On Comcast Thursday night, Jim Kozimor made a comment that caught me up short. He said on air Alex Smith had a “great” year last season.
I vehemently disagreed. I said Smith benefited from a great defense but neither he nor his offense was “great.”
“Great” is a vague word but surely you and I know what it means. Joe Montana had great years and so did John Elway. Peyton Manning, whom the Niners coveted over Smith, had great years. Alex Smith may have a great year in the future but he has not had one yet.
Tim Kawakami, also a guest on the show, said Smith had a good year. Kozimor said he would compromise at very good.
Jim and Tim, if I misrepresented you in any way, I apologize. That’s how I remember our animated discussion.
Personal aside and then back to the blog: I like Jim Kozimor very much. He had big shoes to follow taking over for Greg Papa who obviously is terrific. But Jim has put his own mark on the show and he keeps a spirited dialog going and he challenges the guests to back up their positions. I enjoy working with him to the max.
Back to the blog: I don’t know if Jim really believes Smith had a great year or if he was trying to force a discussion. Either way, he did well.
So, here’s what I ask you, if you care to play this word game. Did Smith have a great year?
I say he had a serviceable year, a year in which he improved, a year in which he showed he’s an acceptable NFL quarterback, but certainly not a great one. Those are my words to describe him: serviceable, improved, acceptable. If he had a great year, he would have gotten voted into the Pro Bowl. He did not.
Please understand. I am not putting down Smith. I am trying to evaluate him in a fair way. I would like to know how you evaluate him. What words would you use?
One caution: Please do not write in and say I’m an “Alex Hater.” That is beneath the level of discussion on the Zohn. I do not hate him. And I am not trying to engender hatred. I am trying to start a spirited discussion, just like my friend Jim Kozimor did last night.
Ukiah Tony
It would have been great if Alex Smith won a Super Bowl or was a top 5 qb to go along with the 49ers defense. If he can make his season QB rating go from 90 to around 96 or 97 this year, I would say 2012 will be his truly great year.
May 25th, 2012 12:43 pm
Stan
Well,Jim is without a doubt a pom pom shaker for ownership. He knows it pleases Jed to praise Alex. Just like Jim bought hook line and sinker the A’s and Warriors attempts to move.
Let me guess-he ‘s no Democrat? If a kid on a skateboard wanted to move to San Jose..Jim would be for it..as long as the kid’s father is wealthy.
Speaking of hosts-Larry Krueger’s one claim to fame is he is pretty good with the interesting stats..no clogging my brain with the nonsensical ones fans other then me argue over.
But anyways, he said that the 49ers were 30th worst team in the red zone on offense..out of 33 teams. That’s far too much failure to say he had a great season. And it isn’t likely the 49ers could repeat that next season and still be 13-3.
Of you want to play semantics..He was great for Alex Smith..but not for the NFL.
May 25th, 2012 12:51 pm
Myk04
If you base it solely on stats well its a good year. However, when he looks back at his career and how he performed in big games and at certain moments. Detroit, Philly, Arizona, Saints, just to name the games where he performed when it counted. He was clutch all year. The Saints game was one of the best games of all time in the playoffs and he was on the winning end. Won it with his arm. He was a few plays away from going to the superbowl. I think he had a great year based on what he overcame, it being a lockout shortened year, new coach, new offense, being clutch, earning the respect of his teammates. Yes he had a great year!!
May 25th, 2012 12:59 pm
Dave
I think Alex had a few “Great” GAMES. However, he did not play “great” the entire year. The Game in the playoffs against New Orleans was “great”. anyone who disputes that is blind or an idiot or both. I think the game against Tampa Bay was “great”, and he was very clutch, dare i say “great” at the end of the Detroit game. I do think with the new weapons around him this season he has a chance to be great and put up some very big numbers. if he doesn’t, he will never be anything more than a mediocre starting Quarterback.
