Which quarterback, past or present, does Colin Kaepernick remind you of?
He reminds me of a young Brett Favre. Kaepernick has the same electricity, better legs, probably as strong of an arm and a bit more accuracy.
Favre had a wild hair about him that took Holmgren several years to corral and several off-the-field problems that were demons in his career for a number of years. As far as we know, Kaepernick doesn’t have those negatives.
I think Kaepernick will be better than the projections for Christian Ponder, Ryan Tannehill and Jake Locker.
Kaepernick should be better than Andy Dalton because of his tools.
The jury is out with Cam Newton because although he has an impressive set of tools, the coaching is another matter.
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I think it might be a stretch to make projections to that extent based on what little we’ve seen of him. I will say, however, that I would wholeheartedly like the 49ers to put him in as a starter and see what he can give us over the course of a year, or half a year at least.
And if this year or half year experiment revealed Kaepernick was more like JaMarcus Russell than Brett Favre would you be willing to write off an entire season?
Yes. We already know what we have with Smith and given a defense and special teams that is no longer as dominant, we need a QB with more upside to lead this offense.
Sorry for all of you that wanted CK to take over this week… ain’t happening. just in from ESPN: QB Alex Smith has passed concussion tests & is on track to start Monday vs. Bears
lol it’s like a rash that won’t go away! i kid, i kid..
Now the question is does Cutler play?
@ Benny:
Thanks for the news.
I suspect it will not end the pointless speculation and other nonsense that has consumed the blog for the past 24+ hours.
@Claude
I feel ya on that. I suspect Grant is going to be a little disappointed ;) lol
No Benny, Alex playing is the best thing to keep this topic going…
So Jack…
If Alex doesn’t turn the ball over, throws 2 TD’s and we win 17-14 BUT doesn’t throw a pass over 25 yrds in the air… do we still have this discussion next week?
@ Benny:
We would still have the discussion even if Smith throws 4 TDs and the 49ers win 31-10. The haters (not talking about Jack) don’t care whether the 49ers win. Last year proved that. They only care about getting rid of Alex Smith. They’re obsessed.
@Claude
I’m so tired of even talking about it anymore. LOL I’m for whoever the better player is right now. All I know is I’ll be there Monday poppin my 1st beer at 1pm and by the time it’s 5pm I won’t care one way or the other!
i am in tampa right now and just got back from a sports bar….seems to be a lot of 9r coverage….probably because of impending bear game….
most talk is about which backup would be better…..
Randal Cunningham and Philip Rivers…. As for becoming a great QB, only time will tell.
Randall Cunningham! I couldn’t think of who he reminded me of, but that’s it for sure. Lanky, long, with a lanky, long delivery, and great, great wheels. Excellent comparison.
I saw Cunningham in the East West game played at Stanford long long ago. I was amazed what he could do against a defense that was together for one week before the game. Then he went to the NFL. He still amazed occasionally. If CK doesn’t do better than that, I would rather look elsewhere.
Grant I have your next poll question.
Should Grant expose double posters?
He usually does.
Yes
Don’t pick on Prime’s imaginary friends.
They’re all he has.
seems like grant likes all the hits he can get and controversy brings hits… remember how boring the blog gets when the team wins handily?
Lets go back to the old log in method when Maiaocco was running the blog.
FDM
How/why would the old method be better?
>>remember how boring the blog gets when the team wins handily?
dangle, I don’t think you were around for the Jets win, were you. As one of our wags observed the reaction here, “a heartbreaking 34-0 blowout”
He is a bigger, stronger, faster version of Jeff Garcia. He is unorthodox, and not visually appealing to watch but he is a gamer who will lay it on the line to win, and can make all the plays.
thats a good call. I didn’t think of that one, and as for unorthodox, did you seem him prance like a gazelle on that TD run? LOL it looked like he was all elbows and knees!
That’s kinda what I was thinking too.
Jack,
Hmmm, CK7 is much taller, stronger, faster, and has a much, much stronger arm. Other than those differences, Garcia and CK7 are practically twins.
