If the 49rs had signed Peyton Manning last summer would Harbaugh have benched him and replaced him w

SanctionII

Replacing Alex Smith with CK after Smith suffered a concussion was a gutsy move by Harbaugh. Since Manning has much more gravitas than Alex Smith I wonder if Harbaugh would have benched Manning.

I wonder also how much more criticism Harbaugh would have received for replacing Manning than he did for replacing Smith.

Your thoughts please.

digicat

There are a few factors at work here.

1) Manning signed a 5 year deal. The 49ers doing that would imply that they were giving the future of the org to Manning.
2) CK was seen as Alex Smith's eventual replacement. He was drafted for that reason, and those plans slowed down only when Smith performed well with a real team around him.
3) Alex Smith was signed to a 1 year deal, not the multi-year deal he wanted and was looking for.


Ultimately, Alex Smith wasn't seen as the future of the organization, CK was. To sign Manning would have signaled a fundamental shift in that thinking.


So, if the 49ers signed Payton Manning, then no, Harbaugh would not bench Manning, no matter how well CK did, especially in the first year of a 5 year contract.

WTCG

If It was Peyton in the Alex Smith scenario, he would have been back starting as soon as the Saints game. There is no denying that. Remember that Alex Smith was not cleared to play in the Bears game but got his clearance the week after before the Saints game.

There are so many what-if's that could be considered had Manning joined the 49ers. In that parallel alternate universe the 49ers would've probably had a regular season record of 14-2 but all bets would be off for the playoffs.