San Francisco 49ers QB of the Future? Smith, Hill or Montana?

When the San Francisco 49ers selected Michael Crabtree with the 10^th pick in this years draft, the 49ers offense was injected with a little hope. Crabtree joins, Isaac Bruce, Brandon Jones, Arnaz Battle, Josh Morgan and others, and instantly upgrades the 49ers receiving corp. Vernon Davis returns and one hopes the tight end blessed with a great combination of speed and size, will finally live up to his draft day promise. Frank Gore, the hard nose running back, will get some help from rookie running back, Glenn Coffee. San Francisco's offense looks promising, now all they need is a quarterback to lead them, enter Shaun Hill or Alex Smith?

Alex Smith, the 1^st pick of the 2005 draft, has had a disappointing start to his NFL career. Smith has had a different offensive coordinator every year he's been in the NFL. He's had different receivers during his 4 years and battled injuries. Now beginning his 5^th season it seems it's now or never for Smith. You hope this year Smith can remain healthy and play to the level of a former #1 pick.

On the flip side is, Shaun Hill, the undrafted QB out of Maryland. Hill played in 9 games in 2008 and put up good but not spectacular numbers. He finished the year with over 2,000 yards passing, completed 63% of his passes with 13 touchdowns and 8 interceptions. Entering his ninth season, Hill is trying to be the latest undrafted QB to succeed in the NFL.

The 49ers have assembled offensive weapons, coach Mike Singletary has vowed to instill toughness into this team, including implementing a bruising run style offense. Maybe this is the year the 49ers put the pieces together and begin to field a competitive team. They just need a QB to step up and take the job.

If all else fails, Nick Montana, son of legendary QB Joe Montana, should be available in four years. Montana quarterbacking the 49ers, sounds nice.

Sources:

http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/players/stats?playerId=4260