May 25th, 2012 1:01 pm
RednGold1
Jim Harbaugh had a great year. The 49ers had a great year. The fans had a great year. Alas, Alex Smith did not have a great year.
May 25th, 2012 1:02 pm
Randy
I did not see a great or even a good quarterback for the 49ers in the NFC Championship. DId the 49ers almost win that game, yes, but it would have been in spite of Alex, not because of him. Was he great in the Saints’ game, no doubt. But for the whole season, no way. It seems that some Bay Area commentators are quick to anoint Smith and call him “great,” comparing last season to his previous body of work. Did he improve? Yeah, but if he got worse he would probably be out of the league. Now let’s compare him to other elite NFL QBs — Smith’s trip to Miami should tell everybody where he stands. Was he serviceable? Yes. Was he good sometimes? Yes. Was he great? You can count those quarters of football during last season on one hand. Let’s see what he does this year.
May 25th, 2012 1:16 pm
Codie
Lowell, I believe the issue to be the use of the vague term “great.” The evaluation should be based on a vivid description that serves as something that is more easily quantifiable. It could be noted that Alex excelled in the area of controlling the ball and minimizing turnovers or Alex completely fulfilled the duties that he was asked to perform. The other alternative is to define exactly what a “great” year symbolizes (30 TDS, 4,000 yards, etc.) This would allow for a streamlined process of evaluation and much more accurate level of evaluation.
May 25th, 2012 1:43 pm
Sean
Smith had a ‘solid’ year. He made some plays (that TD run against the Saints). He even made some passes (that TD throw to Vernon against the Saints). I guess you could say he had a ‘great’ game against the Saints. A ‘great’ year is Tom Brady throwing 50 TD passes. So I’d say he had a ‘solid’ year.
May 25th, 2012 1:54 pm
jason
One of my peeves is the overuse of the word GREAT, especially in sports. When I think of greatness, I think of Ali, Mays, Lombardi, Jordan, Jim Brown, perhaps even Joe Montana, but certainly not any of he current 49er QB’s.
May 25th, 2012 1:56 pm
Kathy
Great? No. But based on how far the team made it in the playoffs and how well Smith played in the Saints game and even the loss to the NYG, I’d say he had a good year.
“Serviceable” is a little too begrudging IMO.
May 25th, 2012 2:09 pm
Bray
Question Randy- Was Eli great in the NFC champioship game?
IMO, this was the first year anyone would be able to get a real good read on what he can really do with a competent HC and ‘decent’ team around him. He was good, not great.
May 25th, 2012 2:20 pm
Jim Bancroft
He did not. He had a safe, adequate year. Which is an improvement over the el floppo career in years prior, but nothing to write home about.
We talked about this a little after the NFC championship game, when many writers (not Lowell) were tearing into Michael Crabtree and his disappearing act.
I’ll readily admit his was not a Jerry Rice performance but the passes he was seeing simply were not there. The one catch he had was a five yard out that he had to race back toward the line of scrimmage and leap at the sideline to snag. No chance anyone could have done anything with it after the catch. A terrible, ultra-conservative, almost throw-away pass by Smith. Those were the kind of “opportunities” Crabtree was getting, and we put all the blame on him?
I like Smith and think he got a raw deal in the Nolan years, but many of us have also had raw deals and didn’t get 1/100th the salary Smith does. His 2011 season was a pleasant surprise, much like we’d feel if we found a $10 bill on Market St, but let’s not confuse it with willing the lotto.
May 25th, 2012 2:35 pm
mendozaline
Alex Smith had a “great” year in the same way that large olives are “large”.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=up-RvuljLmE
May 25th, 2012 2:35 pm
B-Rad
If I run the 200 meters in 25 seconds, I had a great run.
If Usain Bolt does that, he broke an ankle. Or a leg. Or
probably both.
