SI Column on Kaepernick

[RoboticDreams]

Kaep is one of the most perplexing players I've ever been a fan of. One minute I'm screaming at him for missing a wide open receiver, the next I'm cheering him for making an excellent throw or a first down run.

I think he's getting better at going through his progressions. Hopefully that's true and I'm not hoping my way into seeing improvement.

 

[Ltrain]

So the all-knowing Trent Dilfer calls Kap "remedial" and a single-read QB and the rest of the journalists follow him down the lazy path. I like Dilfer and respect a lot of what he says, but he's wrong on Kap. Kap has been going through more and more progressions as we worked through the end of regular season and playoffs. What they fail to show in the 42 yard gain photo is that less than one second after this snapshot, Gore is open right in front of Kap as a lead blocker with only one man to beat for 20+ yards. In that weather would you rather risk a 20 yard pass or the chance to break one for a TD running?!? Gore is in the photo but you can barely notice him with the other lineman. I hope Kap starts hot on Sunday and shuts all of these analysts up forever.

 

[deep9er]

That's been official for awhile. Don't know where you've been. We had elections and you were selected unanimously.

I was voted the longest poster and most likely to have Alex Smith's autograph (seriously, the other suggestions were tasteless, rude, and mostly untrue).

MW49ers and Bemular were voted the most likely to reincarnate, uncertain as to which username or another. Bemulars_Ghost?

Deep9er was voted as the most confused because of his tendency to end statements with question marks?
Viper was voted most likely to be Smith's nephew (I lost out by thiiiis much). Incidentally, he won also for most likely to think Smith is better than Kaepernick, but can we really call that winning?

ThreeLittleBirds was voted as most likely to slash the Packers' bus tires and moon them. Unclear whether that's mooning the Packers or the tires. He'd be an automatic suspect if anything should happen to Aaron Rodgers.

Most informative went to ChrisPozz. Most offended went to Bingo (no offense!). Most irritating benign racist troll... well, I won't say.

Most Controversial SportsHoopla GM went to NinerSickness for his constant trades of the Niners best (but declining). He and WartyOne share for their politics and humor.

Moderator who is most tired of me... he knows who he is.

questions marks = confused, then so be it. cause this tells me SOMEONE reads my posts.

a lot of times posters get mad because they're "misinterpreted", so some of my questions are to ensure I 'get what you're saying". sometimes I'm lazy to look up stats, so I ask.

everyone overrates themselves, that's human nature. in the end your posting speaks for itself....good, bad, or somewhere inbetween.

 

[Crimsoncrew]

I not saying you are a hater. The guy that wrote the article. Every QB has flaws. Even Payton and Brady. There is a reason why Payton has a losing playoff record.

Every QB misses targets every week. Kap is no different. I have Kap in Top 5 but understand if some put him no lower then 8. There are arguments for others. Im ok with that.
1. Payton
2. Brady
3. Rogers
4. Brees
5. Kap.

He's different - at least from the greats - in the frequency with which he misses open guys. It's a problem. He's still a good player, and has proven pretty clutch in the playoffs, but he's got a lot of room for improvement as a passer.

 

[MHSL82]

questions marks = confused, then so be it. cause this tells me SOMEONE reads my posts.

a lot of times posters get mad because they're "misinterpreted", so some of my questions are to ensure I 'get what you're saying". sometimes I'm lazy to look up stats, so I ask.

everyone overrates themselves, that's human nature. in the end your posting speaks for itself....good, bad, or somewhere inbetween.

I was going for humor, not that I actually thought you were confused. I do think your use of the question mark unique. Don't change it, it serves a good purpose.

I thought about, but didn't do it because it would be lame, a Halloween post where I would post like somebody else and someone would guess who it was. Yours was going to have a bunch of question mark statements, TobyTyler was going to say something racist/insensitive, WartyOne was going to talk about alcoholic drinks, Viper was going to chastise anyone who criticized Alex Smith, Clyde_Carbon was going to profess his love for Matthew Stafford (football wise, not anything tasteless), MW49ers and Bemular was going to be interchangeable and call everyone names, and NinerSickness was going to want to trade everybody. But I knew before I even started thinking of any other poster than you, that that would be lame and have no participants besides myself.

 

[MHSL82]

Oh, and threelittlebirds was going to go on a huge rant against the Packers. I could have just copied and pasted one of his posts. Bingo was going to threaten me for imitating him. ChrisPozz was just going to be really knowledgeable and have a lot of links.

It might be lame that I think of all these things, but this message board really is like a community. We know a lot about each other in regards to sports and posting styles.

 

[TobyTyler]

That's been official for awhile. Don't know where you've been. We had elections and you were selected unanimously.

I was voted the longest poster and most likely to have Alex Smith's autograph (seriously, the other suggestions were tasteless, rude, and mostly untrue).

MW49ers and Bemular were voted the most likely to reincarnate, uncertain as to which username or another. Bemulars_Ghost?

Deep9er was voted as the most confused because of his tendency to end statements with question marks?

Viper was voted most likely to be Smith's nephew (I lost out by thiiiis much). Incidentally, he won also for most likely to think Smith is better than Kaepernick, but can we really call that winning?

ThreeLittleBirds was voted as most likely to slash the Packers' bus tires and moon them. Unclear whether that's mooning the Packers or the tires. He'd be an automatic suspect if anything should happen to Aaron Rodgers.

Most informative went to ChrisPozz. Most offended went to Bingo (no offense!). Most irritating benign racist troll... well, I won't say.

Most Controversial SportsHoopla GM went to NinerSickness for his constant trades of the Niners best (but declining). He and WartyOne share for their politics and humor.

Moderator who is most tired of me... he knows who he is.

I miss Bemular and MW49ers. Too bad they left.

