It does not require much deep thinking to comprehend what a clear message the San Francisco 49ers' newest free agent signing sent on Thursday.The 49ers signed their second free agent quarterback of the offseason, locking up former Tampa Bay Buccaneer Josh Johnson to a two-year deal. The signing assumed to have
something to do with coach Jim Harbaugh's connections to him at the University of San Diego, as well as Johnson growing up in Oakland.
The signing also had a lot to do with other more important things. Most notably, it had to do with the quarterback situation.
No, Johnson will not fight Alex Smith for the starting quarterback position in Week 1. I am pretty sure last season's trip to the NFC Championship was enough for Smith to land that gig.
However, it is who sits behind Smith that is causing the biggest stir throughout the organization right now. Who is the back-up quarterback?
In most cases, arguing about who the back-up quarterback is nearly pointless and poses zero discussion towards the actual success of this team heading forward.
However, the 49ers are a unique situation, and the Johnson signing gives us a clear insight into how the 49ers are thinking about their future under center.
Not sure what to make of #49ers signing QB Josh Johnson. My logic says they aren't sold on Kaepernick.
— Kyle Bonagura (@KyleBonagura) March 23, 2012
Until now, Colin Kaepernick was the quarterback in waiting and the next player to line-up under center. But we have yet to see him either play in the NFL, nor see any inclination of just how good he is or possibly could be.
The 49ers' acquisition of Johnson on Thursday told us plain and simple -- Kaepernick is not the team's quarterback of the future, and he is definitely not NFL-ready.
The #49ers sign Josh Johnson. Let's face the facts they basically told Colin Kapernick he's a SaberCat.
— TheGreenRoomCSN (@TheGreenRoomCSN) March 23, 2012
Of course, it is hard to see how a quarterback coming out of Nevada and the pistol offense could become NFL-ready that quick. It took Smith seven years, seven offensive coordinators and Harbaugh to help him get into a true NFL offense and away from the spread offense at Utah.
Kaepernick has the athleticism, strong arm and build to be an NFL quarterback, but the 49ers obviously see something with his accuracy or awareness in the pocket that turns them off.
So just in case, they brought in Johnson, a quarterback with a similar set of skills, just further along in his NFL progression.
The gut feeling with the acquisition is that at the best, the 49ers positioned themselves to have two athletic quarterbacks competing against one another and getting better in the process. At the worst, San Francisco has zero faith that Kaepernick can one day become the franchise quarterback judging by the progress he has made so far.
With the 49ers' recent roster moves, it is safe to assume the latter.
this is a terrible assessment of things! this guy doesn't have a facts, straight. especially when most exports around the NFL agree 1) Smith won't make it as a Starter by the end of it. it's more like a 2 year deal. they can cut em by the 3rd... josh johnson, could end up jus' a 3rd string guy, my end up as the back up(probably career back up on this team), and jus' as well end up as the starter. this means nothin' towards CK7. especially when you concider the fact that, johnson knew about this for some time now as evidence when he tweeted, "i'm comin' back to the Bay for that starting job!" and CK7 tweeted, "i was made to be a starter"... what it does mean somethin' for is, Tolzein. most likely, this is the end of em in SF. on the whole smith thing... those are jus' excuses for a terrible QB. he's a coach killer. he has no excuses this season. he has everything in place that a QB could want. his high school-ish #'s he had last season, won't be good enough this season. he better get it done! or he'll be an over paid, back up. not an over glorified back up that's startin' no more...
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