Alex Smith's Inner Christian Okoye

mascho

Kane is Able
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Before he became a household name, Urban Meyer was an up-and-coming coaching commodity at the University of Utah relying on Alex Smith as his signal caller. Smith led Meyer’s Utes to a 21-1 record during his college career, capped off by a victory in the 2005 Fiesta Bowl and a national top-five finish. The quarterback excelled in Meyer’s spread offense and made a number of plays with his feet in the read-option scheme.
 
The 49ers made Smith the first overall selection in the 2005 NFL Draft. Over the next seven seasons he developed a  reputation as a frustrating, limited “game manager”. He enjoyed a brief renaissance under the tutelage of head coach and former NFL quarterback Jim Harbaugh, but his career in San Francisco ended in 2012 when he sustained a concussion and was replaced by phenom Colin Kaepernick. The Niners traded Smith to Kansas City in 2013, and he enjoyed one of his best professional seasons, garnering his first Pro Bowl selection under head coach Andy Reid.
 
Smith has continued his solid play this season, and on Sunday the 5-3 Chiefs traveled to Orchard Park to face the Buffalo Bills in a critical Week 9 game for both teams. In this sequence, Kansas City trails by 3 with 9:08 remaining in the 4th quarter. Smith is in the shotgun, with his offense using 11 personnel with trips on the right side of the formation against a base 4-3 defense:
 
Article here.
 

Super Nomario

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Good stuff, as always. Smith averaged 9.7 rush yards per game in San Francisco but is at 25.8 in KC. He has some limitations as a passer but this play illustrates how he can partially make up for that with his legs.
 

soxfan121

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Super Nomario said:
Good stuff, as always. Smith averaged 9.7 rush yards per game in San Francisco but is at 25.8 in KC. He has some limitations as a passer but this play illustrates how he can partially make up for that with his legs.
 
It really is odd because of his college background. I've been very critical over the years of Smith but it seems like Reid has him figured out and uses his strengths while minimizing weaknesses very effectively.
 
M

MentalDisabldLst

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"Over the next seven seasons he developed a  reputation as a frustrating, limited “game manager”."
 
His playoff game vs the Saints was an all-time great example of Smith making things happen with both throws and runs.  He was a top-10 QB in the league when SF ditched him (for someone with the potential to be a top-5 QB in the league), but it's not like he was ever chopped liver.  I think the above quote is the media narrative, not how Harbaugh really looked at him.
 

soxfan121

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First, thanks for the heads up on the extra space. Fixed. 
 
Second, Harbaugh was Smith's coach for two of those seasons; Nolan and Singletary each benched him more than once for not being their ideal guy. Harbaugh probably viewed him differently but Smith earned that reputation pre-Harbaugh.
 

coremiller

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soxfan121 said:
First, thanks for the heads up on the extra space. Fixed. 
 
Second, Harbaugh was Smith's coach for two of those seasons; Nolan and Singletary each benched him more than once for not being their ideal guy. Harbaugh probably viewed him differently but Smith earned that reputation pre-Harbaugh.
 
His "game manager" reputation was always a little unfair.  The only time before Harbaugh arrived that Smith was healthy AND played with an offensive coach who knew what he was doing was 2006, his second year, when Norv Turner was the coordinator.  He showed some flashes that year, then in 2007 he separated his throwing shoulder early in the season and feuded with Nolan about his injury (Smith ultimately was proven right).  He missed all of 2008 due to complications with the shoulder injury.  In 2009, the 49ers brought in the immortal Singletary/Jimmy Raye coaching team, which might have been the most incompetent offensive coaching staff in the last 20 years anywhere in the league.  Predictably, the offense sucked.  In 2010 he struggled with injuries again, Raye was fired in midseason, and Singletary changed starters every other week and ran the team into the ground.  If you weren't around to watch that team play every week, it's hard to emphasize how badly they were coached on offense.
 
Smith was also fantastic in the playoff game against the Colts last year (30/46, 378 yards, 4TDs, 0 INTs, plus 8 rushes for 57 yards), which everyone forgot about because the defense blew that huge lead.  
 

Super Nomario

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MentalDisabldLst said:
"Over the next seven seasons he developed a  reputation as a frustrating, limited “game manager”."
 
His playoff game vs the Saints was an all-time great example of Smith making things happen with both throws and runs.  He was a top-10 QB in the league when SF ditched him (for someone with the potential to be a top-5 QB in the league), but it's not like he was ever chopped liver.  I think the above quote is the media narrative, not how Harbaugh really looked at him.
The week after that game vs the Saints, he completed just one pass to a WR all game in an OT loss to the Giants - a three-yard pass to Crabtree late in the fourth. Even this year, the Chiefs are the only team that hasn't thrown a touchdown to a WR. He has enough strengths that guys like Harbaugh / Roman and Reid have been able to scheme around them, but he's got some weaknesses throwing outside the numbers and deep.