Quote:
Originally Posted by DJ's left nut
And that's certainly something to keep an eye on; it's probably my biggest worry with him.
That said, his sack% didn't go up substantially until Harbaugh took over. He was pretty reliable about getting rid of the football in 2009 and 2010. In fact, it was almost identical to Kaepernicks.
But yeah, it's been unacceptably high over the last 2 seasons and that's a completely fair criticism. Over a 500 pass season, the difference between a 7% clip (reasonable) and a 9% clip is going to be 10 sacks, which is certainly not insignificant. I don't think it's quite as glaring as the folks in SF would make it sound (afterall, that's not even 1 sack/gm over an average QB), but it does make you take some pause.
But I don't think it's something that is ingrained into him; he started doing it when Harbaugh arrived. If it was seemingly coached in, then I don't see why it can't be coached out.
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Someone posted an article (PFF maybe?)earlier that said under Harbaugh, Smith took a sack on 1 out of 3 pressures, which was worst in the league by far.
I don't watch the 49ers enough to know this: if no one is open enough for Smith, does he try to run it? That wouldn't show up as a sack or incompletion but a 1 yard run on 3rd and 6 would stop a drive just as effectively.