Dilfer had a 92 rating when he played in six games, had 7 TD’s and 4 INT’s, and just over 1,000 yards. Really impressive numbers.

RE: You said last week’s game against the Rams was the best quarterbacking job you have seen since you’ve been here for. Was this week’s game against the Cardinals the best game so far?
“He (Trent Dilfer) did better than he did last week. I think everyone would agree in watching that game. He had an outstanding game. Since he’s been playing, he seems to get better and better each week.

http://www.sf49ers.com/pressbox/news_detail.php?PRKey=3742

But thanks for keeping me honest.

You make it sound as if Smith was excellent before the injury which is absolutely not the case. After seeing Alex Smith play the last three seasons there is only one conclusion (even if it really hurts: he is not NFL material!

As far as I can tell, Alex Smith’s best statistics are nearly identical to Dilfer’s single, Super Bowl season stats of 2000, which you mock. Dilfer has also has seasons with a QB rating of 92 (2001), 82.8 (1997), and 76.9 (2005). You don’t strengthen your case for Alex Smith by belittling Trent Dilfer, especially when Smith’s statistics barely measure upt to Dilfer’s. Dilfer has limitations, but your comparison suggests that Smith does too. Neither are elite, franchise QB’s…their stats define journeymen careers, typical of backups.

Point of fact, nobody failed to recognize that Smith’s ligaments were still torn. Nobody is that ignorant…not Nolan, not the 49ers’ trainers, and not Alex Smith. Ligaments don’t reattach themselves without surgery. Smith got a first and second opinion, and he was told as much both times. He was also told that he could do no further damage to his shoulder. The problem is, his mechanics were flawed and he strained his forearm…developing painful tendonitis in his inflamed elbow.

If you are going to blame Nolan for Hostler, then Smith is responsible for his mechanics. If there was poor commincations between the two, Smith could have been perfectly clear…”my arm is searing pain so I won’t be suiting up.” I think Nolan would have understood when his QB remained dressed in casual clothes as the kickoff approached.

Along these lines, Nolan didn’t react fast enough to Smith’s troubles this year. He let him persist in a horrid environment where he lost confidence and started developing bad habits. Nolan doesn’t always exhibit the kind of 6th sense that the great coaches have, where they find the subtle things that make a huge difference. And, just like your article states, this points even more to the need for really dynamic coordinators. Siefert had some similar tendencies as Nolan, but almost always had really dynamic offensive coordinators.

All that said, I think the jury is still out on Smith. As I’ve said in the past, I think it’s extremely unlikely he’ll be a great one and fairly unlikely that he’ll be a good one, but he deserves a better shot. Along these lines, I just read a Q & A in the BEE where someone asked about bringing in Chad Pennington next year. Barrows’ response was that he’s too weak-armed for the Turner system. Maybe so, but he could hardly be worse than Dilfer; in fact, I’d be willing to bet he’d be a whole lot better. He’s smart and accurate, and he wasn’t playing all that poorly before he was benched. I would love to the 49ers bring in a legitimate starter like Pennington next year and have him compete with Smith. After several losing seasons, this would be the only fair way to go for Smith, the team…and the fans!