Football talk: What happened with Colin Kaepernick?

[Dante84]

Keep the National Anthem / Political bullshit out of here. Daddy wants to talk football.

I am, admittedly, not a great judge of football talent. I am good at describing what I think are good attributes, what I think are shitty attributes, and I am always a glass half-full kind of guy. It's my nature.

I'd like to know what led to the collapse of CK. I thought he looked solid coming out of Nevada, he took the league by storm, which sent Alex over to us. Then, When Harbaugh left, it all fell apart.

Did defenses adjust to his speed? Is it his pocket awareness? Too meek, or too aggressive? Inaccurate? What happened?


He just opted out of San Fran, and is now a Free Agent. 49er re-tread jokes aside, and political bullshit aside, is he a decent replacement for Foles, while we draft a rookie and let him develop?

[Kaepernick]

My take is:

1. Stubborn, not coach-able.

2. Inferior field vision.

3. Wants to be a running QB, not a pocket QB.


Kap had all the raw material but never developed.

Here is one example of his poor coach-ability. After Jim Harbaugh was fired, one of Jim's former assistant coaches leaked that Kaepernick refused to throw timing passes. He wasn't merely poor at it, but he refused to even attempt to learn to do it. I can't say if he refused in practice, but when it came to games, he refused to throw timing passes. This is a staple of good quarterbacking. How often do you see great QBs willing to throw the ball even before a great WR makes his cut? The ball is in the air going to the place the WR has practiced getting to on his route for hundreds or thousands of reps. The receiver could trip or be pushed of his route, but the point is, the QB has to be willing to throw that pass anticipating that the receiver will get to the spot of the ball.

Kap REFUSES. He won't do it. He only wants to throw line of site passes to receivers. He can't adapt from his college success to what he needs to do to be successful in the NFL.

I am sure his coaches have drilled him relentlessly on foot work, yet is still terrible.

He flees a clean pocket at the hint of pressure. Your line can't protect you if they don't know where you are. As a 6 year veteran, I am sure he had ample coaching on mechanics, pocket presence, footwork, timing passes, but he just flat refuses to get away from what worked for him in college.

He has all the measurables and is a tireless worker and a good teammate. Only a so-so leader, but what can I say. Beyond that, if he refuses to take his coaching, he is never going to develop. Maybe he needs a Parcells or Ditka to beat things into his head. I don't know.

I think he has hit his ceiling and he is never going to be more than a bottom 1/3rd starter in the NFL.

[Kaepernick]

Originally Posted by CHENZ A!

He is by all accounts a great person in the community, and he definitely has more upside in our system than Alex. If he's cheap, it would be a no-brainer to bring him in to compete for a spot (even if as QB2 initially ). It all depends on his price.

Trust me, you don't want him. He has no more upside than Alex presently. He is not coach-able, or at least has not shown that he is coach-able. I don't know that Andy Reid is the guy to kick his ass and wake him up. Kap has hit his ceiling. He is not going to improve much from here. Now if you put him on the Cowboys with the NFL's best O-line and with Dez Bryant, I am sure his performance would improve, as would any QBs. The problem with fleeing a clean pocket would be masked by having a fortress to stand behind. The problem with not seeing the field well would be masked by throwing to Dez Bryant most of the time, and with all that time behind a top O-line, even a blind QB could go through his progressions.

On KC? No, you don't want him.

[Mr. Laz]

Originally Posted by CHENZ A!

He is by all accounts a great person in the community, and he definitely has more upside in our system than Alex. If he's cheap, it would be a no-brainer to bring him in to compete for a spot (even if as QB2 initially ). It all depends on his price.

His field vision is worse than Alex's