O'Sullivan versus Smith

Things change quickly, but the coaches and blogosphere have spoken: Shaun Hill is the third wheel in a two-QB competition. In the first preseason game, O'Sullivan and Smith both showed periods of strong play, while Hill struggled (connecting on 10 of 20 throws, for 4.2 yards an attempt) against third stringers (granted, he had to play with his own third stringers).

Here are my thoughts on the two, based on observations from the preseason games and sifting through the blogosphere:

J.T. O'Sullivan:

Positives:

• The quick release, very accurate on short passes.
• Tends to throw passes before the receiver makes his cut, giving defenses less time to catch up to the receiver.

Negatives:

• Poor decision making (like Brett Farve): threw a risky backwards pass when he was under pressure.
• One horrible throw to kill a drive: an interception that wasn't near a receiver.
• Less arm strength than Alex Smith.

Alex Smith:

Positives:

• The size, speed, and strength to be a threat on the ground and durable over the long haul.
• Made a few nice throws down field, has the arm to pull off the long ball.
• Shows the awareness to avoid turnovers and unnecssary risk (maybe to a fault).

Negatives:

• Seemed to regularly throw behind receivers on shorter passes.
• Has a slower throwing motion, which telegraphs the direction of the throw.
• Tends to throw passes after the receiver makes his cut, giving the defensive back that extra second to catch up.