“The best quarterbacks are obsessed with studying plays, film, dynamics, pre-snap reads, understanding the coverage and where you are going to go with it more than likely when you hit that back step…[O]ne of the problems with young, very athletic quarterbacks, that have great legs and can run, they always rely on their strengths and don’t work on their weaknesses. The reason they don’t work on those weaknesses is because their whole career they’ve been able to dominate with athleticism. But athleticism doesn’t make you an All-Pro quarterback. It doesn’t make you a Super Bowl winning quarterback…I don’t want to be perceived as a guy that’s saying ‘Kap’s not the guy.’ When the Alex Smith-Kap issue came down a few years ago, I came down on the side of Kap. And right now, I’m not ready to throw in the towel, because he still has a lot of things.”
-Former 49ers tight end Brent Jones
Brent, I’m not throwing in the towel either. But Colin Kaepernick and the 49ers have work to do on Colin Kaepernick and the 49ers. I’m not sure how much film he’s watching or not watching, but I have to believe that after the Thanksgiving debacle, Kaepernick is re-thinking the way he prepares for games. So that part is on him. However, a lot of this is on the 49ers.
Looking at the season, it seems that instead of working on how Kaepernick’s strengths can help him overcome his weaknesses, the 49ers are trying to make him into a different quarterback entirely. Somebody – or a few somebodys as there are 12 members of the offensive coaching staff (which translates to one for each player plus one, just saying) – have told him not to run. Why do you sign a quarterback whose main success has been in the pistol formation and as a runner, and then change the offense to avoid the pistol formation and curb the running? My good friend and lifelong 49er Faithful Eric cleared it up – they’re trying to protect their investment. Yeah, ok, I totally get that. But this is your guy and this is how he’s been successful. If you buy stock in Lululemon, you can’t be upset that it’s not Nike and you can’t expect it to perform as such.
In terms of the tools he has, that arm of his needs a speedy receiver that can change the game. Taking nothing away from the talents of Anquan Boldin, Michael Crabtree, Vernon Davis, Brandon Lloyd, and Stevie Johnson, none of them cause a defensive coordinator to design his game strategy around them. As a team, the 49ers have four receptions of over 40 yards – for the season. If they’re going to trade Harbaugh, I hope it’s for a high draft pick to get a lights out receiver or that it’s for an elite, lights-out receiver.
Kaepernick is not a Claymation figure that molds into Peyton Manning. He’s a different kind of QB, and that QB is the same one who took the 49ers to the Super Bowl his first season and to the NFC Championship game the next. That QB was a poorly timed time out and questionable play calling away from winning the Super Bowl. That QB was also a bad pass and, in fairness, an impressive defensive play by he who shall not be named, away from going back the next year. The whole offense, with Kaepernick at the helm, has work to do, but a nice place to start is to let Kap be Kap.