After last years QB scandal.... it's refreshing to see a fair QB competition play out this year. Hill EARNED it and I wish him the best of luck!!!

GO NINERS!!!

I think this is the right call. I won't be surprised at all of Smith is starting by the end of the season, but I don't think he is quite there yet. I think Hill is more ready to start on day 1 at this point. I'd also like to echo the sentiment above - nice to see a FAIR QB competition! Here's to kickin some cowboy butt this weekend!!

Hill deserved the job last season, I am so glad we have this out of the way so we can build upon further chemistry with the starting lineup!

Hill is going to find rhythm, and win us games, he's the Chad Pennington of the NFC!

Wow, so he'll get two preseason games and three weeks of practice with the 1st team all to himself. Now we'll see we he does with it. Now the last loose end to tie is Crabree.

Good luck to both of them!

"Hill, 29, will make the first opening-day start of his eight-year NFL career."

Remember that whenever you're tempted to write off a player with only a couple seasons under their belt.

FAIR ENOUGH! I have been pulling for Smith, but I am happy that this is the way it was handled this year... Nice job Niners Staff!!!

So we picked a smell turd over the stinky poo? Seriously, watching these guys in the preseason is just dreadful. The one good thing about it is it helps me look forward to watching the defense perform.

I know this is likely a very unpopular viewpoint, but I think Nate Davis should've been given the starting job. Or at least been given the chance to compete. Besides his superior tangibles, he did what the coaches are looking for in a QB: He didn't make bad decisions, he moved the ball, he scored.

Sure he threw the ball away several times early, but he didn't just stand there and take a sack like Hill or Smith. And he didn't turn the ball over. Frankly, i'm surprised his performance didn't get more of a spotlight from the coaches. In my view, we should be starting Hill while working Davis out to be his incumbant. What have we got to lose?

Now ,we all knew that already didn't we(unless you were delusional,or Smith's Mother,lol).
Now the real question is,will they keep smith on the roster and cut a better QB and much more reliable backup,Huard?
Roster spotsa are very precious this year,with all the talent we have. We don't want to cut a player that might be a good player for us for years to come. But if we keep 4 QB's ,we WILL be cutting someone we should have kept. We certainly cannot put Nate Davis on the PS. Maybe before he showed his stuff last Sat,we could have quietly placed him through waivers and onto the PS? Probably not,because we all know there is at least one smart GM out there who actually watched the guy play in college and would snatch him up for free off waivers. So now that Davis is certain to make the 53 man roster,will we keep 4 QB's and will they be the best 4,or will we keep Alex too and drop a good player. I believe the FO will drop Huard because of his age,with the hope that a young alex can some day improve enough to back up Hill and then Davis.(if Hill is traded).

Kudos, Matt, on having called this for the last 4-6 months. Happy that Hill will get a shot to command the team from season's start instead of having to clean up a mess of a season over half way through.

I like that fact that Coach Sing decided now so that way Hill can play alot against the Cowboys. Clearly he needs as much playing time as possbile in order to get ready for the regular season. As much as I wanted Alex to win the job I think it was the right call so fans need to accept it, support it & move on. There's no time for belly aiking.

All right! Full steam ahead for Hill! I'm finally glad the guy gets to start (hopefully) for a full season. It's high time he got his chance. I would feel even better with our QBs if Huard were our #2, but, well, Smith should be prepared to take over the job if Hill goes out or the staff feels he's ready to succeed for a change.

There is a difference between unpopular and clinically insane. If Davis is the QB of the future there is no reason to destroy him now. Let him sit for 2 years and he'll be really good. He is a slow learner. The last couple of rooks that did well are the exceptions, not the rule. Moreover, Davis was playing against scrubs.

I am glad that Sing made a decision. Now we can move forward

Good and obvious choice, makes the best sense to move in this direction.

And it's not a big deal if you don't like Shaun Hill, but to say Nate Davis should get the starting job instead? Yikes!

Yes!!! Thanks for the Great News Matt! Happy days are here again... :) Whatever happend to that guy onewhiner? LOL

I didn't care who they picked Hill or Smith, to start. I'm happy they came to a decision now rather than later. Now lets hope Hill can continue where he left off last year.......winning.

The only thing that annoyed me about this QB competition was all the negativity being piled on Smith. Perfect example was the game against the Raiders. Neither QB looked good, and were appalling to watch. Yet ESPN slammed Smith and praised Hill. Some fans did the same. I understand everyone excepts more for the number 1 draft pick.

Smart decision. Can't wait for the season to start!

lol im sure oneniner is loving this!

