NFL Rumors: Jim Harbaugh, Alex Smith and the San Francisco 49ers' QB Puzzle

Jim Harbaugh’s comments at the NFL owners’ meetings suggest that Alex Smith’s return to Candlestick Park is very much up in the air. With the Niners’ quarterback situation already a mystery, how should fans expect next season’s depth chart to look?

Smith, the longtime mediocrity selected by San Francisco with the No. 1 overall pick in 2005, has failed to produce in any of the multitude of offenses he’s had to learn thanks to San Francisco’s ever-changing coaching staff.

When Harbaugh was hired as the new head coach, some reports suggested he was spending extra time with Smith, leading to the conclusion that Smith was likely to return and probably start in 2011. On Tuesday, Harbaugh made the point that he spoke with RB Frank Gore just as much as he did with Smith, implying that Smith wasn’t getting any special treatment after all.

With one serviceable veteran (David Carr) already under contract to San Francisco, the likelihood of Smith being the starter out of the gate next season now seems much more remote. If Harbaugh—a former QB himself—thinks Smith might be a good fit for San Francisco’s new offense, the Niners could still re-sign Smith, but there’s little imperative to do so.

Assuming Smith is done in San Francisco, the team could draft a developmental quarterback (say, Florida State’s Christian Ponder) and let Carr caddy for him until he’s ready. Alternatively, they could trade for a veteran QB like Carson Palmer or Kevin Kolb, using Carr as the backup and saving draft picks for other needs.

The safest bet, though, is that San Francisco will take a QB in the second round of the draft, with Carr as the placeholder and Alex Smith as the largely unlamented free agent who will try to start over in a new uniform.