It's already been discussed around here how 49ers offensive coordinator Mike Martz has a habit of making his quarterbacks cry. But what about his ability to take a journeyman starting quarterback and morph him into a combination of Kurt Warner and Marc Bulger's greatest assets? That's kind of what he did in a conversation with Fox announcers Kenny Albert and Daryl Johnston when discussing his current quarterback, J.T O'Sullivan. From Kevin Lynch of the San Francisco Chronicle:
One more item about Martz and O'Sullivan, Martz told the broadcast team of Kenny Albert and Daryl Johnston that O'Sullivan sees the field like Warner and has the quick release of Marc Bulger. Then he said that O'Sullivan could be the best quarterback he ever coached. Even for someone who tends towards bombast, that's a bold statement.
Bold statement? The only thing that could have possibly been bolder is if he added in the scrambling ability of Young, the arm strength of Favre, and the leadership of Montana.
O'Sullivan is certainly off to a nice start for the 49ers, completing over 65% of his passes, averaging over 9-yards per pass attempt and compiling a passer rating over 96. Great stuff, all of it. But it's been two games, and it's been well documented as to how O'Sullivan has bounced around 1/6 of the NFL in his career, never starting a game until this season.
I suppose the same thing could have been said about Warner when he first arrived in St. Louis, but I'm skeptical of Martz's ability to catch lightning in a bottle, again, and have O'Sullivan turn into a two-time NFL MVP, Super Bowl MVP, three-time Pro Bowl selection and fourth-highest rated passer in NFL history. Which is what O'Sullivan would have to do to become the best quarterback Martz ever coached. Or at least be on par with the best quarterback Martz ever coached. And that doesn't even get into the well above average career of Marc Bulger.
It's nice to see Martz has confidence in his quarterback, but his optimism at this point is a bit over the top.
