The San Francisco 49ers have a bright future with current QB Brock Purdy, but it took them decades to find a proper franchise QB. The juxtaposition of Purdy being a “Mr. Irrelevant” only makes the comparison to former No. 1 overall pick Alex Smith all the more interesting. Smith joined the 49ers as the first pick in the 2005 NFL draft and was expected to be the team’s next great ”
And all of a sudden to be the No. 1 pick — and as a 20 year old — those were things I never dealt with. I had one college scholarship offer. I had been flying under the radar my entire life. Now, all of a sudden. [there were] huge expectations put upon me. It was a lot,” Smith said in a May 16 interview with NBC Sports Bay Area. “I felt like I had to be perfect. As anybody can imagine, you try to do anything let alone play quarterback as a rookie, that’s certainly a recipe for disaster
It’s clear that Smith doesn’t blame his issues on the 49ers themselves. But the spotlight was too bright in San Francisco, and that was just the beginning of Smith’s issues.
Alex Smith Deals With Several Injuries in San Francisco
When Smith refers to his rookie season as being a recipe for disaster, he’s not exaggerating. Former 49ers head coach Mike Nolan struggled mightily over his tenure. And to start things off, he went back and forth on with Smith in his rookie year.
That was partially due to Smith suffering multiple injuries, but it probably would’ve been best to just let him sit and learn. The former Niner threw 11 interceptions to 1 touchdown in 9 appearances, all while averaging 98 yards per game.
