Happy Trails, Alex Smith!

"Happy Trails, Alex Smith!" will be what we'll be hearing from Tony Kornheiser very, very soon. Up to this point, i have been a supporter of Alex Smith attributing his struggles to a combination of: normal rookie learning curve, weak supporting cast, musical chair offensive coordinators, and injuries. However, today the Niners announced that six year journeyman, and lifetime backup JT O'Sullivan was to be the starter entering the season, i am pretty much now conceding that Alex Smith is in fact a bust. For some time now, i have felt that Alex Smith may not have been the best pick for the Niners, wishing they had instead taken Braylon Edwards in 2005, tanking a year and then taking another QB in 2006 (which included Leinert and Cutler or even Kellen Clemens or Tavaris Jackson in later rounds). But instead, the Niners took Smith who not only was injured again this past season, but was upstaged by former nobody- Shaun Hill.

With JT O'Sullivan being named the starter in SF, this pretty much puts the nail in Alex Smiths proverbial coffin. I don't know too much about O'Sullivan other than the fact that he played in Martz's system last season with the Lions so he has a good grasp of the offense, was born in California and played at UC Davis so he has local ties, and has been playing well in preseason. While these are all good things that give some promise to O'Sullivan as a QB, I am pretty much taking them with a grain of salt considering that O'Sullivan is playing for his 8th NFL team in 6 seasons after being drafted in the 6th round in 2002. Maybe the 7 other teams just didn't see his true potential? Lets hope.


While i wish O'Sullivan all the best and i hope he is the next Tom Brady (coming out of nowhere and having huge success), lets just say i wont be holding my breath. On a positive note, John Clayton of ESPN mentioned yesterday that if Smith doesn't start, he doesn't reach his incentives and that could save the 49ers over $20 million. While im happy the Niners realized change is needed, i do feel bad for Alex Smith and hope maybe he gets one more shot this year after grasping Martz's system if he ever does, considering his intelligence was one of the high points on which the Niners drafted him on. Like i mentioned before, i dont feel like his failure to this point rests solely on Smith's shoulders- he was walking into a slaughterhouse being drafted first and its not like the Niners have really helped surround him with any help (Issac Bruce? Ashley Lelie? Bryant Jackson?).

At this point all Niner fans can do is wait and pray that somehow this season wont be a step backwards from an already bad 2008 season that atleast showed flashes of promise, because it looks like its going to be another long season.