I hope CK7 has Garcia’s intangibles, he certainly looks like he does. Having said that, I’m not exactly sure how you are certain that CK7 “is a gamer, who will lay it on the line to win, and can make all the plays.” We’ve hardly seen him play.
I intended to say, “it looks like he might.”
Ex,
CK’s style of play reminds me of Garcia, but his physical attributes are much greater.
I am basing my “gamer” comment once again on his style. The diving into the end zone, escapability, etc. The play that is CK’s career has a lot left to be written, but those are my thoughts after watching the opening act.
How are you getting Garcia here? Garcia gritted his teeth to put everything into each throw. So much so, I wondered if he had lockjaw.
CK just flings it like nothing. CK never needs a ladder. Garcia needed a step stool to reach the top drawer of his kitchen cabinets.
But 1 thing I saw in Garcia that I haven’t in CK is that will-power of his. AS has it, but expresses it differently. And I still miss Garcia.
You can tell him that the next time you see him Jack. Not the short height thing though if that bothers him. lol
Have not seen CK’s significant other but Garcia’s wife is smoking hot!
DS,
Physically they are completely different, I get that. It is the style of play. I know the sample size is incredibly small, but it is the pocket presence, the ability to hang in and make a tough throw, sense pressure and move while keeping his eyes downfield to extend the play, the sprint and dive into the endzone.
And like Garcia, CK has a different delivery that is not very pretty to the eye yet effective. For Garcia it was an extremely high arm position that he developed to make up for his lack of size and sometimes caused him to come off the ground during the throw. With Kaepernick it is the extended throwing motion which he makes up for with the zip.
It’s a very small sample size, and we’ll see where it goes from here.
Jack
CK doesn’t detect pressure. That sack on the TD drive, Bruce Miller had his guy blocked for a long time. CK didn’t “feel” the defender once he got loose. Then not only did he not feel him, he fumbled the ball as well. Sorry, CK didn’t display any of what you’re stating here.
Even the announcers noticed that. So I have no idea where you are getting the idea that CK has the sense of when to get out of the pocket and when not too at all.
Then on the final possession, he didn’t throw it to an open Gore. He pulled it down. So, they only gained 2 instead of 6-8 or maybe even 10 yards had he thrown it to Frank Gore. We were near FG range. Another 1st down, and we were within range of a game winning FG. CK’s failure to throw it to an open Gore is why we didn’t get a chance for a last minute Field Goal to get the win. And he had as much time and a window as a QB will ever have in the NFL.
That’s your take DS, and you are entitled to it.
And he is right in his opinion because he provided actual facts to support it. Something that never happens on here when certain people express their opinion. I call it lazy a$$ fans.
CK reminds me of no one. Hard to say how good CK will become, a lot of it depends on how good the team is. Very good QBs on poor teams are few and far between. Only one I can remember was Archie Manning, who was a very good QB but spent his career on some of the worst teams ever assembled.
I’ve said before that I think that best case scenario for CK is he becomes somewhat like Big Ben. Huge arm, ability to escape pressure. Right now, Kap is a better runner (but that only goes so far), but I’m not sure he is as good of a passer though. Ben, in a limited offensive system, had pretty good numbers, beginning his first year. CK only broke 60% completions his last year in college, and thru 26 atttempts this year his completions are 61.5%, so it seems that he is improving but still needs to get better. To scheme for CK’s agility, they should practice the WR scramble drills in practice every week like they do in Pittsburg. CK seems like he could be really good at going outside the system, extending the play, and throwing down field. That is the big potential upside that I see. But I’d feel a lot more comfortable starting Alex this week against the turnover magnets on the CHI defense. But who knows, throw CK into the fire and he will either sink or swim.
although CK’s throwing motion reminds me of Randy Johnson… lol
Steve Young had a great comment about Rothlisberger – he allows the offense to play outside of the X’s and O’s. I see the same potential from Kaep.
Alex is too conservative to add that dimension to an offense.
dangle.
CK is narrow framed. Big Ben, is, well….big. Or large framed. No way can CK take the pounding that Ben takes. And that pounding is what makes Big Ben so unique and hard to stop.
