NFL Rumors: San Francisco 49ers to Bench Alex Smith?

After signing David Carr in the offseason, and then trading last year's starting quarterback, Shaun Hill, to the Detroit Lions, the San Francisco 49ers are left with little options at the quarterback position outside of Alex Smith.

During Sunday’s night contest against the Philadelphia Eagles, the crowd grew restless and frustrated with the inconsistent play of Smith. They started chanting for Carr to come in the game—and almost got their wish. However, after Smith and head coach Mike Singletary exchanged pleasantries on the sideline, Smith was allowed to remain in the game.

Smith went out and did have two touchdown drives that pulled the 49ers to within three points. But then with time running out in the game, he threw his second interception (his third turnover) of the game that ended any chances of a comeback.

But Singletary is still sticking with Smith.

"I just want to see Alex give himself a chance to be a good quarterback," Singletary said on Comcast SportsNet Bay Area.

Are you kidding me?

How many times do we have to hear that the offensive line was at fault, or that the receiver ran the wrong route, fell down or didn't make a play for the ball? The fact is these kinds of mistakes are happening far too frequently with Smith. Here is what some others are saying about him:

“Alex Smith has not been given a lot of time. He also has had a different offensive coordinator every year. You know what…boo freakin’ hoo. Smith was the first overall pick in the draft and if you are an NFL quarterback, you should be able to find open receivers, hand the ball off and make plays.”—The Fall Guy from ninersnuggets.com

"It's probably just the whole talent, of all the things that an NFL quarterback has to be. If you take the top guys and you watch what they can do, and then you watch Alex Smith, and they don't do the same things…Alex Smith isn't one of the real good quarterbacks in the NFL. I think the 49ers are trying to work around that and find a way to win where it all doesn't go on his shoulders."—John Madden from SFGate.com

"In the last couple of weeks, we've come out in our opening drives and scored, but I've gotten tentative," Smith said. "I've gotten cautious, I've gotten conservative in the middle of these games and haven't been productive and have turned the ball over."—Alex Smith from Insidethe49ers.com

"Alex, in my mind, is so careful. You get so careful that nobody's open. So you drop it off, you drop it off, you drop it off...You can't score enough points dropping it off."—From KNBR’s The Razor and Mr T

Paradoxically enough, the 49ers drafted Smith because of this very trait. He didn’t take a lot of risks and was careful with the football. And now we are hearing, after the fifth loss of the season, that Smith is going to be allowed to open it up?

Incidentally, the last quote from KNBR’s The Razor and Mr T was made prior to the Eagles game.

Perhaps the most frustrating thing about this whole scenario is Singletary’s stubbornness, faith, conviction, belief—call it what you will, in Smith.

Could it be that that is why Singletary traded Hill in the first place? If Carr is not a viable option as a starter (and let’s face it, he is not), Singletary avoids a quarterback controversy and sticks with his man “Flint.”

Meanwhile, Hill has played well enough in Detroit (1,218 yards, eight touchdowns and seven interceptions) to find himself in the middle of a quarterback controversy with the often-injured Matt Stafford.

One thing is for sure, Hill is no longer an option. If the 49ers keep losing games they will have a realistic shot at Mel Kiper’s No. 1 Big Board selection, Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck. Kiper’s analysis of Luck is as follows:

“Great arm, NFL smarts, solid footwork. Prototypical size and intangibles. Checks down with veteran's savvy. Threw for 341 yards in Oregon loss.”—From Espn.com

“Checks down with veteran's savvy?"

He should fit right in with the 49ers.