SANTA CLARA — This is what Vernon Davis said in the locker room Tuesday about his on-field chemistry with Colin Kaepernick.
Q: What was Colin Kaepernick like in the huddle after the score was tied 31-31?
VERNON DAVIS: He had this will-to-win attitude. His demeanor was on another level. His mind was clear. He was ready to win. He was talking. He was getting guys in the huddle. Telling guys to run back and get lined up. He was just a complete champion in that game, and that’s what we expect him to be.
Q: As a veteran, how nice is it to see a guy with so little experience exude that attitude?
VERNON DAVIS: It’s nice to see that. What that tells me is his future is really bright. All he has to do is keep his cool, stay focused and don’t let the distractions bring him down.
Q: There were two passes that landed just beyond your reach.
VERNON DAVIS: I get chills when I think about it, but we can talk about it. One thing I learned in the beginning when I first got here, everyone was talking about being on the same page as the quarterback. You and Alex Smith, you have to develop that chemistry, that bond. That’s something me and Kaepernick don’t have right now. He just stepped in. Me and Alex, we’ve been here. It took some time for me and Alex to get like that (snaps fingers). In the beginning, Alex would overthrow me, underthrow me. We had to build that chemistry that I would be in that spot when I need to be. That’s something that me and Kaep don’t have right now, but we’re working on it. We have to build that. Every time I walk past Kaep, I’m always reminding him, “Kaep, Kaep, take your time on me. I’m not as fast as you think.” It’s fun. It’s interesting, because it’s like starting all over again, especially for me.
Q: What other ways do you work on your chemistry with Kaepernick?
VERNON DAVIS: Some of the deep throws, like the ones you saw in the game, we work on it. Because in practice, he would overthrow me. I think he’s just getting my speed a little bit. He doesn’t really know it. We don’t have that timing, but it will come, just like any quarterback and wide receiver. You have to build it and trust it. In due time it will happen. We just have to get on the same page. That’s what makes football so interesting and fun.
Q: Do his passes really come fast?
VERNON DAVIS: He’s a strong man. I heard rumors about him wanting to get bigger. I said, “Nooooo, we don’t need you to get bigger.” But he’s strong, very strong arm, which is a good thing. And like I said, his future is very bright.
Q: How long would you say it took you to get a rapport with Alex?
VERNON DAVIS: It took a while, but with Kaep I’m sure we’ll continue to rehearse and work on it. He’s a fast learner, just like Alex.
Q: Crabtree seems to be on the same page as Kaepernick. What do you attribute their early success to?
VERNON DAVIS: Crab is a pretty good route runner. He’s getting open and Kaep is finding him. He’s been running a lot of slants and quick dump offs. It depends on what your routes are.
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Way back when I remember Steelers’ John Stallworth being interviewed. He was saying he had good rapport with Bradshaw, but not the ‘magic’ that Bradshaw had with Swann. He just shrugged and said they were working on it. Later Bradshaw developed that high level timing with Stallworth too, and they were murder even in a running era.
So, long way to say it, Vernon and CK will get there.
Glad to see VD’s keeping it light. He’s a solid team guy.
I think he has a great point about why CK to Crabs is working out so well. A lot of Crab’s shallower routes can be tagged with a fastball, in fact need to get there on a rope, whereas a lot of the deeper stuff, wheel routes and junk require a little more touch, which is something CK is still working on. Still woulda been nice if VD coulda made one of those grabs, but you know effort is never an issue with him.
Dangle,
In your opinion, do you think VD should have caught one of them? To me, it look like the 1st one was closer to him. It seemed like he may have given up on it just a bit. The 2nd one was out of his reach. I wanted one of em as bad as you did. We need VD to break out.
It appeared that way to me. I thought he could have had the one that went of his finger tips or at least tried to lay out for it. I was wondering if his speed was neutralized a little on the sloppy field which also messed up Kap’s the timing.
Yup, one looked pretty clearly out of reach and the announcer noted that if CK had put a little more air under it he could have got there. And the other one looked (from my couch vantage point) that he might have got it if he had laid out. But its hard to tell. For all the plays he has made, I don’t think i can remember VD ever making a crazy diving catch though… can you?
Dangle,
I said it Sunday night. I’ve not missed a play since VD signed and I said at the start of last season that I had never seen VD square a guy up and try to run him over. I also have never seen him lay out for a pass. Never seen him dive.
yup, I remember that.
And he didn’t prove you wrong this week by catching a 15 yard pass and dancing it back to an 11 yard gain… sigh.
I know he practices on the throwing machines like a monster, maybe he needs to do some other types of cross training in the offseason, like a soccer goalie workout or something…. get him airborne and diving for passes.
Jordo
His arms were still bent when the ball sailed by his fingertips, but perhaps he is not as limber as some more lithe receivers.
Mr,
That might be true. I know one thing.VD needs to show up this week. With Mario out, we need all the weapons we can get.
For as well as Kap has played in his young career, I just want to see him trow that deep ball with a touch more air underneath it. He will get that hopefully next year. Vernon has to get used to the heat on Kaps fastball. We need VD to get untracked for the playoffs. I keep waiting for that 160 yard game from him. Our tight ends have to take care of the ball. Delaney used to catch the ball and hs blocking was suspect. Now it’s the other way around. He blocks like a demon but the drops and turnovers are not cool.
DW is a great blocker, you saw him running downfield into the endzone with several of our longer TDs this year.
I hate to say it. No I don’t. I said in te live game blog in the 2nd quarter that LMJ would real one soon because he was hitting the gap hard and right behind Delaney. On the return I saw, LMJ would’ve ran it back 45 yards if Delaney hadn’t missed his block. It was the kickoff after the field goal. He gonna be a weapon running on back against the Hawks too. I’m sure he will have lots of fans there too from Oregon.
