2011 NFL Draft: Jim Harbaugh, San Francisco 49ers Will Not Draft a QB Early

Heading into the 2010 NFL season, the San Francisco 49ers were seen as the prohibitive favorite to win a down NFC West division.  

The Niners had what was seen as a championship-caliber defense, and Alex Smith was coming off a solid end to the 2009 season. Smith may not have been the Pro Bowler you would expect out of a No. 1 pick, but it did not seem far-fetched that he could be good enough to lead a division winner. 

Between that and up-and-coming head coach Mike Singletary leading the way, San Francisco looked like a team on their way to the top of the division standings.

Things can change quite a bit in just under a year though.  

The 49ers still have an up-and-coming head coach, but this year his name is Jim Harbaugh. Their defense is still seen as the strength of the team, but there are some concerns in key areas (mainly the secondary and pass rush).

Most importantly, San Francisco was handed the rude awakening that in the NFL today, you cannot win without (at the very least) a reliable starting quarterback, and once again, Alex Smith proved he could not fill that void.

Conventional wisdom suggests that in order to be successful in the league today, you need two things first and foremost: a good head coach and a quarterback you can count on.

It became clear fairly early last season that Singletary's high-energy approach to coaching was no longer working, and he had lost the team. The 49ers believe they have fixed that problem by hiring Harbaugh.  

At the quarterback position, Smith's numbers may have shown signs of improvement, but the fact of the matter is that the 49ers were 3-8 with him as the starter last year and 3-2 without him.  

At the risk of oversimplifying the issue, San Francisco appeared to be a better team without their starting quarterback. In the midst of a lockout, the Niners cannot count on free agency or the trade market to acquire a quarterback that can take them to the Promised Land.  

By process of elimination, that would lead most observers to believe the 49ers will address their need under center early on in this month's draft.

There is a chance though that most observers would be wrong.  

First of all, the 49ers do not believe that either of the top signal-callers in the draft will solve their problems. While Blaine Gabbert and Cam Newton have pretty high upside, neither one of them is considered a franchise QB by most evaluators.  

San Francisco does not want to trade up or even take one of them—should they fall—at No. 7 when they have other needs that could be met by prospects more likely to have an impact.

Still, the 49ers could address their need at quarterback in the second round. That is appearing unlikely to happen as well, even though a number of viable candidates should be available.  

Christian Ponder, Ryan Mallett and Andy Dalton could all be good prospects for Harbaugh to groom into quality quarterbacks.  

The reason the Niners will probably pass on any quarterbacks in the first couple rounds? Apparently, Harbaugh has become rather fond of their bust of a No. 1 pick.  

This sounds a bit crazy, but Harbaugh is the man who is largely credited with turning Andrew Luck into the hottest quarterback prospect in recent memory. If anyone can turn around Smith's fortunes, it's Harbaugh.  

San Francisco fans have to hope that is true, otherwise it could be another long season in 2011.  

The bottom line is if the 49ers want to win the NFC West this season, they will need vastly-improved quarterback play, no matter who is taking the snaps.