Feb. 21, 2011MAIOCCO ARCHIVE49ERS PAGE49ERS VIDEOMatt MaioccoCSNBayArea.comCoach Jim Harbaugh expects competition for the 49ers' starting quarterback job in 2011. And whether Alex Smith will be part of that competition remains to be seen.When free agency begins (no sooner than March 4 and only after there's a new collective bargaining agreement), Smith will get his chance to consider his options in free agency and determine where to sign.Since Smith came to the 49ers as the No. 1 overall pick in the 2005 draft, the 49ers entered training camp three times with a quarterback competition. The opening-day quarterback in those seasons were Tim Rattay (2005), J.T. O'Sullivan (2008) and Shaun Hill (2009).Here is a look at the 49ers' quarterback situation over the past six seasons:2005: Smith competed against veteran incumbent Tim Rattay. After a couple exhibition games, Rattay was declared the winner to open the regular season. After four games, then-coach Mike Nolan (and coordinator Mike McCarthy) decided it was best to have Smith learn on the job. Rattay was traded to Tampa Bay, and Smith started seven of the last 12 games. Smith missed five games with a knee injury.2006: Smith was anointed the starter before training camp with Norv Turner as the coordinator. Smith became the only quarterback in franchise history to play every offensive snap over a full season.2007: Smith was the unchallenged starter heading into the season with Jim Hostler as the coordinator. After a 2-1 start, Smith sustained a separated throwing shoulder on the first series of a game against Seattle and he missed the next two starts. He returned to start three games. He was injured and ineffective and opted for season-ending surgery.2008: Smith entered offseason in competition withShaun Hill with Mike Martz as coordinator. After a couple weeks of training camp, Hill was eliminated from the competition, and Smith competed with J.T. O'Sullivan. Smith never seemed to recover from his shoulder injury of the previous season, and O'Sullivan was named the starter after the third exhibition game. In the final exhibition game, Smith took a big hit to his shoulder against San Diego. A couple days before the season opener, Smith was discovered to have a fracture to his throwing shoulder that required surgery. He spent the season on injured reserve.2009: Smith and Hill waged a competition throughout the offseason and training camp with Jimmy Raye as coordinator. Smith attempted just 16 passes in the exhibition season, as a thumb injury kept him out of the final two games. Hill was named the starter after two exhibition games, and he started the first six games. Smith replaced Hill at halftime against Houston, and he threw 18 TD passes and 12 interceptions while playing every snap for the final 10 12 games.2010: Smith again was the unchallenged starter with Raye as coordinator after the 49ers signed veteranDavid Carr and traded away Hill in the offseason. The 49ers opened the season 1-5 with Smith at quarterback. (Mike Johnson replaced Raye as coordinator after three games.) Smith sustained a separated non-throwing shoulder in the seventh game. Troy Smith took over and started five games, including three games after Alex Smith was medically cleared to play. With Troy Smith struggled, Alex Smith started two games. But then-coach Mike Singletary benched Alex Smith again for the must-win game Dec. 26 against the St. Louis Rams. Alex Smith came off the bench in the second half to replace Troy Smith in a game the 49ers lost to knock them out of the NFC West race. When Jim Tomsula took over as interim coach after Singletary was fired, the 49ers started Alex Smith in the meaningless season finale.
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