New head coach Jim Harbaugh might not like what he sees out of Alex Smith, Troy Smith and David Carr.  I wouldn’t be surprised if none of them are back with the 49ers in 2011.

26-year old Alex Smith played in 11 games for the 49ers last season and he connected on 204 of 342 passes (59.6%) for 2,370 yards with 14 TD passes and 10 INTs (82.1 QB Rating).  He also carried the ball 18 times for 60 yards (3.3 ypc) last year.  Smith has now played in 54 games for the 49ers and he has completed 864 of 1,514 passes (57.1%) for 9,399 yards with 51 TD passes and 53 INTs (72.1 QB Rating).  Smith has also carried the ball 129 times for 450 yards (3.5 ypc) with 2 TD runs in his NFL career.  The Niners might be ready to move on as Smith has never lived up to his potential.

26-year old Troy Smith played in 6 games for the Niners last season and he completed 73 of 145 passes (50.3%) for 1,176 yards with 5 TD passes and 4 INTs (77.8 QB Rating).  Smith also carried the ball 23 times for 121 yards (5.3 ypc) with 1 TD run last year.  Smith has now played in 20 games in his NFL career and he has completed 121 of 234 passes (51.7%) for 1,734 yards with 8 TD passes and 5 INTs (78.5 QB Rating).  He has also carried the ball 52 times for 230 yards (4.4 ypc) with 3 TD runs in his career.  He projects out to be a career backup because he just doesn’t complete enough passes.

31-year old David Carr was the #2 QB when last season started but Troy Smith quickly bumped him down the depth chart.  Carr played in 1 game for the Niners last season and he completed 5 of 13 passes (38.5%) for 67 yards with 0 TD passes and 1 INT (23.6 QB Rating).  Carr has now played in 92 games in his NFL career and he has completed 1,351 of 2,264 passes (59.7%) for 14,433 yards with 65 TD passes and 71 INTs (74.9 QB Rating).  Carr has also carried the ball 302 times for 1,331 yards (4.4 ypc) with 9 TD runs in his career.  Carr is the only QB on the roster who will for sure be looking for a new job.

VERDICT:  I don’t think any of these guys inspire the confidence of new head coach Jim Harbaugh.  I would not be surprised to see none of these guys return for 2011.  Harbaugh coached Josh Johnson of the Bucs and he will be a name to watch as far as the backup QB job goes if they deal for him.  I think the Niners are going to bring in a veteran to start in 2011.

The San Francisco 49ers have signed 47-year old Jim Harbaugh to a 5-year, $25 million dollar deal to serve as the new head coach.  Harbaugh worked his way up to get this shot.  He coached three years for San Diego (college football) in which he led them to a 29-6 record (82.9%).  Harbaugh then got signed by the Stanford Cardinal.  He coached 4 years at Stanford and he led them to a 29-21 record (58%) improving the teams’ record every single year.  So in seven years as a college head coach, Harbaugh compiled a 58-27 record (68.2%).  Harbaugh isn’t you ordinary run of the mill college coach either as he played 17 years in the NFL as a QB.  Harbaugh played in 177 games (140 starts) in his NFL career and he completed 2,305 of 3,918 passes (58.8%) for 26,288 yards with 129 TD passes and 117 INTs (77.6 QB Rating).  Harbaugh also carried the ball 561 times for 2,787 yards (5.0 ypc) with 18 TD runs in his NFL career.  He was known as Captain Comeback with the Colts as he almost got them to the Super Bowl one year.  I think this was a great signing for the 49ers as Harbaugh has likely been waiting for this chance for quite some time.

The 49ers look great under Jim Tomsula in his first game as a NFL head coach as they dominated the Cardinals yesterday.  Alex Smith was solid yesterday as he completed 15 of 29 passes for 276 yards with 2 TD passes and 0 INTs.  Brian Westbrook looked solid once again against the Cardinals yesterday as he finished up with 79 yards rushing on 13 carries (6.1 ypc) with 2 TD runs and he also caught 1 pass for 14 yards.  Anthony Dixon had a rough with 22 yards rushing on 11 carries (2.0 ypc) yesterday.  Vernon Davis (3 rec, 96 yards, TD), Josh Morgan (3 rec, 59 yards), Michael Crabtree (4 rec, 47 yards) and Ted Ginn (2 rec, 41 yards, TD) led the way in the passing game for the 49ers.  The 49ers finished up with 100 yards rushing on 25 carries (4.0 ypc) and they also completed 15 of 29 passes for 262 yards.

The Niners’ D was awesome yesterday against the Cardinals.  DE Justin Smith (10 tackles, 3 tackles for a loss, 3 sacks and 3 QB hits), safety Reggie Smith (9 tackles), LB Ahmad Brooks (4 tackles, 1 sack, 1 tackle for a loss, 1 pass defensed, 2 QB hits and 1 interception) and CB Tarell Brown (4 tackles, 4 passes defensed and a interception that was returned 62 yards for a TD).  The Cardinals finished up with 78 yards rushing on 22 carries (3.5 ypc) and they also completed 30 of 53 passes for 201 yards.  The 49ers finish the season in third place in the NFC West with a 6-10 record.

The 49ers and Cardinals are just playing for pride and draft position tomorrow.  The Niners have lost two games in a row and they have a new head coach for tomorrow in Jim Tomsula.  Just five weeks ago, the Niners pounded the Cardinals 27-6 in Arizona.  The Cardinals have won 2 out of their last three games so they have to be feeling good about themselves right now.  Here is a look at the matchups in this game:

When the 49ers have the ball:  The 49ers rushed for 261 yards in the first meeting between these two teams.  I look for the Niners to line up and try to push the Cardinals’ D-Line backwards with Brian Westbrook & Anthony Dixon having a heavy workload.  Alex Smith will be starting at QB and that means the Niners will likely be somewhat balanced on offense.  Smith will likely be aiming for Vernon Davis, Josh Morgan and Michael Crabtree a lot in this game against a Cardinals’ D that is allowing 226.1 yards passing per game.

When the Cardinals have the ball:  The Cardinals are likely going to try to throw the ball a lot against the 49ers who are allowing 233.1 yards passing per game so far this year.  The Niners will likely double Larry Fitzgerald the whole game forcing rookie QB John Skelton to try to beat the Niners throwing to someone else.  The Niners will be without Patrick Willis in this game so the Cardinals would be smart to give the ball to Tim Hightower and Beanie Wells alot but that isn’t going to likely happen.

PREDICTION:  49ERS 24, CARDINALS 10

The 49ers have placed 25-year old inside linebacker Patrick Willis on the Injured Reserve List as he needed a second surgery on his broken right hand.  Willis played in 15 games for the Niners this year and he has 128 tackles, 5 tackles for a loss, 6 sacks, 5 passes defensed and 2 forced fumbles.  Willis has now played in 63 games in his first four years with the 49ers and he has 595 tackles, 28 passes defensed, 15 sacks, 8 forced fumbles and 4 interceptions (2 returned for TDs).  The 49ers were glad that Willis played with a broken hand for a few weeks because the defense just isn’t that good without him.  They will really miss Willis tomorrow if the Cardinals decide to run the ball a lot.