San Francisco 49ers: Will Colin Kaepernick or Alex Smith Start at QB in 2011?

When the 49ers selected Nevada quarterback Colin Kaepernick with their second pick of the 2011 NFL draft, it signaled the (eventual) end of an era: The Alex Smith Era.

But when, exactly, will that era come to an end? It may not be as swift as you'd think.

ESPN's Chris Mortensen said via Twitter that Alex Smith is "certain to come back" to the 49ers. 49ers head coach Jim Harbaugh has echoed these sentiments.

However, it always seems as though Smith does just enough to keep his job, and just enough to keep people guessing as to whether he's making progress, but never enough to...well, do anything else.

David White of the San Francisco Chronicle quotes Jim Harbaugh as saying that either Smith or Kaepernick could be the starter next year.

So, that leaves us to wonder: Who will be?

Harbaugh has said he looks forward to having Smith "compete" for the job, and rightly so. It's not as though Smith has done anything to earn the job outright, with a 19-31 record as a starter. One thing Smith has going for him, though, is his career-best quarterback rating of 82.1 last year.

I don't care who you are, 19-31 doesn't look too good on a resume.

The 49ers have a lot of talented players. Names like Vernon Davis, Michael Crabtree, Frank Gore, Josh Morgan, Patrick Willis and others all bring promise to this down-in-the-dumps franchise. Adding Missouri defensive end Aldon Smith in the first round is nothing to forget about, either.

Most of those players are still very young, but they won't be around forever.

It's safe to say, though, that neither Kaepernick nor Smith presents the 49ers a viable "win-now" quarterback. In fact, with a first-time head coach in Harbaugh and enough young talent on the roster to last at least a few years, the 49ers should just focus on developing their "win-later" quarterback.

There's little doubt in anyone's mind that Kaepernick is one of the most physically talented quarterbacks to come out of the draft in awhile; in fact, Mike Mayock has made a case for him as this year's Tim Tebow.

"He's a big, powerful kid who doesn't know what he's doing yet. He’s got a big arm, but he has mechanical issues."

If that weren't enough, a highly-regarded trainer Chip Smith of Competitive Edge Sports has said that he thinks Kaepernick is a better athlete than Cam Newton.

"They're a lot alike in terms of being really special, and they're both extremely athletic...But Colin is actually a little bit better athletically. He's a little faster—I've clocked him as low as a 4.4 (-second runner in the 40-yard dash)—and there isn't a quarterback in this draft who throws the ball with the velocity that Colin does. Colin is a better athlete, and he understands the game better."

Thus, while the 49ers don't have much time to waste with their current crop of talent, they can't rush Kaepernick into the starting job if he's not ready. He is a raw prospect with a lot of athletic ability, but will need time to learn the system and to learn the nuances of running an NFL offense and facing an NFL defense.

It seems their best option may be to wait it out with Kaepernick, allowing him to learn on the bench while trotting out Smith as the starting quarterback for another year.

Another year with Smith at the helm of the offense may not be the option that 49ers fans are most excited for, but it could be the best option with the long-term interest of the team in mind.

Who knows, maybe Kaepernick will progress quickly enough to overthrow Smith as the starter? 49ers fans can only hope for so much.

Erik Frenz is the co-host of the PatsPropaganda & Frenz podcast. Follow Erik on Twitter @erikfrenz.