San Francisco 49ers plan to re-sign Alex Smith for starting quarter-back position – NFL News
Even though the San Francisco 49ers found their young quarter-back in Colin Kaepernick in the second round of the 2011 National Football League Draft, Niners’ head coach Jim Harbaugh still plans to re-sign former starting quarter-back Alex Smith once the
NFL lockout is lifted and give him the chance to compete with Kaepernick for the starting quarter-back job.
"The plan for Alex is unchanged," Harbaugh told a local sports news station. "Everything we said from the very beginning: We want to get the best players on our roster that we possibly can and throw out the balls and let them compete. We believe in competition
and earning your positions around here. With Alex, we are rowing and we're not going to miss a beat. Nothing has changed."
In Harbaugh’s first major decision as the Niners’ new head coach, the team traded up in the second round of the 2011 Draft to get their hands on Kaepernick, former quarter-back for the University of Nevada. San Francisco traded their second round 45th
pick, fourth round 108th pick and fifth round 141st pick to the Denver Broncos to take their 36th overall pick. If the Niners had not traded up for the 36th pick, Kaepernick, also known as “The Transformer,” would
most likely have been taken by the time the Niners’ pick came around.
Smith was selected Number one overall in the first round of the 2005 NFL Draft and although he might have a chance at being starting quarter-back in the 2011 season, the 49ers are looking for their new franchise quarter-back, which will most likely be Kaepernick
if he can play like he did with the University of Nevada Wolf Pack.
While at Nevada, Kaepernick was named the National Freshman of the Week in his first year, the Western Athletic Conference (WAC) Offensive Player of the Week eight times, the WAC Freshman of the Year in 2007 and the WAC Offensive Player of the Year two times.
He also won the Fireman’s Award in 2007, the Golden Helmet in 2008, 2009 and 2010 as well as being named Most Valuable Player (MVP) in the 2008 Humanitarian Bowl.
During his four years at Nevada, Kaepernick completed an average of 58 percent of his passes, averaging 7.99 yards per attempt. He passed for a total of 10,098 yards through the air for 82 touch-downs. He also threw 24 interceptions and was sacked 57 times
in his four year run with the Wolf Pack. In 2010, Kaepernick had 3,022 passing yards for 21 touch-downs. He also threw eight interceptions and was sacked ten times, earning a 150.46 passer rating.
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