Colin Kaepernick
 

With Kaepernick leading the 49ers to a win over the Bears in his first NFL start, I am interested to hear people's thoughts on his future.

I have been high on Kaepernick ever since I saw him in Nevada. He has a rocket arm and a high, quick release and great accuracy on short and intermediate throws. He has good footwork and was clearly well prepared for the west coast offense by his time in Nevada.

Kaepernick's biggest weakness my be his lack of touch. He doesn't always put enough air under his downfield throws and should show better anticipation on those throws. He sometimes needs to show more faith in his receiver's abilities to make plays on the ball. That said, in college he wasn't called on to throw tons of fade routes, unlike most college QBs.

When it comes to underneath throws, however, Kaepernick is outstanding. His footwork, quick release, and arm strength allow him to throw out routes with great accuracy, and he shows nice accuracy, zip, and ball placement on slants and other in-breaking routes.

Kaepernick also has excellent mobility. He is very good at throwing on the run and has the ability to scramble if left unaccounted for by the defense. His scrambling ability allows him to run bootlegs and zone-reads with success.

Kaepernick has so far shown good leadership and command of his team's offense in his career so far, both in college and the NFL. Today he had a few nice audibles to hot routes on 3rd down against the Bears and he looked very comfortable against the pressure brought by the Bears. He maintained an outstanding stats line even though he passed in some unfavorable down-and-distances.

That said, SF's excellent game-plan made it a little easy for Kaepernick today. When he does eventually become a full-time starter (which is practically a guarantee for a player of his talent and clear motivation), he will experience teams that force him to make more difficult sideline and downfield throws, and teams that show him different coverage looks. Chicago might have had more success defending SF's passing offense if they blitzed less, as their blitz didn't faze Kaepernick and he was able to deliver strikes on slant routes over the middle repeatedly against Chicago's pressure.

He is on pace to finish his career undefeated as a starter.

Looks like the Kaepernick train is leaving the station. All aboard.

Greatest QB in the history of the NFL

And here come the bandwagon people to the 49ers. It was a great game for CK but again the bears defense played horribly bad and so did there o line. Any ways I hope he stays around until Smith leaves if he does his future looks bright and big in SF. It could be a Rodgers type of back up role IMO.

meh, he's no tim tebow.

He's better than Alex Smith, but isn't everybody?

This should be a fun week on DC for sure.


Onto CK I thought he displayed exceptional poise and leadership out there, he took control of the team and looked really comfortable in doing so. He's got a cannon but he put some nice touch on most of his throws, and that line gives him an island to throw on every time. This the guy Harbaugh traded up for and his guy, so I think he wants to give him the chance to.

Never understood why Locker was considered a high/mid-first rounder and Kaep was considered a 2nd-rounder.

I also am surprised Harbaugh pretty much bailed on Alex Smith that fast in the presser. So much for job security.

IMO I think it is a bluff for next weeks game for the saints on who to prepare for . Smith will start for sure .

That's true, not like he would want to play his hand. But the chances of Alex Smith being healthy are very high since he almost played tonight. And when asked "whenever Alex Smith is healthy is he your starting QB" the best he can do is "we'll evaluate that going forward" means to me it's CK going forward. Either way I was still surprised by the answer regardless of what he means but I don't blame him.

I must say, I liked Kaepernick on draft day as much as I do now. I rated him significantly better than Christian Ponder and Jake Locker.

I realize my post was interpreted by some as hyping Kaepernick up excessively, but I must say I don't see which of points could be overboard. Kapernick isn't perfect; he needs to improve his touch passing and his ability to progress to secondary options while still in the pocket, but he is a very promising young QB.

Matt Cassel's mom thinks so. (but she's wrong)

Nope. They aren't.

Pretty much this.

But Colin could make this team a legitimate superbowl threat... probably not this year, but this is a NICE development for them. The rich get richer.

He did ok but is he a top 20 QB in the NFL like Shaun Hill?

If Alex Smith thought he had job security, he's a moron. The 49ers invested a second round pick in Kaepernick and flirted with Peyton Manning in consecutive offseasons.

They also gave Smith a contract in consecutive seasons. NO player on the 49ers should have "job security." Competition breeds greatness.

Fact: Today confirmed that 2 former 2005 first round QB's suck.

If you sign a QB to two contracts in consecutive seasons, and those contracts combine for a total of four seasons, you're basically giving him a vote of no-confidence.

Or letting him walk when he was a Free Agent because you just drafted "your-guy" is a vote of no-confidence.

Nope. That's your opinion. Fact.

I'm not sure I see the difference.

I don't buy that CK performed well tonight against a defense that played poorly.
The Bears D got outplayed by a 2nd year QB, they aren't a bad defense.
True they may not have gameplanned to stop CK specifically but Kaepernick deserves all his kudos for how he performed tonight.

I doubt Alex Smith leads the 49ers to a 32-7 win over Chicago.

All CK needs is playing time. I wonder if Harbaugh gives it to him this season??