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Mike Martz speaks on Alex Smith
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Mike Martz and Alex Smith from the 2008 season.
(AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)
Former 49ers offensive coordinator Mike Martz was on NFL Network. He took the opportunity to talk about Alex Smith, and how Smith did while Martz was on the 49ers staff.
Niner Insider has a brief recap of Martz's comments on Smith.
He said that Smith needs to bend his knees more, spread his feet and widen his base to improve his mechanics. Being nearly 6-foot, 5-inches tall, Martz said when Smith throws with a narrow base, his shoulders tend to tilt which affects his accuracy.
Martz refrained from harsh criticism of Smith, but did say that Smith often didn't know where to go with his passes and said he had a hard time trusting his receivers. "Some of his receivers were a little subpar," Martz said. "When that happens, you cut corners."
Martz also said the constant rotation of offensive coordinators had an adverse impact on Smith's development.
Martz didn't talk about any other quarterbacks he dealt with last year. However, I find a lot of the comments Martz made moot. For one thing, Smith never got a chance to prove himself last year because he was hurt. Also, if Smith had these so called issues, why didn't Martz make the effort to fix them? Maybe he tried, but why make it public now?
Regardless, I think maybe Martz was just bitter about the whole ordeal last year. With Smith not working out, Martz would eventually be criticized for picking J.T. O'Sullivan to be the starter. Obviously, that didn't work out well as Shaun Hill ended up being the starter to end the season.
But now since Smith is healthy, he has been making better throws during camp this year and still has a shot to win the starting job for this season. Martz on the other hand, well, doesn't have a job to fight for.
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