CK uses his speed more than Big Ben. Ben isn’t that fast. He’s just bigger than many defenders are who try to take him down 1 on 1. Vick uses his speed and agility a lot more than Ben. CK matches his style of play (big arm, fast) than Big Ben (big arm, big body).
Shameful this blog always starting the Alex Smith debate. Perhaps its time to change the blog name to something with Alex in it.
He reminds me of Alex Smith’s back up pretty good and eventually the starter still needs to improve his reads and overall football IQ
Bigger and stronger Randall Cunningham….while I understand the facination with the physical attributes, and I am guilty myself from getting caught up in those types of measurables, football is 80% mental and 50% physical. If the kid can master his mind while under duress and deliver daggers to the opponents vital areas, then yes he will be great.
Reminds me more of Vick then Cunningham. Maybe he could turn into Cunningham that wouldn’t be bad, but until he gets the mental part down he looks like Vick.
Who does he remind me of? Hmm, let me think of other backup QBs that were used as a wedge to incite division among the fanbase. I’ll get back to you on that, likely the list will be long.
The division doesn’t need a wedge Ribico. Alex sucked too much, for too long for some of us to ever accept him.
This situation is sort of unprecedented. I can’t ever remember a QB stinking for 6 years on the same team and still remaining on that team.
Simple. The fresh start he got when the Harbaugh era began and finally started to live up to his #1 pick promise.
And if something has still been stinking to you these last two years, as I recall the Bay Area does have indoor plumbing, does it not?
MSC,
Your last comment was refreshingly honest and illuminating. I get it now, you’ve decided that no matter what Smith does, you’ll never accept him. It gives context to your comments on Smith going forward.
From Eric Branch,
“It’s worth noting Smith has completed 26 of his past 28 passes for 307 yards with four touchdowns, no interceptions and a 151.9 rating.”
Do people seriously believe that Kaepernick can actually exceed those results?
Lets break that down a bit big sky. Last game before exiting Smith completed 7-8 which sounds great. Problem is the type of pass his is completing. It amounted to 72 halftime yards. And he basically isn’t scoring enough.
Lets do the 2nd year to first year comparison.
Last year Smith had
1727 yards 11TD’s and 3Ints
2nd year in the offense with improved weapons and better O-line
1731 yards 13Td’s and 5Ints
The improvement is so small you can barely measure it. Between the 20′s he is completing more short passes. Overall his production is the same. NOT GOOD ENOUGH.
Those 72 yards are 9 yards per attempt which compares favorably to the league average.
Classic mis-use of statistics to make a point. What are you really gleaning from that comparison? Did you bother to look at his QBR, which is up significantly over this time last year (around 42, which got up to 50 or so, then dropped back to around 47 by year’s end vs. 69 this year). That’s a better indicator of how much better he’s been at making decisions.
The fact is, his efficiencies as a passer, overall, have helped to partially compensate for the far fewer TO the defense has been producing and the less effective ST teams play all around. It’s also been a key ingredient in making the run game more effective, as team’s have not been able to load up 8 in the box as often.
Fantasy football stats (yds, TD, int) do not a QB make. That’s what many people need to learn.
Bay- So…. since he’s a ‘little’ better, but the team hasn’t performed as well. What does that tell you?
That tells me the ST \DEF are the ones not playing good enough, or are their opponents a ‘little’ better? We’d all love Alex to be better, but the fact of the matter is he isn’t the biggest problem this team has.
bay will never learn that lesson. He refuses to.
Wrong claude
He will if it means he can still bash AS. At one point, bay used to ask for AS just to win a game. He’s won 19 out of 24.
If he expressed joy in the past 1.5 seasons, his life is joyless. Because it never happened.
Your comment is like saying that a baseball player who bunts for basehits in 56 consecutive games deserves as much credit as Dimaggio for swinging away and getting hits in 56 consecutive games. Preposterous!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Mike
Why hasn’t anybody ever tried, or rather done that if it is so easy (bunt for a base hit in 56 straight games)?
Next.
