Alex Smith The Urban Legend

[Stitches]

I'm certainly not deserving of the #2 spot, hell I should never be drafted. I'm merely saying Smith shouldn't be drafted on intelligence alone. I don't think he is that great, and feel our pick would be better suited for any of the other top offensive players. God, while it would be a dream come true for me to play for the dolphins, I would only ask for like a 5 million dollar signing bonus, and minimum salaries(so the team could use that cap room to get better). I guarantee whoever we do pick, wouldn't do that.

 

[finsnchips]

I'm certainly not deserving of the #2 spot, hell I should never be drafted. I'm merely saying Smith shouldn't be drafted on intelligence alone. I don't think he is that great, and feel our pick would be better suited for any of the other top offensive players. God, while it would be a dream come true for me to play for the dolphins, I would only ask for like a 5 million dollar signing bonus, and minimum salaries(so the team could use that cap room to get better). I guarantee whoever we do pick, wouldn't do that.

I agree... if Alex wasn't a supposed genius, he wouldn't be as high as he is.

You've intrigued me by what you said about the two year graduation not being a big thing. I'm not that clued up with the American education system, but it sounded impressive. The thing with Alex is that a lot of head coaches have commented about how bright he is. I do think that he is a player with a footballers brain along the lines of Peyton Manning.

 

[zENGER]

The bachelor's in two years for his program of study isn't that big of a deal, as I said. There is a reason that those degree by mail services offer public accounting as one of thier programs. That could contribute to the 3.8 GPA. Considering he played football too, the 3.8 is fairly impressive, but not the 2 year sfor his degree. If I would have majored in accounting I would have been done one year after I graduated high school, because I had 48 credits already done coming out of high school. His bachelor's in 2 years isn't that big of a deal. You didn't see any of us jumping all over Craig Krenzel, even though he led an undefeated team, and his major was considerably harder than accounting(can't remmember what it was, but it is certainly harder). And no way Smith is the smartest player to ever play football, hell Fitzpatrick is probably smarter, and he's going to come out of the same draft. And I'm only looking at pro-football, even though it was said "to ever play football."

You could take 72 credits in 1 year? Thats 12 classes a semester when a normal load is approx 4. I challenge you to even come up with a schedule that can take 10 classes in one semester that don't conflict, much less 12.

Graduating in two years is a great accomplishment for anyone. Don't try to downplay it like its nothing.

 

[Ghetti13]

Intelligence is not everything. Remember, Jay Fiedler was smart. And, someone was smart enough to bring up Craig Krenzel. He was smart too. Biomolecular Engineering or something like that. And hell, if his high school had classes in that, I am sure he would have brought about 40 with him as well.

All I am saying is that he is not an elite quarterback on tape. That is a bit of a worry for me. "Potential" often becomes connected with "bust" down the road.

 

[3P]

Most everyone says it will take at least 3 years to develop Smith.. And I think thats with 2 years riding the bench, one year of experience.. then in his 4th year he should be decent.. Do you think Saban wants to wait that long?

Saban has made a point to emphasize that he is more concerned with making choices that will benefit the 'Phins long term rather than making decisions on what is needed now, but may put us at a disadvantage in the future. Smith is 20, so even if he DID take 3 years to develop, he'd be a 23 year old developed QB with 2 years of bench experience, and a year of play under his belt... that's still pretty impressive to me.

 

[Dudeman]

I'm certainly not deserving of the #2 spot, hell I should never be drafted. I'm merely saying Smith shouldn't be drafted on intelligence alone. I don't think he is that great, and feel our pick would be better suited for any of the other top offensive players. God, while it would be a dream come true for me to play for the dolphins, I would only ask for like a 5 million dollar signing bonus, and minimum salaries(so the team could use that cap room to get better). I guarantee whoever we do pick, wouldn't do that.

please....I don't care if you want to downplay the kid's accomplishments or what, but jesus christ, he came into college academically as a Junior. At 18 years old, he only had to take 2 years worth of classes.

Think about how many AP classes you would have to take to get enough credits to be considered a junior as a true freshman.