“Kaep, Kaep, take your time on me. I’m not as fast as you think.”
That made me laugh – good to see they’re keeping things positive. This team will be even scarier when VD and CK get their chemistry worked out.
Adjustments are probably still going on thru out the entire offense. Its getting better game by game.
1% better everyday.
+1%
(Haha)
Try to catch the ball!!!!! You could have had two TD’s. But your alligator arms and no real try was lame. I’ve watched the Pat’s game twice. IMHO VD didn’t really try. He needs to show more interest in catching if he wants more balls.
Ridiculous.
Kaepernick Komparisons
The utopian comparison: “Is Kaepernick as good as the NFL elites?” No. Not yet anyway. There is potential.
The normal comparison: Is Kaepernick better then most quarterbacks after their 5th start. Yes. Of course. (this is the most fair and reasonable comparison)
The rookie phenom comparison: Is Kaepernick better then Luck, RG3 or Wilson? I don’t know. He needs polish for sure. Colin is as fast as any of them and is bigger so his body might last better compared to RG3. Colin throws the hardest, but has the slowest release. All 4 QBs are smart and should become masters of the game by mid next season (Luck is already there). The others have the advantage of playing in more standard college passing offenses. Relative to draft position, Colin is a steal!
The dystopian comparison: Is Kaepernick better then Giovanni Carmazzi or Jim Druckenmiller? Is a bear Catholic? Does the Pope… ooops, got that one mixed up.
The Alex Smith comparison: “Is Kaepernick better then Alex?” Way overdone. I’ll let everyone else argue about that.
Whatever your favorite comparison, sit back and enjoy the show. He’s a heck of an athlete.
To answer your question, as a lifelong Catholic I can affirm that the Pope does indeed s*** in the woods.
Brodie: good post
Is CK better than most QBs after 5 starts? Certainly looks that way to me! I’d love to see some numbers on that but I’m not going to look them up myself.
The rookie comparisons are interesting (CK not technically a rookie, but has fewer starts than the others). I’m not really sure where he ranks among those guys, but give me 5 years or so and I’ll tell you for sure. Luck is probably going to be the guy everybody thought he was. RG3 is looking a little bit too injury prone, but clearly tons of upside. And maybe my hatred is blinding me from seeing russel wilson, but I am not fully sold that his ceiling is as high as some people are starting to think it is. But, he’s been playing really well and can definitely wing it.
Two points. First, RGIII is 6-2 215, CK is 6-4 230. Arm strength beyond compare.
Andrew Luck may end up being the best of all of them when all is said and done, but right now Andrew Luck has 18 Int’s and 5 lost fumbles. CK is protecting the ball and learning to attack.
Not fair to make comparisons now, but it will be fun next year to begin comparing the new wave of young studs… Glad one of em is ours.
Luck has been struggling lately, hasn’t had a completion % better than 50% in a month. But you have to consider what he’s being asked to do. He throws more than 40 times per game. Mentally that is tough for a young QB. Frankly, it seems a little irresponsible on the part of the coaching staff, but they don’t seem to have much choice.
CK, Wilson, and RG3 are in more rookie-friendly systems.
Luck’s stats would be better if he played for the 9ers but winning on the Colts shows that he’s a difference maker.
Luck’s numbers the last few games have been, as I heard someone describe it, “Sanchezesque”. 40some% completion rate? Yech.
Brodie
Your post is excellent, but on the matter of release time, go take a look at the ESPN Sports Science coverage of Kaepernick and you’ll see that what you asserted about him being the slowest is not true. And that was before he shortened the process as a pro. This is a worthwhile article from top-to-bottom, but for the part referring to scroll all the way down.
http://m.bleacherreport.com/articles/629296-2011-nfl-draft-why-nevadas-colin-kaepernick-is-the-best-of-the-bunch
Kap wasnt predicted the starter at the start of the season, he also was thrown into the fire against the Rams, the Bears, the Saints, the Pats, and now the Red Hot Seahawks. Kap is bigger, stronger armed, and faster than most of this class, and there has been reports of Luck regression. All Rookies hit a wall, but Kap isnt a rookie, and I commend Jim for throwing in the Chips and goin all in with Kap. Thats the only way to see what you got before some team came along and tried to steal him from us. Alex is a class act, and I wish him well, but its clear Harbaugh is know for developing Qbs, and In my opinion, Harbaugh gave Alex a chance to succeed else where. He should be grateful for just that reason…. Go niners… Lets Rip them Sea CHICKENs!!
Kap needs a Cape for all he has accomplished so far. Get that man some tights. The colts dont stand a chance in the playoffs, RG3 will sustain a few more Concussions, and Wilson seems to have trouble with the hard hitters of the niners d. The other ones in this class will take a few more years to develope. I honestly believe in 2-3 more years, its going to be 4,000 and a 1,000 for Kap with 28tds passing and 10 rushing. Lets gets excited, our offense looks like its only missing a few pieces to be consistanly explosive. Anybody seen A.J. Jenkins yet? ha….. Ted Ginn is Gun shy after his injury. Period. Akers. hell all Kickers go thru a slump. The dude probably threw his hip out kicking 44 last year. He will be alright. Delanie needs to learn to catch with his hands, and I think we can get Moss a few more looks every game now. Crabtree is starting to be a beast. Love it. We need to shore up another End to replace Cowboy, and Maybe another Cb, and a WR or 2 in the draft or free agency. Lamike will be tough next year, you can tell he has some wheels…..
And, somebody finally said it … Rick Carroll, thank you sir!!!
Alex Smith caused David Akers’ injury and slump!