Alex was the 9th rated QB in 2011 with a:
QB rating = 90.7
TDs = 17
INTs = 5
Aaron Rodgers was the top rated QB with a:
QB rating = 122.5
TDs = 45
INTs = 6
…………
I don’t know who Jim Kozimor is, but he seems like a
very nice man. A very, very nice man.
May 25th, 2012 2:35 pm
Vijay
This is a total joke to say a QB who can’t throw along the sidelines as having a great year.
Btw Lowell a bit off topic but do you’ve your story of your interaction with Moss after that Raiders/ Seattle MNF game?
May 25th, 2012 4:08 pm
Dennis
I like Alex Smith. I was strongly in favor of Harbaugh bringing him back last year. Smith did not have a great year. He had an OK year. His greatest achievement was to not be the reason for a 49er loss. That hardly makes you great. I will go further; were not for Andy Lee’s incredible field position punting, (he had a great year) and David Akers record setting field goal kicking (he had a great year) we wouldn’t be talking about whether Smith was serviceable, good or great. We would be talking about who is going to be the starting QB this year. Lee, Akers, and the defense made Smith look OK, by continuously giving the offense great field position. To me, no one on the offense had a great year. I still like Smith because I think he has talent and he got a raw deal coming here under Nolan. But he better have a great year this year. He is surrounded by the best personnel he has had since he has been here. No excuses. Great or gone.
May 25th, 2012 4:35 pm
Jack Hammer
Smith had a nice year for a change. He did a good job of managing the game and not putting the teams’ strength, it’s defense in tough spots.
May 25th, 2012 4:49 pm
Neal
Smith had a great year if we were giving him a curve, the offense was 29th in the league, horrific on third downs and red zones. He is not even the top 15 QB in football, maybe not even top 20, he had a pretty good year, that is the best we can do, give him a C+. Also david Akres now he had a great year.
May 25th, 2012 5:39 pm
mike
Sorry, but great does not apply when describing Smith’s 2011 season because ‘great’ QBs have more productive red zone and 3rd down offensive results. Of course, one can argue that if Smith has better wide receivers, for example, his red zone and 3rd down production would have been better and we might be speaking more admirably about his play and using better superlatives. It is what it is, and it’s best to say that at times he was good; at times he was decent; at times he was efficient, and, at times, he left us wanting more. Unfortunately, that does not equal ‘great.’
May 25th, 2012 6:30 pm
Danny
Well Cohny the 49ers had a great year, Alex is a 49er so therefore yes he and his team had a great year.
If you don’t want to look like a hater then you should think about using peoples names without the little jabs.
May 25th, 2012 7:20 pm
CohnZohn
Danny, it was an inadvertent typo and I fixed it about an hour ago.
May 25th, 2012 7:36 pm
Ben Brung
Context is important. The huge leap forward and success of the team made it a good year. If he has an identical year this year it will disappointing.
Stats really are of limited importance outside of fantasy football.
May 25th, 2012 7:44 pm
Ben Brung
I should have added: If he wins a championship with similar stats it will be a great year.
To earn your legacy you can win championships and have whatever stats you want (Plunkett), come close and have great stats (Marino) or have a mediocre overall record and be epic (Fouts).
May 25th, 2012 7:50 pm
Johnc
Jim Harbaugh had a great year. The forty niner defense had a great year. Smith had one great game against New Orleans and perhaps a couple other very good games.
The one game I went to last year vs. the Arizona Cardinals Smith looked like the erratic Smith of old. The niners were never in danger of losing that game because Skelton the Cardinal qb had his worse game and the forty niner defense was dominant. Two weeks later the Niners lost to these same Cardinals.
May 25th, 2012 10:07 pm
Brady
There is simply no statistical evidence to suggest that Smith was anywhere near great last year.
He did what he was asked, and he did it well most of the time. That was good enough to contend for the super bowl, and will be going forward (though I’ll believe he’ll be much better this year).
He was “great” only relative to his past performances.
May 26th, 2012 1:00 am