It’s now or never Alex as Edwards joins 49ers

The San Francisco 49ers announced the signing of Braylon Edwards Thursday and the former Jet was in town for his first practice session today.

Edwards will wear No.81 and will be the automatic #1 in his position, with Josh Morgan the most likely to get a regular start along side Edwards.

Simply by capturing this one man, the west coast outfit’s prospects this season just got a whole lot better. But if you believe almost everyone who is anyone, Alex Smith doesn’t have what it takes to get the best out of a Wide Receiver who amassed just shy of 1,000 receiving yards last term.

But that is one bandwagon I’m not getting on this season. In a game where the fine detail can make all the difference, it seems surprising that so many have written off Smith. I don’t think we have seen the former first round draft pick being given the pass protection he needs to perform, or given the calibre of wide man that he can rely upon.

Smith to Davis was a successful combination at times last season as the QB found a safe pair of hands in Vernon. When Singletary restored him as starting Quarterback in December 2010, Smith threw for 3 touchdowns and 255 yards in a 40-21 win over the then division leading Seahawks.

Smith has been instrumental at times grabbing the game by the scruff of its neck and both running and passing his side back in to contention. It’s not Smith’s fault in my opinion that he hasn’t been a winner throughout his pro career.

But his time is definitely now. Under the wing of former QB Jim Harbaugh, Smith will hopefully get the right protection in front of him, and now with Edwards added to the Roster, several outs he can be confident in. Davis, Edwards and Morgan (and possibly Crabtree) can run the routes and find the space for Smith to exploit when protected in the pocket.

There is a prevailing image of Alex Smith in my minds eye, and that is an image of him running away, under pressure, looking for someone to pass the ball to. Do the very best quarterbacks have the ability to adapt to whatever is thrown at them, or do the very best have the luxury of the very best protection and the best receivers? Brady, Peyton Manning and Drew Brees all had the latter when leading their sides to Super Bowl success.

I’m not comparing Smith to these elite guys, but I do firmly believe that Smith is going to be a surprise package this season. He is a very adaptable QB, but he has never had a WR of Edwards’ quality and he has never had a coach (until know) who knows how to get the best out of their lynchpin QB.