All these assumptions are based on such a very small sample size. Who knows, except the people that continue to talk in absolutes, what CK is going to become. He may become the best ever or he could become a joke, more then likely he will fall somewhere in the middle. JH I do trust you to play the best player at every position and please dont put CK thru the crap that AS had to go thru, it isnt right.
He reminds me of Bobby Douglas
I would say he reminds me of Ryan Gosling
Randall Cunningham
Just a quick question for those of you saying Randle Cunningham.
Are you talking about the younger RC on the Eagles or when he played on the Vikings?
Eagles
I’d let him play at least 6 games before even attempting to
a) Guessing how good he is going to be
b) Compare him to other QBs.
But since I’m playing, I’ll say he reminds me athletically of Cam Newton, mentally – he *appears* to have a solid head on his shoulders.
I am hopeful and excited to watch him play but without any expectations whatsoever, except that the niners win
Be careful what you wish for CK fans. Yes, you will get a few spectacular throws and runs, but you will more than likely get several back breaking turnovers that can cost the team games. AS is certainly not perfect, but he rarely will force the issue unless we are way behind. The Giants game was a rarity and I doubt you will see that again soon. CK is a risk that this team does not need to take unless Smith is injured. We were very fortunate that his 2 fumbles did not cost us the game. This time, the ball bouced our way. That certainly will not always happen in the future. CK is a great athlete, but he is not ready. Sign me up for the ” game manager ” that is ranked 4th in the league and continues to win. He may not be spectacular, but he is reliable and consistent. If the defense starts playing up to their capabilities again and we continue to be muli dimensional on offense, we will be very difficult to beat moving forward. That is assuming that special teams does not kill us, they have been very poor except for Andy Lee. We need Akers to display last years form
You realize by saying what you said you will get labelled as a double poster, most likely me because no one could really think Alex is the better option right?
I think Randall Cunningham is the person that he reminds me of the most. He has a similar lengthy build, and has a similar running style that uses his long legs and quickness to just eat up ground in a hurry. Cunningham also had a bit of a windup throw early in his career, and the cannon arm.
Why I think Cunningham makes a better comparison than Vick, is the IQ potential. Kaepernick scored something like a 38 on his Wonderlic, and, contrary to some people’s opinons, I do think he’s showing an aptitude for making smart reads. He’s simply not there yet, and, as a 2nd year player playing in a relatively complex system like the WC after running the ‘pistol,’ I’m not surprised by that.
Cunningham was more of a runner than a pocket passer early in his career, too. His athleticism is what made him so dynamic (I can still remember that NFL film highlight of him having his legs taken out from under him by Carl Banks, but then, without dropping a knee to the ground, getting up and tossing a TD), but he had the intelligence that served him well as he developed (especially when he got coaching from Billick in Minnesota).
Kaepernick’s advantage is that he has a coaching staff that is willing to develop his pocket skills, something that Buddy Ryan had no interest in doing when Cunningham was in Philly. The key to his development, though, is not to rush it. He doesn’t have the foundation yet. Let him develop that, and the sky is the limit.
Brett Favre – ha ha ha.
This is truly nonsense.
Same wild hair….:)
lmao, Brett Favre? He isn’t half the gun-slinger Favre was.
What a joke.
CK reminds me a little of Byron Leftwich beacause of his throwing motion. CK is a better athlete. My main concern is that the best ball hawks in the league will feast on him. He tends to telegraph his throws and expects his cannon arm to provide positive results. That may work in college, but not consistently against top notch corners and safeties in the NFL. Time will tell if CK is high risk, high reward or high risk, back breaker.
ESPN reporting Alex has been cleared to play. Anyone else got any info on that.
http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/8632600/alex-smith-san-francisco-49ers-passes-concussion-tests-track-start-according-league-source
LOL, you beat me by a couple of minutes!
lol it happens
According to this report, it’s looking more like AS will be playing Monday night:
http://espn.go.com/nfl/story/_/id/8632600/alex-smith-san-francisco-49ers-passes-concussion-tests-track-start-according-league-source
Reading the Twitter feeds of the beat writers in the last half hour, I gather that Alex has put on the helmet and has been stretching, albeit in the black non-contact jersey. The non-contact practice, I believe, is part of the protocol for a player returning from concussion.
