Colin Kaepernick’s days in San Francisco were numbered way before he decided to embark on his protest against police brutality and oppression in America during the preseason. It seems like a gillion years ago, but remember when he was almost a Denver Bronco? Or perhaps you recall the entire San Francisco 49ers franchise disintegrating around him last season?
After a close loss to the Miami Dolphins on Sunday, that Super Bowl run three years ago seems more like three lifetimes ago. Right now there’s so much negative energy circulating around his name you’d need a Hadron Collider to determine what the real deal is.
Let’s face it, the brother isn’t very popular with most fans and the fact that only 7.2 fantasy league participants have him on their roster is a clear indication of that. And that was before his recent comments in defense of Fidel Castro.
But, to his credit, Colin has maintained his dignity and a pretty decent level of play as well. But 0-6 as a starter is still 0-6 and, aside from those within the Niners organization who long for his departure, a .00 win percentage is, in the words of the Double X Posse, ‘Not gon’ be able to do it’.
But, as any honest observer would muse, the San Francisco 49ers issues have little to do with the play of Kaep.
The fact that he didn’t start until Week 6 was somewhat perplexing. At the time, head coach Chip Kelly told reporters that Colin’s lack of playing time had something to do with an injury. But that was during the preseason. After a number of horrendous performances by Blaine Gabbert and blowout losses in which the defense was nonexistence, Kelly stuck to his guns and left Kaep seated.
Was it really an injury? At this point we can only speculate.
When Kaep was benched last season, many alluded that he wasn’t smart enough to read complex defenses. They called him a “one-read quarterback”, which was a nice way of calling him remedial in the pocket. Well, that seems to be a thing of the past judging by his paucity of interceptions.
After six starts, Colin has passed for 1440 yards, with 10 TDs to only three interceptions. He’s also averaging 53 yards per game on the ground. By comparison, Seattle Seahawks QB Russell Wilson only has one more TD than Kaepernick in six more starts and 2015 NFL MVP Carolina Panthers QB Cam Newton has only three more TDs and five more INTs with a lower passer rating of 81.4 in five more starts.
The only clear knock I could levy against Kaep is his 55.3 completion rating. But the Niners are currently fifth in the league in dropped passes with 17 miscues, worse than the Philadelphia Eagles for crying out loud.
The San Francisco 49ers have so many issues the Library of Congress couldn’t categorize them all, but Colin Kaepernick isn’t one of them.
