With the Rams coming to town this week, Jim Harbaugh has a very tough decision. He has to pick a quarterback to start against an improving and NFC West rival defense. This week seems to be more important to the 49ers franchise than one would think. They’re already sitting atop the NFC West and are heading straight towards the playoffs. This team needs to figure out which quarterback they want controlling their offense for the rest of the season. San Fran’s success in the future is going to be determined by Harbaugh’s decision.
Luckily for Harbaugh, he gets to choose from a pair of quarterbacks who have played exceptionally well this season. We’ll start with the guy who has had his best professional season in the NFL until a concussion sidelined him in week 10, Alex Smith. Before he was forced to leave the game, Smith was taking advantage of another season in Jim Harbaugh’s system. In 2012, Smith has thrown 13 touchdowns compared to 5 interceptions and completed 70% of his passes. In the past season and a half, Smith has tallied 30 touchdowns through the air, only 10 interceptions, and completed 64.2% of his passes. Those are very solid numbers in the 49ers offense, but that’s not all. It all comes down to winning and losing for quarterbacks. After a very shaky start to his career, one that includes 6 different offensive coordinators in his first 6 seasons, he has a regular season record of 19-5-1 over the past year and a half. Oh, and the former number one pick out of Utah led his team to the NFC championship game while throwing for 5 touchdowns, no interceptions, 495 yards, rushed for a score, and had a QB rating of 101.0 in two playoff games.
Smith has shown he’s more than capable of running the show with a good head coach looking after him. After all Harbaugh turned around Stanford’s football program in just 4 years, going 4-8 in his first season then finishing his tenure with a 12-1 record and an Orange bowl win. He also developed and groomed the number 1 overall pick in the 2012 NFL draft, quarterback Andrew Luck. For the past two years or so, Smith has finally been put in what looks like his best position to succeed… ever. He has done everything Harbaugh has asked and taught him. He’s finally taking care of the ball, making the right decisions and reads, and still improving after being in the league for 8 years. Then came what San Francisco fans are all too used to: another injury. Smith’s career has been put on hold multiple times, most notably when he missed the whole 2008 season with a shoulder injury. Smith went down week 10 with a concussion against the Rams and this is when the Colin Kaepernick era could have possibly started.
Kaepernick came into the game and didn’t have too bad of a day for a backup. He finished 11 for 17 with 117 yards through the air. He also added 8 carries for 66 yards and a touchdown. The 25 year old has played very well since he stepped on the field in week 10. He’s been great as a starter especially against the Bears, who boast one of the best defenses in the league. He finished that game with a 133.1 quarterback rating, going for 243 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions. Along with a strong arm, Kaepernick is a mobile QB who can make things happen with his legs as he’s shown it with 4 rushing touchdowns this year. He stands at 6’4” and 230 pounds, prototypical quarterback size. And he’s been sitting on the bench, learning and waiting for his chance to take over.
Can you really hand the kid the starting job based off two and a half games? Probably not, so let’s take a look at his college numbers as it’s the only other production we can look at. This guy definitely showed he can play while starting all four years at Nevada. He was a dual threat quarterback rushing for over 1,100 yards three out of four seasons, adding 17, 16, and 20 rushing scores in those seasons. He threw for over 20 or more scores in 3 different seasons while never throwing more than 8 interceptions. The 49ers grabbed him in the 2nd round of the 2011 NFL draft. They saw what most don’t know about: an intelligent, big and strong armed, athletic, and mobile playmaker. Kaepernick may be just what the 49ers have needed the past few years at quarterback and he’s doing his best to prove it.
It all comes back to Harbaugh though. How do you make this decision? After sticking with Smith instead of getting free agent Peyton Manning in the offseason, you feel as if the coach should go down that same road. Stick with Smith, the quarterback who had been playing good and doing enough to win. Smith has been cleared to play and is ready to take back his job. But you still have this 25 year old quarterback who has a bunch of potential and just like Smith, has benefited from Harbaugh’s system and coaching. It’d be a different story if this team had barely won with Smith out. But the truth is, Kaepernick dismantled arguably the best defense in the league and then when into the noisy superdome and took down Drew Brees and the Saints. There’s another truth though, Alex Smith was having himself a really good season. He wasn’t playing like the Smith from three plus years ago. All things considered I still see Kaepernick taking over within the next year or two, if not this coming Sunday. Harbaugh likes to go with the hot hand and he’s got the 49ers this far, but let’s face it, at least he doesn’t have to pick from Mark Sanchez or Tim Tebow.
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