Stop Messing With Alex Smith

I know a lot of people really aren’t focusing on fantasy football just yet, but here’s a question to get you started.  Don’t worry, it’s an easy one.

Who is the starting quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers?

Answer: Alex Smith. Right?  Right?

No.

Surprisingly, the 49ers still haven’t named Smith their starter, instead forcing him to go through a humiliating “competition”  with former Vikings’ third-stringer Shaun Hill.

After Shaun Hill wraps up the San Francisco 49ers’ final offseason workouts this week, he’ll still be wondering whether he’s finally going to be a starting NFL quarterback this season.

Alex Smith also will still be wondering whether he’ll get to keep his job.

The former No. 1 draft pick is still in competition with career third-stringer Hill for the top role in Mike Martz’s offense, and nearly three weeks of minicamp haven’t done much to produce a favorite, at least according to Martz and coach Mike Nolan.

“The pleasing thing about it is I do believe we have three guys that could win a game for us, and that’s good,” Nolan said Tuesday, including well-traveled newcomer J.T. O’Sullivan in the mix despite noticeably fewer turns in workouts. “I like our situation more now than any time I’ve been in here.”

 

This is apparently some sort of induction imposed on the team by new offensive coordinator Mike Martz, where everybody pretends that they have to “earn” their spot on the team.  Yeah, ok, whatever.  

Look, I’m the first guy to say that Alex Smith has not been a good quarterback in his short career, but I don’t see any way that the Niners are going to put their future in the hands of Shaun Hill.  Maybe he has Derek Anderson-levels of untapped awesomeness, but I just don’t see it. 

San Francisco needs to wrap up this game pretty fast and commit to getting Smith ready for the season, or it’s going to start affecting Smith’s confidence (which can’t be very high as it is).  A needless QB controversy won’t help stud RB Frank Gore either, so even if  you weren’t planning to draft Smith (and not many are), you should still be concerned.