Jon in SoCal replied to comment from Finalyst | August 24, 2009 4:31 PM | Reply There is a difference between unpopular and clinically insane. If Davis is the QB of the future there is no reason to destroy him now. Let him sit for 2 years and he'll be really good. He is a slow learner.
-------------------------------------------------------------
I am the builder of the Nate Davis bandwagon.But even I have said he is raw and could not be expected to start until next season at the earliest.(unless the year is a disaster and they let him start the last few games for seasoning).But Jon,Davis is a quicker learner than smith has been. Davis has a learning disability in the classroom but not on the football field,Smith is very intelligent in the classroom but on the field he is the slowest learner I have ever seen. He still can't throw on time ,no matter how much Sing yells at him. While avis was getting rid of the ball quickly and throwing to a space where the receiver was going to be,something Alex can't learn,after many years.Davis is raw but will learn,Alex is still raw and doesn't seem to be able to learn.

this is what i've been asking for. for shaun hill to get a full season (if he doesn't get injure) on his belt and to prove that his 7-3 record, 5-0 at home, is not a fluke. it's do or die. i wish him and the 49ers all the luck! GO NINERS!!!

49erthor: Even if Hill doesn't do as well as we think,he is clearly better than alex and he will be a fine placeholder for Davis.

All right! Full steam ahead for Hill! I'm finally glad the guy gets to start (hopefully) for a full season. It's high time he got his chance. I would feel even better with our QBs if Huard were our #2, but, well, Smith should be prepared to take over the job if Hill goes out or the staff feels he's ready to succeed for a change.

On a lighter note, to those of you who've had enough of the Crabtree situation, this is hilarious:

http://www.pocketfives.com/poker-forums/13/hitler-on-crabtree-not-signing-4596790

I have a plan that could resolve a bunch of problems all at once. I think that the Niners should work a sign-and-trade deal with Denver. The Niners could let Denver work a deal with Crabtree, then sign him to that and send Crabtree and Smith to Denver for Marshal and Dumervil.

The Broncos would get a diva WR who was very productive in a spread type offense, and another QB to throw into the competition with Orton and Simms.

We would trade one diva WR whining about his contract for another, bolster the pass rush, and make room to keep Davis as the third QB rather than exposing him to the practice squad or cutting Huard.

The Niners would have to hash out a contract with Marshal. But how much different would that be with Crabtree? And Marshal is at least proven although Crabtree has a potentially bigger upside.

Huard would be the backup QB rather than Smith, but IMO Huard is just as good as Smith in this run first offense. We could also make room for Davis as the third QB. Might be good for Hill as well because he does not have to worry about being benched for Huard/Davis if he has a bad day.

Dumervil would be a nice addition as OLB or DE on passing downs. He is at least a fairly decent pass rusher, and would probably be a serviceable every down backup OLB.

Denver would save face by getting a WR talent for Marshal which is probably better than the draft picks they could get. Niners get some pass rush without having to give up their 2 first rounders next year.

Assuming that Denver is willing to part with Dumervil (which might be a big if), it's perfect. Jed are you listening?

totally agree TOP_CAT. hill has a commanding presence about him. the players respond to him. he's quick with his release and most of the time lead time-consuming drives down field. this is where he has to prove if he can get us our first winning season since jeff garcia's.

Faith: that was one of the funniest things I ever saw about the Niners ! ROTFLMAO !!!
(except the last line,he should have said John York,not THE Yorks. Jed is great !).
Great find !!!

I think the competition between Hill and Smith has been great for both of them. It has helped them both improve a lot and learn the offense quickly. Now is the right time to name the starter and Hill is the right decision.

I think Hill deserves the be the starter, but I don't get all the Alex Smith bashers in the crowd. When Hill was 25 with 4 years of NFL experience, what had he accomplished? I'm glad to see Alex's development is back on track after 2 years of injuries and maybe we'll even keep the same offense for more than one year.

Just happy the best man won. Smith will get his opportunities to play sometime throughout the long season and he must continue to prepare himself to seize the moment. If theres one thing that Singletary has shown its that he will not stand still if there is a 2-3 game losing streak. He will make the nessesary changes to shake things up which should put all the starters on notice.

The only thing wrong with that Niner77,(well,there are several things wrong but...) is that Crabtree will sign and probably be a super star for us for the next 10 years. He WILL sign,no doubt at all. He is only hurting himself by still listening to his agent,he is not hurting the Niners,who already have a quality receiving group. Even better when Jones comes back. And then really great when Crabs comes in and learns the NFL game. And then when Morgan and Hill etc ,mature ! (sounds like all this might come together about the time Davis takes over at QB,what a great future this team has !)

Singletary is a tactician. I will root for all my niners. Especially Smith. But I am glad to see Hill lead our team. He has that bravado that Smith lacks. Smith is young. He has time to develop.
Congrats to Shaun Hill on being the #1 guy for the first time in his nfl career. Or is it career?

