Barring injuries, this will be a much better team this year than last year. There's every reason to be optimistic.

We are going to enter the season with a huge injury issue of Justin Houston. Plus our secondary is going to have huge question marks in every spot except two. Plus our lack of depth in the backside of our defense causes me to be cautiously optimistic.

How many QBs are on the list ahead of Alex? I have grown to not hate the fact that Alex is our QB like I used to. But I still find it comical that a QB who has never led a passing offense ranked higher than 24th in the NFL could be on a list like this. Just ridiculous IMO.

Is this right? IIRC, 2015 was Alex's best season in his career at 3rd down conversions. If we were really still close to the bottom, Alex had a worse year than I actually give him credit for having.

Brady, Rogers, Ben, Cam, Matt Ryan, Romo, Wilson are really the only ones I would say are better.

Palmer, Tanny, Dalton, Bortles and Stafford are not better.

Carson Palmer is not better than Alex Smith? Seriously?

13-3 record (dont like using record, but Alex fans seem to so yeah)
63.7% completion percentage
4,671 passing yards
35 touchdown passes
104.6 passer rating
82.1 QBR
2nd in MVP race

What about what I just wrote makes him an inferior QB to Alex?

Alex Smith the 8th best QB in the league.

http://static.giantbomb.com/uploads/..._simpson31.jpg

Complete and utter speculation

I mean...

http://www.nfl.com/player/richgannon...54/careerstats

http://www.nfl.com/player/alexsmith/2506340/careerstats

Their numbers are VERY similar. You can take it or leave it, but the stats don't lie. Both mobile guys who weren't able to showcase it with their previous team, both good TD to INT ratios, both excelled after moving to another team.

Hell, look at the career QBR.

Smith 84.5, Gannon 84.7.

You can facepalm all you want, but ignoring the fact that they're very similar quarterbacks in very similar situations just makes you look like the idiot, not me.

You are trying to compare numbers that are over a decade separating them. :shake:

Ya their numbers are similar. The only problem is that in Gannons era he was actually leading a top ranked passing offense. Alex? Not so much.

Theres more to it than just that. Being smart and and not turning the ball over do count into what makes a QB good or not.

Hes a good fit for a good well balanced team that generally outplays most opponents for most of the game. Give him a lead in the 4th and lean on the D. Alex isnt going to screw it up.

Now, just like in the playoff loss to New England, down by two scores with 7:00 left.............yeah the games basically over for a team like the Chiefs. Sure he drove them down in 6:00 for one score but then you need onside kick recovery and drive 50 yards in less than a minute for the other score, neither of which were likely. Of course some of the blame can be placed on Reed, but that type of challenge doesnt play into Alex strengths.

He can get you a lead and will not screw it up. As long as youve got a good D hes very effective at preserving wins.

I'm just saying they can be lumped together. Unless you are one of the game changers at QB your middle of the pack.

That's going to be a tough argument to sell to anyone.

Palmer and Bortles both threw 35 TDs last season, nearly twice as many as Alex.

Need to see more on Bortles although Im sure most people would pick him over Smith for their team.

Palmer though is better than Smith. He makes a lot more mistakes but makes a lot more big plays too. In the end Id take Palmer because he can win a game for you despite other areas of the team not playing well.