in the offseason. They know he's a "good-but-not-great" QB being carried by the most talented team in the NFL. If that teams adds a dominating QB to the equation, they are unstoppable. Right now, they are not.
I think the difference is with Alex Smith the philosophy is to win by running the ball, playing great defense and just not turning the ball over. SF has so much talent that works well against most teams, but is it enough to win a Super Bowl? With Kaepernick it increases the chances of big plays exponentially. Besides Kaepernick's ability to take the ball 80 yards himself SF can now throw the long ball. Kaerpernick is much harder to defense than Smith. As long as Kaepernick doesn't turn the ball over with regularity I think he is the clear choice. Besides his physical ability his leadership is superior to Smith's as well. Not sure how the 49ers relates to the Dolphins situation b/c the Kapper has a chance to be SF's starting QB for the next decade. At best, Moore is a 6 game solution.
And what if he does? That's a huge unknown that could ruin the team's season in itself, as strongly as turnovers are related to winning.
If Philbin really wants to be a winner he needs to be bold and take a chance and do what HE thinks is best and play the quarterback that gives us the best chance at this time, and not just play the #1 pick and supposed "future" of the franchise. That's why Harbaugh is a winner, he does what he thinks is best, and is not afraid for his job, and is not afraid of his GM, owner, or anyone. (With a change to a smart, accurate, confident and competitive quarterback, there is still a chance for this season like with Pennington in 2008).
So you know what he thinks? Because it sounds like you're implying that Moore should take over and that Philbin knows this, but is not doing it. Making him not a winner.
His plan is simple. Tell Alex who hasn't even been cleared to play yet, that he wants to play it safe with Alex's concussion and go with the young kid. Colin plays well? Likely his job, he plays bad? Then Smith will finally be healthy to start. Brilliant plan really.
That's the part I have a problem with. Why would a guy with the third best QB rating in the league, on a 7-2-1 team, with the history of having played well and led his team to within four points of the Super Bowl last year, be in any danger of losing his job? Colin Kaepernick was a second-round pick. This isn't someone expected to do as well as Andrew Luck we're talking about here.
After having possibly deflated his leadership stature in the eyes of his teammates, which IMO isn't worth the risk when you're talking about a team that's a Super Bowl contender.
The only quarterbacks in the league who are playing better than Alex Smith right now are Peyton Manning and Aaron Rodgers. If Colin Kaepernick's ceiling is truly higher than Alex Smith's, then he's able to play at least as well as Manning and Rodgers. If that's the case, why was he only a second-round pick?
Cant say I disagree. I was screaming to sign Alex Smith when he came here but they offered him that bull**** money deal. I think he is a pretty good QB.
Because he played in the WAC. Yet was able to lead the Nevada Wolfpack to a 13-1 record his senior season and a final #11 ranking in the AP. Only QB to ever pass for 10,000+ and rush for 4,000+. Only player to ever have 3 straight 2,000 yards passing and 1,000 yards rushing. One of three players to pass for 20 TDs and rush for 20 TDs in a single season...the other two are Tebow and Newton (Manziel probably will be added to the list by the end of the year). Led Nevada to wins over Boise St., BYU, California and Boston College his senior season. Only loss was @ Hawaii which is basically like playing at midnight biological time. Had Kap7 played in the SEC or even Pac-10 he would have been a 1st round pick. There is good reason the 49ers traded up to get him in the 2nd round. And I would say that coach Harbaugh knows better than any of us whether Kap7 is ready. His teammates after the MNF game are clearly sold and Colin handled himself with the best of them when it came to handling post game interviews continually passing the praise to his teammates and coaches. The guy exudes ultra-leadership skills. Kap7 did what Smith hasn't been doing this year which is get the ball to Vernon Davis. IMO you are confusing Smith being #3 in QB rankings with being the 3rd best QB. Smith is the kind of QB the coach just hopes doesn't lose the game. Kap7 is the kind of QB that can carry the team to victory with great play.
Or he would've played more poorly and been picked where he was or even lower? And he doesn't. On top of that, his QB rating is associated with about 12-14 wins on a season. "Kap7" better be real good.
So if Harbaugh could choose between Eli Manning and Alex Smith should he go with Smith based on whatever stat your using to call Alex the 3rd best QB in the league? Obviously his rating r whatever it is, is a mirage of the type of player he actually is.
Kaepernick may have the higher ceiling but right now Alex Smith si the better QB. IMO Harbough is saying this to motivate Smith to get back on the field faster.
