This year¡¯s proceedings are shockingly lacking when it comes to skill position players, but it is deep with defensive ends, defensive tackles and, to a lesser degree, interesting offensive line players. While some fans may be frustrated about the fact that they won¡¯t be able to land a wide receiver for their young quarterback, or a fancy speedy running back, or a big name passer to replace the guy currently at the helm of their franchise, ultimately this is for the best. Defense is how you build successful franchises, and the fact that there are so many quality defensive players available this year is actually great for the league. And if it makes anyone feel better, we do have one surprise quarterback making an appearance in the 20ish range. It will shock you at first, however, it will probably make sense when you chew on it for a bit.
All the more comical with Alex Smith¡¯s dominant performance in the spotlight on Monday, as another testament to the all too obvious fact that he is more than just a game manager. Then again, I¡¯m sure there is not a quarterback in the league who would say it¡¯s hard to get their career on track with a new playbook every off season. Continuity is just so overrated, hell, look at the Patriots.
After the disastrous tenure of Mike Singletary came to a painfully overdue end I couldn¡¯t help but write Alex Smith off as well, and was skeptical of the move to keep him on a one year reward-our-faith-please type deal under the new Harbaugh regime. Can¡¯t complain with the results. He just continues to improve under crazy-eyes Harbaugh every week. Maybe we¡¯re overlooking the comforting effects of Harbaugh¡¯s cardigans on Smith¡¯s game. Or the NFL world seems to have forgotten he was a first overall pick. The talent is there, it didn¡¯t just vanish in the haze of poor coaching that plagued the first six years of his career. Best of all for Niners fans, it will only get better from here. Like Harbaugh said, it takes about two years to master his take on the west coast offense, and he is definitely ahead of the curve. That was before he called Smith critics ¡°jive turkey gobblers¡± too, maintaining its genuineness and sanity in the messenger.
In all seriousness though, and jive turkey gobblers aside, maybe it¡¯s time we gave credit where credit is due where Smith is concerned. Maybe, just maybe, he¡¯s better than his ¡°game manager¡± label would indicate. He¡¯s overcome a lot to get where he¡¯s at, and Davis and Crabtree aside his receiving corps doesn¡¯t even come close to deserving of the off season hype it received. That¡¯s not to say they¡¯re not a good group, realistically though his only receiver with a 1, 000+ yard season under their belt is Moss, and although I think he¡¯s been good this year, he hasn¡¯t been 1, 000+ yard good. The receiving corps is the least of his worries though really. I think unfair expectations early in his career, a new playbook on his lap as soon as he¡¯s ¡°grasped¡± the last one, and a once awful receiving corps would be enough to shatter anyone¡¯s confidence, never mind the weekly chants for him to be replaced. As always, a few maintenance issues we should get out of the way: 1. The draft order was determined by ESPN¡¯s most recent power rankings. Obviously things will change as the season progresses, but that is the structure we opted to use for now. 2. We didn¡¯t hold anyone¡¯s performances from this weekend against them. (These guys have long r¨¦sum¨¦s, there is no need to pick and choose individual outings. ) 3. We weighed team needs over best player available whenever it was clear that a team had a really glaring hole. In the case of teams that didn¡¯t have particularly glaring holes, we emphasized best player available.
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