Nolan's QB Plan Fuels Exhibition Anticipation

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>It has apparently reached the ears of those embedded in 49er Interplanetary Headquarters that after five years of under-, minimal- and non-achievement, they have to try a little harder to sell their product, so they have pursued a radical strategy.

They are making the exhibition season mean something more than exercises in extortion.

In this case, it's the first two games, at Oakland and at home against Green Bay. Head coach/semi-general manager Mike Nolan declared Thursday at the tail end of a phone conference to talk about his trip to Afghanistan that he would use those two games to give extended looks to quarterbacks Alex Smith and Shaun Hill, in hopes of having a starter determined by the third exhibition game in Chicago.

In other words, we're going to have to pay attention to this August nonsense for a change because actual meaningful decisions will be made as a result. That means that, for once, it's for real.

Of course, there are any number of things we don't know about this plan, to wit:

-- Whether Nolan is really serious about the idea, or just doing some midsummer chain-jerking.

-- If so, who plays against the Raiders and who plays against Green Bay?

-- How many plays will each get, and how varied will those plays be?

-- How long is this decision binding?

-- And when does John York remind Nolan which of the two fellas has the $49.5 million contract?

Now we are not suggesting that Nolan's motivation is corporate/mercenary. He knows as the rest of us do that exhibition games are largely puppet shows. He also knows that this is Year Four of a five-year contract that up to now has been marked by some mediocrity. But it is interesting that he is at least willing to leave the suggestion that he is so unable to separate Smith and Hill that he is willing to use practice games to make up his mind for him.

It is equally fascinating that the Raiders have a hand in that decision by the level of their willingness to harass the 49ers' offense. I mean, the rivalry between the two teams has never truly reached a properly feverous pitch since the Raiders returned from El Segundo, and nothing boils blood quicker than your quarterback getting laid out by your cross-bridge rival.

But the last point remains the most interesting of all: Smith was drafted, signed, paid and played as the long-term addition to the Montana-Young-Garcia quarterbacking line, and after three years, he's back to even. Hill's three-game resume is apparently enough on its own to make this a coin-flip.

And now the highly artificial crucible of practice football is going to decide not only the future of the franchise, but more immediately the future of the face of the franchise.

Mike Nolan.

You see, this is pretty much Nolan's make or break year. Nobody in a position to decide such things has said anything like that, but the math seems inescapable. Despite his five-year contract, his first three years (16-32) have put the fifth year in jeopardy, and the fourth year is starting four weeks earlier than normal because of a grand scheme that, while not unique, is plenty unusual.

He said Thursday that the winner of the August sweeps would still have to prove himself in September and October, and if not, then there could be yet another change. For a man who has started seven quarterbacks in his three seasons, this seems like a particularly boisterous advertisement for instability.

(And now, a fun game for you to play at home: If you can name all seven quarterbacks in the Nolan Era, give yourself 15.75 points to commemorate the average number of points per game the 49ers have scored; if you can name the three other teams who have used seven quarterbacks in the last three years, give yourself 37 points to commemorate the highest total the boys have managed in the last three years; if you can name the other teams' quarterbacks too, zero points, as your spouse is seeing a lawyer).

Other teams have quarterback instability, too, but this novel way of attacking the problem makes the 49ers the most interesting team in the NFL in August. Not the Packers, even though their mutual spitting contest with Brett Favre will be an ongoing fascination for medioids who are easily distracted. Not the Patriots, who will be reminded that they are considered felony eavesdroppers. Not the Giants, who are in New York. Not the Dolphins, who will smell as bad under Bill Parcells as they did before him.

September, we can't vouch for. History suggests it won't go well, but history is not predestination. But we know if it doesn't go well, someone else likely will be figuring out a new way to make the 49ers' 2009 exhibition schedule more interesting, and good luck to that poor schmo. I mean, after you've auctioned off the quarterback job, a refrigerator magnet schedule just doesn't have the same allure.</div>
Source: SFGate

 

I'm also interested to see how he does after all the resources the 49ers have invested in him. Hopefully Mike Martz's offense can finally take advantage of Alex Smith's strengths.