Related blog from Branch:
http://blog.sfgate.com/49ers/2012/11/14/report-49ers-feel-pretty-good-alex-smith-will-start-vs-chicago/
Ben Roethlisberger. Colin will win 4 Superbowls.
Throwing motion: Jim Plunkett, believe it or not. Same high elbow in the setup. Plunkett obviously less mobile, but he was very accurate, and a complete gamer. If Kaep has Plunkett’s ceiling, we’ll be in good shape.
Playing style: early read suggests Michael Vick, and from the old days, Bobby Douglas or Scott Bull, but with quarterhorse as opposed to draft horse speed. Lets hope the Niners mould his playing style into a more successful NFL model.
His raw skills remind me of cam Newton. not his personality or mental make up but just his raw skills
He’s his own guy and that’s that. He might be wit another team when he gets a real shot but when he does he’s gonna be something…
So is 23Jordan crying?
The jury is out with Cam Newton because although he has an impressive set of tools, the coaching is another matter.
It’s not so much coaching as it is Newton’s maturity. You don’t do a Superman pose after you get a touchdown when your team is getting thumped and you certainly don’t say that you’ll put out a suggestion box for reporters and fans to fill to tell him how his team and his play should improve.
He’s neck n neck with Russell Wilson except Wilson is better. Same exact skill set, but Wilson gets rid of ball faster and is more decisive.
Yet another reason why I’m a Tolzien fan more. Campbell is the BlackAlex Smith. Be funny to watch the clones battle each other.
But the question you have to ask yourself, sled, is “are any of them as good as Nate Davis?”
The answer to that ? is a simple NO. Russell is close and vaguely reminds me of him, which is why I think Russell is going to be a craw in our side for many NFC West days to come.
You think you’re cute, but you still haven’t watched the reel on Youtube and told me what you think in that reel is so below the NFL? Not anything you’ve heard or rumors of past, but actual Film critique.
@sled:
It’s not so much that I think I’m cute. It’s that I think you are clueless. You keep offering these all-knowing judgments on quarterbacks as if you have conclusively settled the debate, but when there is enough data available to evaluate your judgments, it’s clear that you don’t know what you are talking about.
To humor you, I watched the youtube video of Nate Davis from the 2009 pre-season. He looks vaguely competent playing against other guys who couldn’t make NFL teams.
Maybe Nate Davis gets his crap together, turns things around, and makes an NFL team in the future. Maybe he doesn’t. But your continuing promotion of the guy as a superior NFL QB talent isn’t based upon his performance to date and seems like nothing more than wishful thinking.
@Claude
you brought Nate up, wasn’t me. I’ve moved on but you won’t let it . I just believe that at the time he was a 49er he deserved a solid chance to play real NFL mins. I was correct too, as the season of Sing, was quickly a wash and Troy Smith was brought in from outside when Nate was already on the team and had established ties with the players. My opinion was simply high of him and I believe Yes that Nate Davis is better than Alex Smith. 2 QB’s on different ends of the spectrum, one who has been given endless chances and another who hasn’t been given any. You’ve already wasted a draft pick on him, paid many ppl to scout and draft that guy and then not even test him out in a season where nothing was going good??
I do believe he will get a chance now that Razzano is working for the Colts and was also big advocate of Nate ( not that he’ll get job w Colts, but Razzano keeping other coaches privy that he’s available)
@Bay
so you’re basing stuff on luck? Kaep fumbled 2/3 times and our linemen happened to be there to recover all of them, that’s pure luck. His sample size is so small so I wouldn’t go around spewing #’s just yet. I do like the kid, think he’s a great talent, but for this team and its future, I’m putting my stock in Tolzien. The fact that I even know our 3rd stringer and know how to spell his name shows I’m no Rookie and to go even further out on a limb to say he’s the GUY that I want to lead this team back to trophies, shows I might know a bit about what I’m talking about. CK7 is hell of a QB too, so its not an easy decision to just pass him up and put my chips in with the next guy.
