Why I'm Talking Myself Into Troy Smith

The Ohio St tandem reunites in San Francisco

Call it Cody Pickett syndrome if you must, but once again I am riding high on a 49ers backup quarterback.

Troy Smith gets the start this week in London over David Carr (the former number 2 man on the depth chart) which will be the third of his 4 year NFL career; the previous two occurring in 2008, for the Baltimore Ravens.  

So why am I excited about the former Ohio State Heisman trophy winner?


For starters, I am desperate (just as I was when Cody Pickett came along) for anything to get me excited about the 49ers again. The team is killing me emotionally right now, and only the hope of a miracle practice-squad-to-starter transformation by Smith can save me.

That, or inserting Cody Ross into the starting lineup.

But the other reason I find myself getting giddy about Troy is that everything I read about the guy leaves me asking myself one question. "Is this guy really that bad?"

I mean he only threw for 30 touchdowns, 2500 yards and a mere 6 picks in his senior season at Ohio State. Winning the Heisman, Archie Manning, Davy Obrien, Walter Camp and AP Player of the year trophies along the way.

And oh yeah, he completed 65% of his throws and ran for 600 yards too, which is the exact same as Alex Smith did in his senior season. (Against tougher Big Ten opponents, I might add)

His NFL career has been rocky, he was overlooked in the draft due to his height, not his arm, (which is considered NFL caliber) and slipped to the 5th round. In his three seasons with Baltimore, he was stuck behind Steve Mcnair and Kyle Boller, eventually winning the starting job for 2 weeks, and losing it again the following preseason to than rookie Joe Flacco. 

So there is not much we can tell from his four year NFL career.

However his career at Ohio St, just three years ago, inspire optimisim as they proved that he has all the intangibles, a strong accurate arm, and he is a winner. 


Hopefully some, or better yet all, of those characteristics transfer to the NFL, and Troy "the other" Smith, can save this franchise like the original never could.