Mandatory Credit: Matt Kartozian-US PRESSWIRE

The NFL draft’s first round is upon us and by now most people who are halfway interested in this sort of thing have read roughly 5000 mock drafts in the last 2 months. A large portion of these drafts have the San Francisco 49ers selecting an offensive lineman with the 30th overall pick. At first glance this makes perfect sense, as the Niners one need for a starter is at right guard. A deeper look at the offense reveals a lack of big play makers among the skill positions. Although an offensive lineman would be a logical and solid (albeit slightly boring) choice, a big time athlete with the tools to create offensive fireworks would benefit the Niners immediately and in the long run.
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Jason O. Watson-US PRESSWIRE

Alex Smith has had to endure a ton of hardships in his 7 year NFL career. Some of these were beyond his control. Others were brought on by crappy quarterback play. But one thing that has cast a shadow on his entire time in San Francisco is the past. The 49ers went on a unprecedented (as of yet) run of phenomenal quarterback play from 1981 to 1998. In that time 2 hall of fame quarterbacks wore the scarlet and gold. The franchise won 5 super bowls. From 1989 to 1994 Joe Montana and Steve Young amassed 4 NFL MVP’s. This 17 year run of greatness was never before seen in the NFL and might never be seen again. This set the bar impossibly high for Alex, before he had even set foot on Candlestick’s hallowed turf. Playing quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers could be one of the most difficult assignments in all of sports.

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There are 2 ways to view the San Francisco 49ers crotch kick of a defeat in the NFC championship game. The first and seemingly most popular is to be overcome with grief. The 49ers were in an overtime period to decide who would go to the super bowl and blew their opportunity thanks to a anemic offense and the absolute inability of their backup punt returner to understand the very basic premise of returning punts. The other side of the sadness coin would be optimism. The 49ers had a unexpectedly outstanding season. After winning 6 games last season they roared to 14 wins this year. Along the way they provided many a thrilling moment, including one of the most spectacular playoff wins in the history of a franchise whose fans have a memory bank loaded with unforgettable post season victories. In the end, both views of the 2011-2012 49ers season would be fairly accurate.
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