 

[Dudeman]

Most everyone says it will take at least 3 years to develop Smith.. And I think thats with 2 years riding the bench, one year of experience.. then in his 4th year he should be decent.. Do you think Saban wants to wait that long?

come on, I know you dont want a QB because you like Feeley, but you dont truly believe what you just posted, do you?

Mike Nolan is very interested in making him the #1 pick, and he doesn't think it'll take 3 years....in fact, if he drafts Alex, he'll be starting this year. Nolan wouldn't come in as a first time coach, and risk his job if he truly thought that it would take 3 years for Alex to develop.

 

[Stitches]

Dudeman, I don't know if you were talking about me or Alex Smith as coming into college at 18 as a junior or not. But with a different major I could have done what Alex Smith did in the classroom easily. I did my entire senior year of high school at the University of Toledo where I got 35 credit hours, and with AP and stuff I finished high school with 48 credits already done.

And someone said they wanted me to come up with a schedule where you could do 72 credits in a year. My average load is 5 classes, not 4, I do 18 credits a semester as is. All I would have to do to get 72 in a year is do 24 each semester(spring, summer, fall). There is a triple major in my dorm, who has a schedule just like that, and no one is praising his intelligence like they are Alex Smith's.

 

[volk]

Actually, it is typically much more difficult for a QB to learn the offense and the mental aspect of the game than it is to learn the physical skills of the game (think Feeley). A player working with a good trainer can gain an amazing amount of muscle mass in a matter of months. A good QB coach can make dramatic changes to a QB's mechanics in one offseason, as well. Intelligence is the one thing a coach can't change.

IMO, this makes Smith the best prospect to come out of the draft in a while. His intelligence should allow him the ability to learn the offense at a much quicker pace than most QB's. Smith also has all the intangibles...good awareness, good decision making, leadership ability, and presence. Give him two offseasons and he will almost certainly have the physical tools to go along with his mental skills. I believe that Smith would project well as a backup for his second NFL season, and likely fully capable of starting midway through his second season, if not being named the starter from day one.

Could he bust? Sure, but I would be willing to bet that he won't. Most players that bust have all the physical tools but are lacking in the mental aspect of the game, ie. Ryan Leaf. I believe you will find intelligent players fair much better in the NFL even if their physical tools aren't quite as awesome as a coach would like, ie. Zach Thomas. It is great if you can get a combination of both, but if not, I will take greater intelligence over raw physical potential any day of the week.

 

[Ghetti13]

I agree, but we have to assume his intelligence is a good as people say it is. It just does not always transfer. But, the teams at the top know well, so if Miami takes him, I will be very excited because that means he is as smart and physically talented as they say he is. Because it does not show up all the time on tape. The BYU game for example.

 

[Ohio Fanatic]

Smith is really smart, he had a 3.8 GPA and got his bachlor's degree in two years, I would agrue that he is the smartest player to ever play football

Puh-lease, it was in economics! To me, that's no more impressive than Tim Ruddy getting his engineering degree in 4 years at Notre Dame. His academic career is impressive, but let's not get carried away.

 

[Stitches]

I actually think the engineering degree from Notre Dame in 4 years is more impressive.

 

[Ohio Fanatic]

I actually think the engineering degree from Notre Dame in 4 years is more impressive.

Can't really determine that without knowing how good each department is in each school. Utah can be a really crappy school academically, but have a really strong economics dept, as well as Notre Dame's engineering dept could be easier to get a degree in that top quality engineering school, like Carnegie Mellon.

 

[Stitches]

That's true I suppose. But I'm glad someone else besides me and Ghetti13 realize that getting his degree in 2years isn't that big of a deal.

 

[Kucha]

Smith scored a 40 on the wonderlick which is college professor level according to ESPN.

However, Rodgers scored a 35 which is very impressive too. I think his high intelligence has been overshadowed by Smith.

In comparison, Jason Campbell scored a 14 last year! He took the test again during the combine and scored a 28. ESPN said that some coaches fear that he studied for the test which would have given a somewhat false test result. This is probably why the ultra talented Jason Campbell is being projected as a second rounder instead of a first rounder, IMO.