San Francisco 49ers: Drafting Aldon Smith Means the Return of Alex Smith

So with Blaine Gabbert, Prince Amukamara and Robert Quinn still on the 2011 NFL Draft board, the 49ers drafted a 21-year-old defensive end from Missouri.

Welcome to the San Francisco 49ers Aldon Smith?

It doesn't have the same ring to it that maybe Blaine Gabbert does, but it is a somewhat knowledgeable pick.

If I could compare the pick to another Bay Area team's draft pick, it would be the Golden State Warriors' selection of Anthony Randolph in 2008.

San Francisco 49ers: 2011 NFL Draft Preview & Predictions

The sports world has not seen an NFL Draft like this in awhile. The team drafting #1 will most likely be picking a quarterback that has legitimate shots at being either an okay quarterback, a total carwreck or a cash cow...or all of the above. That's the probable #1 pick?

The offensive talent in this year's draft is nothig special, to say the least. The defense, as the kids would say, is where it's at in this year's NFL Draft. Big, burly defensive linemen, and quick and physical specimens in the secondary. This draft is a draft rich in defense, and they will be going quick come Thursday night.

So where do the 49ers fall in all of this?

4 Reasons The 49ers Need To Re-Sign Alex Smith

Yes, I said it. It would be beneficial for the 49ers to re-sign Alex Smith and make him their starting quarterback for the 2011-12 NFL season. I'll go one step further. Smith gives the 49ers the best chance of winning in 2011-12.

Sure, Smith is getting chance number 2, 3, or 4, I've lost count now, but the 49ers need Smith this season more than ever.

Currently, the 49ers have one quarterback signed, and that is David Carr. Based on that logic, the 49ers don't actually plan on starting Carr, right? I sure hope not, and my common sense would tell me no team in the NFL would want to.

So what's the 49ers' plan then? They must sign someone, and the only logical option is Smith.

That last sentence may have sent some 49er fans' heads spinning at the thought of yet another season where #11 is taking the snaps, but hear my out.

Smith is the only option for the 49ers, and I have four reasons to prove it.

Can You Spot The Next 49ers QB?

Did you happen to watch the Insight Bowl on December 28th? How about the Holiday Bowl on December 30th? Maybe the Sugar Bowl on January 4th? Odds are you at least peaked at one of them while flipping through the channels one day. Might have you had a peak at the 49ers 1st round pick of the 2011 NFL Draft? Quite possibly.

In the Insight Bowl, you had a quarterback for Missouri named Blaine Gabbert, who recently passed up his senior year for a promising NFL Draft; in the Holiday Bowl, you had Washington’s Jake Locker, who if he came out last year would have been a sinch for a top 10 pick, now he faces somewhere from top 10 to end of the 1st round; in the Sugar Bowl, you had Arkansas’ Ryan Mallett, the prototypical quarterback at 6’6”, which have scouts salivating, yet those who watched the Sugar Bowl saw just some of his weaknesses that NFL teams worry about.

Whether any of these quarterbacks are good enough to be the 7th overall pick of the 49ers is yet to be seen, or decided by folks like Todd McShay or Mel Kiper Jr.. All that is known is the 49ers need a quarterback, and these quarterbacks go 2, 3, and 4 in terms of best quarterbacks available (slide Cam Newton in there somewhere, too). It makes sense, I promise.

Who do the 49ers pick? Maybe not a quarterback at all. Word is they could get a Gabbert, Locker, or Mallett somewhere at the end of the 1st round if need be. What has the highest impact as to who they take is who will be the coach in 2011. That has yet to be decided, and so is who they take in the 2011 Draft.

Allow me to make a suggestion, though? Scouts are drooling over Arkansas’ Ryan Mallett. Sure, maybe he isn’t Andrew Luck, but Mallett’s 6’6” frame with one hell of an arm will have him climbing the Draft Board in about a month or so.

It may be a little early at #7, but the 49ers have not had a quarterback with that size and that much upside in a long time. The only thing that may hurt Mallett’s draft stock is his inaccurate arm, which he has improved every year. At 6’6” and 238 lbs., that can be taught.

The 49ers will have decisions to make in the coming months. They found their general manager, now the head coach and a possible future franchise quarterback are yet to be decided.