Is this the beginning of the 49ersâ€^TM J.T. Oâ€^TMSullivan Era? (Iâ€^TMm only slightly kidding)
Posted by Tim Kawakami on August 6th, 2008 at 7:26 pm | Categorized as 49ers, NFL

So itâ€^TMs J.T. Oâ€^TMSullivan to start the first exhibition game off the rest of the Mike Nolanâ€^TMs life. Or somethiing like that.

Not very surprising that Nolan/Mike Martz/Trigger Man would decide to lean to JTO to start Friday against the Raiders, and I will strain not to put too much significance in this, since Alex Smith and Shaun Hill will certainly have opportuntiesâ€"and perhaps future exhibition startsâ€"coming up soon.

I might even believe 20% of Nolanâ€^TMs explanation today, that he has experience watching Smith and Hill start games and he wants to get a taste of Oâ€^TMSullivan as starter, no further meaning than that, according to Nolan.

Take that explanation for what itâ€^TMs worth or what any Nolan QB explanation is worth. I think it had more to do with Oâ€^TMSullivan looking pretty good Monday in Napa against the Raiders and Nolan and Martz wanting to see if Oâ€^TMSullivan meets that challenge under the lights and scrutiny of a fake game with real uniforms and thousands of fans and hitting and all that fun.

You see, this selectionâ€"the first big QB selection of the summerâ€"does mean something.

Just like Smith getting the first-team reps in the minicamps and to start training camp meant something, and the combination of the twoâ€"Smith was a semi-No. 1 in late-July and now Oâ€^TMSullivan is the new semi-No. 1â€"is the heaviest thing to consider.


Oâ€^TMSullivan has come up and, at the very least, tied Smith in the Big Picture QB pecking order. If Nolan and Martz had to pick a starting QB today, I think they just did. Itâ€^TMs JTO.

Things can change as swiftly as a bad read or a fumbled snap Friday night…

But I think itâ€^TMs safe to say that the job was Smithâ€^TMs to lose at the start of camp, and now Oâ€^TMSullivan is going to get the first shot to impress with the first team. I think itâ€^TMs safe to say that Nolan and Martz were made a bit queasy by Smith and Hillâ€^TMs double slumps about a week ago, while Oâ€^TMSullivan kept grinding and throwing to the right spot and barking out orders.

I thought at the time and now itâ€^TMs obvious that the day Oâ€^TMSullivan jumped into the first-team reps last week was an important Nolan/Martz symbolic gesture.

Now Oâ€^TMSullivan gets the first 12 to 15 plays against the Raiders. Now, if he does impress, it will be awfully tough to convince Martz (the Oâ€^TMSullivan backer) to go to another option come September. And if Oâ€^TMSullivan struggles, I think Martz will be very loud in his opinion that the WRs messed up or the offensive line broke down.

I think itâ€^TMs very safe to say that this has the broad outlines of an Oâ€^TMSullivan vs. Smith three-game duel in the exhibition season, with Hill on the outside looking in unless he just goes both of them away in his action.

Iâ€^TMll bet a thousand blogs that Smith will start Game 2 of the preseason. Iâ€^TMd think Hill gets a look in Game 3â€"but that by then itâ€^TMs full-scale Oâ€^TMSullivan vs. Smith for the hearts, minds and starting spot.

Nolan, Martz and Scot McCloughan have set it up this way from the start of mini-camp. Now itâ€^TMs down the back stretch, obviously with many hairpin turns and shocking developments to come.

But what weâ€^TMre analyzing is the decision to name a Week 1 starter. And we just were handed a very intriguing development.

• http://blogs.mercurynews.com/kawakami/2008/08/06/is-this-the-beginning-of-the-49ers-jt-osullivan-era-im-only-slightly-kidding/

BY, you signed up for another year? You think I should come back?

AOR

"If the Bucaneers are the Bucs and the Jaguars are the Jags, what are the Titans?"