Starting with the moment ESPN asked him in a post "Monday Night Football" interview and continuing through the week, Chiefs quarterback Alex Smith has refused to share any of his feelings about facing the 49ers.
Smith was once the top overall pick of the 49ers, led the team to the NFC championship game at the end of he 2011 season, then was replaced in 2012 by Colin Kaepernick after he suffered a midseason concussion. The 49ers traded him to the Chiefs the following offseason.
Smith wouldn't be human if he didn't feel plenty of emotions for his return to San Francisco to face the 49ers this Sunday, but he's not talking about it. One answer in particular stood out among the non-answers: Does Smith think the 49ers made the right choice going with Kaepernick over him?
“Yeah, I’m not even going to answer that, man,” Smith said with a chuckle, according to the Kansas City Star. “I haven’t thought about it, and at this point, it’s not even relevant.”
Smith wouldn't answer it but, did the 49ers make the right choice? That probably depends on what an organization's expectations are of the quarterback position.
Smith is safe. If you want to use the term "game manager," it probably fits. The Chiefs don't ask him to do a ton in their offense, and he performs his duties well.
"Alex does a great job of knowing where he's going with the ball," 49ers linebacker Patrick Willis said, according to the 49ers' web site. "He gets the ball out very fast, he's very smart with it."
That description is not going on anyone's Hall of Fame biography, but it's important.
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Kaepernick is a much more dynamic player. Let's put it this way: Would Smith have won that wild-card game at Green Bay last season, when Kaepernick's dual-threat ability carried the 49ers to a close win over the Packers? Probably not. But would Smith have lost the 49ers' game against the Bears in Week 2, in which Kaepernick made plenty of mistakes that helped the Bears come back? Probably not.
That's what it comes down to. Do you want a higher ceiling or a higher floor? Kaepernick has the ability to be great, as we've seen in the playoffs each of the last two seasons. He's also not very developed as a pocket passer and in his fourth year, if it hasn't happened yet it might not. But he can make incredible plays with his rifle arm and his legs too. He can be great, or he can be shaky, and you're never quite sure what it will be. (Greg Cosell of NFL Films did a fantastic job discussing the yin and yang of Kaepernick here earlier this season).
The Chiefs have had good success with Smith. He's generally not going to make the type of mistakes that cost you games. The Chiefs were 11-5 last year, and are 2-2 this year coming off a 41-14 win against New England in which Smith was very sharp. Since the start of the 2013 season, Smith has 4,204 passing yards, 30 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. Kaepernick, in one more game than Smith in that span, has 4,109 passing yards, 27 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. Kaepernick has 711 rushing yards, a little more than the 534 rushing yards from Smith, who is also very athletic.
I'd pick Kaepernick. I think his ability to make plays and have dominant games is worth the mistakes. But if you made the argument that the 49ers' strong supporting cast would be better off with a quarterback whose highs might not be all that high but didn't experience many lows, it would make sense.
History isn't going to change and reinstate Smith as the 49ers' quarterback. But it's fun to debate if the 49ers would have been better off with Smith. Your answer probably says a bit about your view of the quarterback position.
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Frank Schwab is the editor of Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at shutdowncorner@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @YahooSchwab
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