Sadly, some Minny fans hope that isn't the case.

Yikes.

Exactly, that is a disingenuous argument. He could be a starter on a lot of NFL teams. He was a backup for the last half season because of the circumstances in SF. That doesn't in any way mean he is not a starter quality QB in the NFL.

What'd he do?

I agree with your post, but Alex Smith is actually the 5th 49er reject to come here.

Montana, Bono and Smith were traded. Grbac was signed in free agency.

Who's the fifth?

Steve Deberg, although he was with the Buc's before the Chiefs.

He played in SF, but came from Tampa, I believe.

DeBerg played for SF, Denver and Tampa Bay before landing in KC twelve years after his career began.

He wasn't acquired to run the West Coast offense created by Bill Walsh and run by Paul Hackett or Andy Reid.

I don't think he counts.

anyone that uses Alex Smith's first few years in the NFL to debate whether or not he is like Matt Cassel is just a ****ing complete idiot.

Yeah, because being a backup for the Bucs last makes it any better. He was still a backup in SF for 4 years.

He did play in it though. Walsh implemented in WCO with DeBerg.

Alex Smith in 2011 and 2012 proved he was more comparable to a Matt Hasselbeck in his prime than anyone else.

Matt Cassel, even in his "good" year in 2010, was still negatively rated by PFF.

Alex Smith was the 8th best QB in 2011 on PFF. He was on pace to hit his exact same points production in 2012 before his concussion.

Again, the people comparing Cassel and Smith and concluding they are comparable are just complete, total idiots. So if you think that, and you're reading this, you're a ****ing moron. Sucks to be you.

You're being obtuse.

The Chiefs didn't sign Steve DeBerg to start and run the WCO. They signed him because all they had at the time was Bill Kenny. Also, Marty didn't like him, either, and acquired Steve freaking Peuller and Dave Krieg in an attempt to upgrade the position (which of course, failed).

This is completely different than trading a #1 for Montana, a 7 for Bono, signing Elvis Grbac and trading for Alex Smith.

Although JFC, once I typed that out, it sure does look pathetic.

Anyone who uses Cassels 2 years with Crennel, Bill Muir and Brian Daboll to debate is a ****ing complete idiot.

If we can't use Alex Smith's early seasons because he had incompetent coaching, then we can't use Cassel's late seasons either.

Not really, because they have comparable styles of play.

Both like to throw a lot of short passes.

Both have horrible pocket presence and take a lot of sacks.

Both have underwhelming physical talent.

To ignore these similarities is obtuse.

The main difference is that the last two seasons Alex Smith played on much, much better teams and received better coaching.