While im not happy with this im behind my 49ers. I fully expect to see Smitty back in the starter spot soon tho. He needs more time to get the 2 year rust off. Hill wont be able to hold him off for long. Matt, It makes me sad to see so many fans throw alex under the bus now that Hill has the starter job. They seem to think that he has failed but i dont think he has. In fact he has rising up to the challenge and showed he has improved and can be our guy. do you feel the same way?

I can't say I am very happy with our overall QB talent, but Hill deserves the start. Now the real test begins in the regular season.

GLT4 : If you see the press release from the Niners it says Hill is the starter for the 2009 season,not just the first game or two.
If Alex is awarded the backup spot,then Hill will either be injured or stink up the place in order for Alex to ever get on the field. If either of those things happen,then we all better start looking forward to whenever Davis takes over.
Sorry you are not happy that we have the best player starting at QB who is on our roster. Maybe you would like to start the 3rd or 4th best LBer instead of Willis or maybe the 3rd or 4th best RB instead of gore ? No? Then why start the 3rd or 4th best QB in Smith? Oh well, to each his own.

you obivously didnt read what i said. re read it. Smith is better than Hill and the better choice for the future of the team. Hill is just medicore. and your comparison to back up linebackers is just retarded.

This idea that Nate Davis is not ready to start does not hold water. Matt Ryan and Joe Flacco succeeded last year because they had strong running games and defenses, and they were not asked to carry the team early on. Strong running game and defense are what the 49ers are banking on. The next thing that is needed is a QB that can exploit the strong running game with play-action over the top. Nate Davis was every bit as good or better than Flacco or Ryan in college. Hill is a great guy, like Smith is a great guy, but he is also a weak armed QB who opposing defensive coordinators will be salivating to game plan against. The easy decision was picking Hill, the BOLD decision would be picking Davis. With Hill the 49ers are a 6-10 team at best. One last comment, please let's stop talking about Hill's 7-3 record, it is a mirage, look at the opponents and the circumstances.

....of course I think this is a horrible move.....

.....I said the same thing last yr -JTO

...A.Smith is in a good position - the org is behind him...

...Sucks wen u hav no confidence in ur QB.....but the rest of the O looks good

..guess we will c

.....well said

Montana: I agree that Davis is the future(as everyone knows,because I have been saying it until everyone is tired of hearing it). But I still think he needs a bit more time. And we should remember that Hill is just recently getting over his broken finger on his throwing hand. It is said that he has more velosity on the ball now than he did last year. We will see,but that sounds promising. Even without the extra velosity,Hill still has a pretty good completion % in the longer passes. He releases the ball fast enough to get it there on time.When you do that you don't need to have the greatest arm on deeper balls,like you do if you hold it longer.(like indecisive alex does).

...Am so tired of seeing all this OLD qbs that have done nothing in their NFL careers coming to san fran to be somebody everybody else told them they couldnt be.....in the process stunting the growth of our draft pick.....

None of this oldies can start on anybody else's football team...why freaking us?

We had a number 1 pick - why not develop him like every body else does.......

...especially a pick that has been thru the losing we all painfully have witnessed in the last years...

....I did roll with Nolan + suits and his stubborn ideas, no difference here....I am def..rolling with Sing and his leader ideas....

Why not develope him? Because he would not develope,nomatter how they tried.
And look up the stats ,Hill had better numbers as the starting QB last year than many of the top name starters in the League.
Smith just doesn't have what it takes,face it.(Sing and Scotty and Jed,have).

I'm disappointed like a couple of others in here. I think Shaun Hill is the perfect backup for Smith. I say this because Alex needs to get gametime to develop period. Say Hill struggles in game 4 and Sing throws Alex into the game. This is setting Alex up for failure again. Soon as Alex throws a pass away or takes a sack, all hell will break loose and the 9er faithful will burn candlestick (of course all the blame will fall on Alex). Its a lose lose situation for Alex. Hill is used to coming off the bench and has thrived in this role so why mess up a good thing. I know I'm in the minority but once again I am an extremely disappointed 9ers fan. Guess teams will stack 9 in the box now because Hill can't get off a pass any further than 15 yards pretty. O well. I still will root for my team, but I hope this doesn't bite us in the ass.

i agree smitty needs game time playing time. but hopefully he gets his chance soon!

Hill is getting his chance... let it play out.

I had my Cowgirl lovin cousin gushing over Smith's block on Sat. But... he may have the tools but not the tangibles right now.

The pressure is on Hill... 8 years in the league and he's getting is 1st "Real" start. I give props to the man for never giving up or in and hopefully someday we'll say the same for Smith someday.