For anybody wondering where I’ve seen scrambling abilities of Tolzien, look it up old men. The internet is boundless. Tolzien scrambles alot @ Wisconsin but he scrambles way Montana did, behind the scrimmage line so that he bought time, saw openings and threw darts.
Kap has a stronger arm and is faster. Not the exact same skill set. And they are not neck n neck. Kap is 5 or 6 inches taller.
Kaep is horrible with the ball, very reckless. Wilson isn’t so far. Kaep has passes that sail on him lots cuz of that gun of an arm that so many love. Problem is, you have to throw with touch in NFL. Much like a pitcher in MLB, sometimes you have to take some mustard off. Wilson gets that and does it and is also more accurate.
Also think Tolzien gets it and has great touch. QB’s who run too much get injured as we see with Vick so I don’t care too much about it. Tolzien is a smart scrambler, its about buying time to throw.
Sled,
find another blog you rookie. The fact is Kaep is completing over 60% of his throws and did not turn the ball over. Where do you get your facts from?
Also in terms of Tolzien, what NFL real game film have you watched to critique his scrambling ability?
See ya rookie….
Poor Sled, he is punked by the Smithers and the Kaepers.
Great comment sled and just ignore Bay, he is grumpy cause he wants arena league football.
You are right in that the ball must be thrown with touch and not so much with hot sauce as Kap is putting on it. The other thing that worries me is once teams identify he prefers to run and run holding the ball so loosely, they will exploit that. Nothing kills a team more than turnovers. Before Harbaugh got a hold of Smith, this was his biggest problem.
Right now Colin reminds me of every second string quarterback in the league. Helmet off, hanging around and behind the head coach.
Randall Cunningham with this caveat:
When RC became more discerning as a runner and finally earned respect as a passer at his peak.
CK showed good restraint in staying in the pocket last Sunday, and chose his runs discreetly.
In scanning some of the leagues backup QB’ it is safe to say that in CK the 49ers Org have set themselves well for the future, whenever it begins.
There’s been a little noise regarding Tolzien in the past few days as well.
STolz will get his opportunity next TC. Tolz may have a slight advantage over CK as a pure passer, but his frozen statue like presence in the pocket may not be very favorable when hit because of his average stature. While CK is bashed by some for running, Tolz will need to learn how to develop more escapability skills.
how good will AS become… after shedding the anvil’s of nolan, singletary and all the inept OCs he had….except for maybe norv turner…i mean jimmy raye? give me a break and the niner team overall was just kaka with players quitting and asking to be traded etc….and three runs and a pile of dust mentality….AS teased us with some highlights during those times and when he didn’t do it all the time he got blamed for all the niners shortcomings and when the defense and special teams were special they demanded the same exact result from the QB position even though it was the first year in the newly implemented TE centric power offense…which now isn’t so much TE centric because AS is demonstrating his ability to distribute to the playmakers….but nooooo ….still have naysayers puking out it is not good enough…..well it is good enough to the tune of 6.5-2.5 and a greatly improved QBR meaning he has contributed more to the niners scoring then he did last year against what is considered a 1st place schedule….beating GB
he did lose to the vikings and giants and this is a cloud….so this bear game is important for confidence building and hope AS is clear minded enough to compete…
kap is in a much more nurturing environment surrounded by a team stocked with elite players so i would expect him to have better results than AS had in his early years ….just as AR had for his first three years or so sitting behind the gunslinger….
again i am only evaluating AS for his last 2 years and you all should as well….
you all know how i feel about AS since my comment on that dark rainy night in Austria…coming into this year he had to make better pre-snap reads and for the most part he has….i remember CK calling kill kill kill and the ram defense made a huge defensive shift and stuffed the play…..probably because CK provide a tell that the good ram defense read
CK is OK for now and did well against the rams and i do look forward to CK coming in like i did when bono, cavanaugh, and kemp….but CK did not lift the team to a victory for whatever reason….he does have a different gate for a running QB which i maybe not marvel at but have taken notice of….
