San Francisco 49ers: Alex Smith, the Spread and What It Means Come April 28

Bill Cunerty remembers seeing Alex Smith 12 years ago at Helix High in San Diego. The reaction was common among those who know that a smart, good head makes plays. “I thought I was watching a phenomenal athlete,” remembered Cunerty, the former head football coach at Saddleback Junior College who now works with Athletics Performance.

Cunerty’s specialty is quarterbacks, and outside Athletic Performance he also has his own summer camps in Orange County, California. Carson Palmer and Mark Sanchez, among many others, have worked with him.

In working with Athletics Performance, which is a national chain geared towards helping elite athletes train for the highest level of competition, Cunerty gets an up-close look at the top prospects either during offseason workout sessions that last two to three months at the company facility in Phoenix or the Home Depot Center near Los Angeles.

“When Alex got to Utah, he started doing all the stuff with [then head coach] Urban Meyer what we later saw in Florida—the shovel passes, running the spread option—and I said to myself, ‘Someone is going to take this guy No. 1 and I’m not sure if his background in reading defenses will translate to the NFL.'”

During the phone interview on March 28, Cunerty noted that the “spread” college quarterbacks, which include Auburn’s Cam Newton and Nevada’s Colin Kaepernick in this year’s draft, have a rhythm of C–B–T. That’s for Catch (the snap), Bounce (look to one side of field) and Throw.

“And if that first option to throw is not there, the second option may be, ‘Take off,'" said Cunerty. "In the NFL, take off is the last option you want to make."

Those either-or options can put quarterbacks atop the collegiate rankings, and that can attract attention from the pros. Ironically, the skills that make for a success spread QB can detract from playing in the pros—specifically, in footwork and in reading defenses. That’s where Cunerty comes in.

“So many reads for Alex at Utah were on the perimeter,” Cunerty pointed out. “For example, his first read was who’s unblocked on the line.”

It is not uncommon for spread options plays for offensive linemen to leave men unblocked and let the quarterback either run or throw to advance the offense. In the NFL, the first read is an outside rusher—either a defensive end, linebacker or cornerback.

“It even happened in the BCS Championship game,” Cunerty noted. “Over the last critical drives, Oregon left [Auburn defensive star tackle] Nick Fairley unblocked a couple of times. He ate them up.”

That said, Alex Smith is no longer throwing shovel passes for Urban Meyer; his career has been inconsistent. However, he has had three head coaches, seven offensive coordinators and, through much of his career, an offensive line that ranked from terrible to promising. Under new head coach Jim Harbaugh, what to do about or with Smith remains the biggest offseason question for the 49ers.

Is there hope? Cunerty quoted former Niner offensive coordinator and now San Diego Charger head coach Norv Turner:

“Norv told me he loved Alex,” Cunerty said. “And this is so critical. When you have a new coach every year, and when even if there’s a little twist here or there in the offense, you feel you’re stuck in the seventh grade.”

Niner fans feel that it’s time for him to graduate to the next level and the team to make the playoffs. Either that, or he’s going to get expelled.