Broncos-49ers: Troy Smith Named Starting QB

Big news of the day is that quarterback Troy Smith will start for the San Francisco 49ers against the Denver Broncos. Alex Smith is expected to be out for about 2-3 weeks with an injured shoulder and Troy Smith is expected to be the quarterback. Troy Smith leapfrogged David Carr who was listed as the #2 quarterback last week but after an ineffective performance in the second half of last Sunday's game Mike Singletary decided that Troy Smith "gives the team the best chance to win."

Not that I'm a huge fan of David Carr's but it's a bit unfair to David Carr to not give him an opportunity. Watching the game, I don't think he was given the opportunity to make plays. At that point of the game, Singletary had gone conservative and unfortunately for David Carr it cost him a chance to make some plays.

Troy Smith is not the answer for the 49ers, and just in case your asking neither is Nate Davis. But, he has the upside that the other quarterbacks, including Alex Smith, doesn't have. If the 49ers weren't so hard-headed about their chance to make it to the playoffs then they may play Davis. Unfortunately, they are not realists and for some god awful reason think they can actually make the playoffs.

Don't expect to see anything but a lot of running the ball up the middle. I'm sure that Singletary saw what the Raiders did running against the Broncos defense on the ground and thinks they will be able to do the same. The difference, the Oakland Raiders have creativity in their offense.

I've posted both the transcript for the Mike Singletary and Troy Smith media sessions after the jump.

Nate Davis clears waivers, moved to practice squad

It was much ado about nothing.

Bloggers (like myself) and fans all over the Bay Area were upset that Nate Davis was released by the 49ers so they could sign QB Troy Smith.  We all thought that Davis was a NFL ready quarterback and he for sure would be picked up  off waivers by another team, especially the Seahawks.

Guess we were wrong.  Davis cleared waivers and the 49ers have signed him to their practice squad and in another corresponding moved waived quarterback Jarrett Brown.

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Mike Singletary announced the team captains today.  They are the same people from last year with one addition, Alex Smith.  Singletary explained that Smith was not given this honor because he was the quarterback but because of the leadership that he has showed and the amount of work he put in.

2009 49ers team captains

"Alex really put in the time.  You know he's out here when no one was out here.  He was the guy that got the receivers together and threw to him, and changed his schedule around to meet with some other receivers.  So, he was not just doing it once a day, he was doing it twice a day, as well as in the classroom.  He was wearing Jimmy Raye and [quarterbacks coach] Mike Johnson out all offseason."

 The captains from last year and now for this year again are: Patrick Willis, Vernon Davis, Eric Heitmann, Justin Smith, and Takeo Spikes.

Was releasing Nate Davis the right move?

Mike Singletary made it be known, a few times, that he was not impressed with Nate Davis' work ethic and even questioned whether he would make the team.

"That's a question mark.  It will be a topic of conversation..."

The question was whether the public comments were a motivational tool or Singletary had truly gone sour on Davis. Singletary has been known to use press conferences as motivation for players (see Davis, Vernon).

In related news, the 49ers released Davis and signed former Ohio State QB, Troy Smith.

Singletary has been less than thrilled with his backup QBs and when asked about his comfort level he said:

"When you say comfortable, I'll put it this way," he said. "I feel good about Alex Smith. I feel very good about where he's at. I think we have to do a great job of protecting our starting quarterback. When it comes to David Carr, I think David Carr is a guy that I could grow to feel comfortable with. I think he's a guy that has a good command of the offense. I think he understands, I just think that he's still thinking a lot and he's still having to get the rhythm and all the other things, but I think David Carr, I could grow to feel comfortable with him."

That's not exactly praising words for Nate Davis or David Carr.  After those comments it was no doubt that Singletary sent Trent Baalke shopping for a new QB.

The question was would it be Carr or Davis that would be cut.  Personally, I would have thought they would cut Carr.  He has a higher salary and you already know what you have with him.

That move speaks more to Singletary's lack of confidence in current starter, Alex Smith, then his frustration and lack of confidence in his backups.

The whole "why did we cut Nate Davis" sentiment could be all for not.  It's possible he is nothing more than a gunslinger who will never make it in the NFL but why stop the "Nate Davis project" early.  When he was drafted the 49ers brass stated he was a three-year project but then he was cut after the first year and a half.

From one Davis to another Davis

We all remember week 6 of the 2008 NFL season, when interim head coach Mike Singletary did something which changed the career of one young and immature player, Vernon Davis.


That was the day that the famous “I want winners” speech was born and led Singletary into his first official head coaching job and made Vernon Davis an All-Pro.

That day, Mike Singletary kicked Vernon Davis off the field and was lambasted in the media for kicking a player off the field and then calling him out in a post-game press conference. Almost everyone thought Singletary would lose the team for sure.

That’s not exactly what happened.

In the following season Vernon Davis became the best tight end in football and broke the 49ers tight end touchdown record and tied the all-time touchdown record for a tight end in the NFL, which is currently held by Antonio Gates.

Mike Singletary’s reaching into the old bag of tricks again with another player with the surname Davis.