San Francisco 49ers' Alex Smith Has One Final Chance...Again

Captain America came out recently and most everyone I talked too enjoyed the movie. Same as when Iron Man came out, Batman and pretty much every comic book movie except The Green Lantern. However, not once did anyone say they liked the comic book better than the movie. Why? Because it takes about five minutes to read one of those books.

Then whenever a movie based on a novel comes out the book is always better than the movie right? Even if the movie is better than the book, no one is going to admit that it is. They don't want to admit that they spend four months reading a book and then watched a 90-minute movie and admit that they wasted four months reading in what they could've done in less than two hours... so the book has to be better.

The San Francisco 49ers are in the same boat as the people that believe the book will always be better than the movie. They just can't admit that Alex Smith is not the answer at quarterback and that they have wasted seven years trying to make him the guy, and it might cost them another season.

The 49ers are not that far off from contending. They signed new head coach Jim Harbaugh to bring in a new attitude, new playbook and all new regime. He came in to cut all the dead weight and for the most part he has done that, leaving the likes of Frank Gore and Patrick Willis while doing everything he could do to separate the 49ers from the Mike Singletary era.

But one other mainstay remains, as Alex Smith is slated to be the starter on opening day. There were a number of options this off-season, including trading for Kevin Kolb or Donovan McNabb (who could've been a great mentor for Colin Kaepernick), signing Matt Hasselbeck or even Vince Young. Yet, Harbaugh wants to start his NFL coaching career with Alex Smith as his starter.

Why?

What is it about this guy that people (well 49er employees anyway) think they can make him into a starter, isn't it time to admit that, "yes the book wasn't as good as the movie" and just admit that you wasted time and move on? It's not like he is still on his mega rookie contract and you feel obligated to pay him—this is his third deal with the club! A change of scenery would only do him good.

The only possible reason that Smith is back is because Harbaugh wants to be the guy that made Alex Smith successful; that no one else could do it and now here he is and he made it work. Harbaugh has a good track record with QBs in Josh Johnson and Andrew Luck. Now if he turns Alex Smith into a quality quarterback, he is going to be known as a quarterback guru.

If Smith is successful, Harbaugh gets all the credit; if he fails, Alex Smith will be known as the guy who just couldn't play in the NFL. Harbaugh really has nothing to lose here other than a losing record in his first year—a risk he is willing to take.

This 49er team actually has the talent to make the playoffs, especially considering how weak the rest of the division is. Their defense is solid, they have a good running game, we expect them to be well coached and depending how you feel about the wide receivers, they are in place to be in contention to win the division. It all depends on Alex Smith to get them there. And if history tells us anything, that is not a good spot for him to be.

Smith is now entering his seventh season with the 49ers, where he's 13 games under .500 for his career as a starter, and 6-20 on the road. He has thrown 51 touchdowns to 53 interceptions and averaged 174.1 yards a game, which all leads to a career 72.1 quarterback rating.

But it's not just the poor numbers with Smith (if you take out his rookie year stats he has thrown 50 TDs to 42 INTs, still not all that great, but not as bad). The 49ers just aren't winning with him on the roster.

His supporters, whatever's left of them, say he has had a different offensive coordinator in each season or that he has had weak receivers, although Brandon Lloyd led the NFL in receiving yards last year. All that surely can contribute to poor play, but it's not like playing the position of quarterback is new to him.

At this point he should know how to limit poor decisions and make good throws, something no one has really seen from him, yet another coach thinks he can play in this league. I can get on board with everything Jim Harbaugh says and does (he has proven himself to be a winner thus far), but making Alex Smith his quarterback to start his NFL coaching career is something he may regret.

It's hard to call Smith's chance to be the 49ers quarterback this season his final one; it's more like his "final final" one. For 49er fans, I guess it could be worse. Tarvaris Jackson is an NFL starter, in the same division no less; plus the Miami Dolphins starter right now is Chad Henne; the Cincinnati Bengals are starting a second-round rookie; and there are even whispers of Rex Grossman becoming an NFL starter again, so 49er fans are not alone.

If anything, Smith is a good role model to all QBs coming into the league. Don't get arrested, have a good attitude and be willing to work and say the right things and you can last a long time in the NFL no matter how poorly you perform on the field.

Sure, it helps that he was a former No. 1 overall pick, but you'd have to think that had he been arrested just one time he would've been gone immediately. Plus, on some level most everyone would like him to succeed; he's got the smart/nice guy angle working for him.

Smith's “final final” chance should be determined by Week 7—their bye week which sets up nicely for them. If he can get the 49ers to at least a 3-3 record, they should let him play out the season. If he can't muster at least that, as there are three winning able games in the start of their schedule, they should cut him and see what Colin Kaepernick can do.

The 49ers can only hope that either Smith is successful this year or that he is so bad that they get into position to draft Andrew Luck, which is when the "Suck to get Luck" signs will be coming out (I've actually seen one already). Which actually sounds like a win-win for 49er fans.