But I say this... Hill has ALWAYS been the underdog. Give someone credit when it's due and give credit to the coaching staff for have making this a fair competitive QB competition!!!

Atl49ers4life said...
I say this because Alex needs to get gametime to develop period.
----------------------------------------------------------------

ATL49ers4life: But ...Alex has had more game experience than Hill,by far. So ,let's give hill some game time and perhaps he will get better and better. He is already better than alex ,without nearly as much experience as alex. Sounds good to me !

someday's... i obviously can't type ;)

Glad Hill won the job and even happier this issue is behind us.

What matters now is that the team rally around Hill after he has won the competition. We can put this behind us.

Smith? I want him to be ready to go if we need him. But he was clearly the backup. It's still too soon to say if he was a bust. He might come off the bench and deliver. I wish him the best.

I willalways wait for you Smith....

I read you fine GLT4. You might need to reread mine.?
And we are not throwing Smith under the bus,he jumped under.(with some help from Nolan).
Maybe he can climb out someday,who knows? Right now,the best man by far won the QB competition.

i disagree

A few quick hits halfway through the preseason:

1) If Niners want to be an elite defense this year, they MUST improve their pass rush. Manny Lawson is not the answer, at least not yet. The Niners can't afford to wait for Lawson or others to develop. They need to add a proven edge rusher now. Let's go McCloughan, make it happen!

Other players also need to step up. The front 3, especially Sopoaga and Balmer, and hopefully a healthy McDonald, need to contribute more and get a better push on passing downs. I'd also like to see more middle blitzes from Willis and Spikes.

2) The Niners emphasized creating more turnovers in the offseason. The secondary has been doing its part. Imagine what Clements, Bly, Smith & Goldson could do with a reliable pass rush.

3) Neither QB has looked good in the preseason, but starting Hill is the right decision. He makes quicker decisions, puts the ball where it needs to be, converts 3rd downs, and wins football games. Smith is still young and could use more time to master Raye's offense. Give him two consecutive years in the same offense and then lets see what he can do.

4) Vernon Davis and the WR's haven't exactly been helping the QB's. Several incompletions and an interception against the Raiders should have been caught. Davis' hands do look improved but 1 drop is 1 too many. Let's go boys, step it up.

5) Memo to Michael Crabtree: Holding out is only hurting your development and your future contract! The Niners are not going to pay you #7 money. Take your #10 money, be thankful, and get to work learning the offense and honing your craft. You want to get paid? Work hard, prove yourself on the field, be a good teammate, and you'll get paid the big bucks in contract #2.

GLT4.CrashoverRide replied to comment from TOP_CAT | August 24, 2009 7:49 PM | Reply

i disagree
----------------------------------------------------
With Sing .

Int against the Raiders should have been caught? LOL !!!
Maybe by a 7 foot receiver?

Choice is made, now we move .I'm happy for S Hill and I concur he is the best choice in this moment. I also believe this is the best thing for A Smith's development -he is still very young and can woodshed his skills and improve on the shortcomings delineated here so often and hopefully develop into a seasoned journeyman.Be that as it may, Shaun is our guy now -he's a gamer and deserves our support-I hope he goes to that Palace of Mammon in Dallas dominates!

-that's and dominates them-but you get the drift!

Oh. My. God. Usually, I have fun picking apart every ridiculous, senseless, laughable, mentally-impaired point that TOP_CAT makes, but there's just so much deficient crap coming from all his senseless garbage comments, it would take me all night to explain why all his mentally defective viewpoints are completely laughable. I think I'll take the night off this time.

Let me just say I'm happy for Shaun Hill and excited about the season. GO NINERS!

First of all, congrats to Shaun...for hanging in there, competing with his best bud, Alex. It's a tribute to both of 'em how professionally they competed against each other. Hill will be fine...his game fits Raye's offense very well. As for Alex, he's come a long way back...and maybe his time will still come.

Now, those of you calling for Nate Davis to start...take a step back, and think about what you're advocating. I agree, Davis seems to have the right stuff and looks to have a good future. Comparing him to Flacco and Ryan is apples & oranges. Both of those rookies played well...but, Flacco didn't start the season. When he got his chance, he made the most of it, as did Ryan from the get-go. The difference between those two and Davis is both the Ravens and Falcons were playoff teams. Both QB's had very good talent around them. In contrast, we might be a playoff team...we really don't know yet. If you're Singletary, why would you sit Hill, who's 7-3 as a starter, for a rookie? It's pretty simple...you wouldn't and he didn't. Davis could become our QB of the future...way too soon to tell. In the meantime, you don't gamble your team's chance to become a playoff team by starting a rookie when you've got vets who can do the job.