 

[RedneckNiner]

Published: Jan. 16, 2014 at 09:44 p.m.

Updated: Jan. 16, 2014 at 10:12 p.m.

Joe Montana: Colin Kaepernick has room to improve





Dan Hanzus

Around the League Writer






Inside Out: Old school vs. new school quarterbacks
Inside Out: Old school vs. new school quarterbacks


Joe Montana views Colin Kaepernick as a great talent capable of leading the San Francisco 49ers back to Super Bowl glory. Montana also sees Kaepernick as a project with room for improvement.



"I like his mobility and that he's getting the ball downfield," Montana told USA Today. "But sometimes, he needs to be more accurate in the pocket with pressure.

"The game is changing," he said. "Nobody wants to throw with pressure anymore. But the guys who can win in this league are the ones who can make throws from the pocket."

Montana believes Kaepernick must learn how to stand tall in a pocket and take a hit.

"Kaepernick still needs to get better at that," Montana said. "He'll look and then he's off and running. I still think the thing is the pocket and making those tight throws from the pocket."

Montana also sees accuracy as an issue for Kaepernick.

"He'll make some," Montana said of Kaepernick, "but a lot of times guys are wide open, and he misses them."

Montana's criticism isn't off base. Kaepernick saw a decline in accuracy this season, while his rushing attempts per game jumped from 4.8 to 5.75.

It would be wrong for Montana's comments to be spun as some sort of attack on Kaepernick's ability. Montana is simply pointing out that Kaepernick has plenty of room to grow at this stage of his career.

Montana won four Super Bowls with the Niners and is widely regarded as the greatest postseason quarterback of all time. Consider it fair criticism from an impeccable source.

 

[TobyTyler]

Haters. Thats all I have to say. The guy is one of the top QBs in the league. People keep trying to bring him down. U can show at least 2-3 clips a game by every QB in every game that miss their receivers.

Wow! I don't think I've ever heard him called that.

 

[TobyTyler]

He's different - at least from the greats - in the frequency with which he misses open guys. It's a problem. He's still a good player, and has proven pretty clutch in the playoffs, but he's got a lot of room for improvement as a passer.

If you are saying he "misses" open receivers because he throws errant passes to them when they are open, I'm not sure I agree. If you meant he misses seeing receivers that are open, then I agree with you. How he seems to avoid the entire middle of the field is really disturbing.

 

[MHSL82]

Oops, I moved it from another thread and now I can't delete it. But I meant to show that most passes are not in the middle of the field. In response to Toby Tyler's assertion that he misses the whole middle.

Pass Atlas: A Map of Where NFL Quarterbacks Throw the Ball - The Triangle Blog - Grantland

 

[zman1527]

Okay, it seems very clear that Kap is deficient as a pocket passer. If we know it, then it is abundantly clear to the Harbs & company. Now ya gotta wonder what Harbs thinks about that? Is he satisfied with Kap as he is, taking the good with the bad? Is he worried that working hard to change him would destroy him? Is that a reasonable view?

 

[yossarian]

Greg Cosell of nfl films was on the radio and said over the last few weeks Russell Wilson was a below average quarterback.
Besides being amusing for how he enraged seahawk fans he also talked about kaepernick, he said kaepernick was not a good pocket passer at the moment but he said he thought that takes time and kaepernick will improve.

 

[49ermann]

Early in the year Kaepernick was struggling with progression reading. Once Crabtree came back he had another "trusted" wr and it has been feast or famine for either Boldin or Crabtree since then. In the Carolina game Kap showed how far he has come as a pocket passer. He fired two strikes after stepping up in the pocket. The first during the two minute drill on second and 10 to Crabtree. Kap was a half second away from being hit. He stood in the pocked looking to his right. Quickly scanned left and fired to Crabtree. He got pounded by Hardy just as the ball left his hand. Granted Crabtree made an amazing catch, but that is a throw that Kap wouldn't have made earlier in the year. The second was the 100 mph fastball he fired to Boldin in the 3rd quarter touchdown drive. Kap climbed the pocked and ripped the ball into an extremely tight window just beyond the diving defender’s finger tips and hit Boldin right in the chest. That throw shows the potential Kaep has once he puts it all together. Just as I pull my hair out watching open receivers run down the field without even a glance from Kaepernick, he makes plays like the two above. Greg Cossell regularly says that Kaepernick can make all the throws. We all know that. From all reports Kaepernick is the first one in and the last one out type of guy. If he continues on his current trajectory he will prove the doubters wrong.

As far as people having an issue with how he dresses or wears his hat, go watch Joe Namath videos. He wore a freaking fur coat on the sideline!!! He was a "playboy" no body cares! Its the racist undertone that lies beneath the hip/hop cultural criticism that makes me cringe. Next thing someone will say Kap doesn't have the intellect to read a defense. Do people remember that he was a straight A student? He chose to donate to a charity that meant more to his adoptive family than himself? He’s a supremely talented kid with the drive and determination to improve himself. If Kaepernick was in the draft this year he would be the #1 pick.

 

[Jikkle]

Okay, it seems very clear that Kap is deficient as a pocket passer. If we know it, then it is abundantly clear to the Harbs & company. Now ya gotta wonder what Harbs thinks about that? Is he satisfied with Kap as he is, taking the good with the bad? Is he worried that working hard to change him would destroy him? Is that a reasonable view?

Harbaugh knew he had a project on his hands when he took him so I think he expects Kap to develop further but I expect that Kap is right where Harbaugh thought he was going to be in terms of development.

Harbaugh understands that Kap is only going to get better by being in games and getting experience. I mean you're only going to get better at reading defenses and going through progressions by seeing it over and over again in real time in a game.

The main thing to me is if Kap keeps showing improvement in his game which he has. When he stops improving is when the potential issues become actual problems.