He did’nt lift the team to a victory because Akers missed a 41 yarder in OT…which is happening a little too much this year..
All this talk about CK taking over is ridiculous! The guy has played 3.5 of serious NFL football (that was very much mixed) and people want to crown him!? Give me an effing break! The only thing that CK had on AS is arm strength. He’s only a little bit faster that AS. CK’s accuracy isn’t nearly as good as AS (if CK’s pass is not a laser it waaaay off the mark). AS commands the offense more than he gets credit for. For crying out loud, the dude marched the team down the field when HE COULDN’T EVEN SEE, and STILL threw a TD!! AS was on pace to do to the Rams what he did to the Cards. He has helped create exactly what JH wants, an efficient balanced offense. Certainly he goes against the grain in terms of the gaudy numbers that most NFL QBs put up today, but 1) he’s capable of doing it, 2) doesn’t have to do it, and 3) we’re winning!
This whole discussion is gobble, gobble, jive turkey! When all is said and done well let Alex’s full storyline speak for itself. Right now, folks need to stop having wet dreams about the unknown CK in a year that could be our 6th Lombardi year and let’s focus on winning!
The Randall Cunningham comparisons are valid — but, outside of Cam Newton, I can’t think of another QB in NFL history with his size and speed. Colin is 6-5, 230+ and ran a legit 4.5 at the combine. Kaep was a victim to the pistol offense they ran in Nevada. If he was under center for 4 years Kaep is a high first round pick.
What’s great for 49er fans is as Colin develops and struggles, he’ll be able to extend drives, and pickup first downs with his legs. I’d rather see him face Arizona for his first start though!
Paul
Or the reason why you can’t is because none of these type of QB’ have ever become much of anything.
Every year I hear how QB so and so is so great and athletic and blah, blah, blah. Then every year, they don’t do anything, or they are one and done.
The reason you can’t remember any isn’t because there has never been anybody who have similar traits. It is because they never became an actual QB. CK may. But the notion that nobody but 1 or 2 QB’s has ever had his skills in the history of a 100 year game is ridiculous. I remember when Vick came out. How has his career progressed? QB’s main job is to distribute the ball to others and manage the game. If they can’t do that, they can’t play the position. End of story.
I have expressed on here before my view that watching Kaep in person (more than on TV) reminds me of Randall Cunningham, but not so much RC as he developed in the NFL, but rather RC when he was at UNLV. I lived in Las Vegas at that time, and I was able to watch RC in person. When I watched Kaep in college, I always likened his playmaking and physical traits to RC. Having said that, RC was much better at avoiding pressure, especially as an NFL QB. Kaep’s strength in college was not succumbing to pressure rather than avoiding it. In other words, Kaep will fight his way through pressure physically whereas RC was evasive and as hard to tackle as air.
As for his passing game, he reminds me of both John Elway (not in a good way) and Fran Tarkenton. He reminds me of Elway (in his first few years) in terms of his passing velocity and touch. For those who watched Elway’s early career, you will remember that every ball he threw was a bullet and he had no touch on his pass (you will also remember that he threw more interceptions than TDs in several of his first ten seasons). Denver started using the shovel pass because Elway could not throw a short pass to save his life. As Elway’s mobility decreased (he was very mobile his first several years and was a threat to run the ball – it always amazes me that fans leave him off their list of running QBs), he started making better decisions and softer passes.
As for Fran Tarkenton, the thing I saw at Nevada (and now at SF, although not as often as I saw it at Nevada) that reminds me of Tarkenton is Kaep’s tendency to not give up on passing the ball until he is committed to crossing the line of scrimmage. This is where Kaep differs from a Vick type running QB. Vick will tuck in the ball and run as soon as he feels pressure. Kaep will run to the side, run forward, run back (i.e., the traditional scrambling QB moves) while trying to find a receiver. Except for designed runs, Kaep will often try as long as possible to stick with the pass unless he sees no other option. We saw it a couple of times last Sunday when he was trying to extend the play. He ended up running in most of those situations on Sunday, but those instances were not the one read then run type play many of you (I think rightfully) decry.
i like them both and i want this team in the super bowl