There’s not just going to be a competition for the starting quarterback job with the San Francisco 49ers this summer. We already knew that was going to be the case with both Colin Kaepernick and Blaine Gabbert still on the roster.
What we didn’t know up until just recently was that first-year head coach Chip Kelly thinks that the two quarterbacks bring a lot of the same qualities with them to the field.
“They’re similar. They have a similar skill set,” Kelly said on a local radio station recently (h/t Niners Nation). “They’re both 6-foot-4-plus. They both can really run, which will help keep plays alive. Obviously, we’re not a quarterback-run offense, but if the quarterback can run, you can use a little of that to your advantage. And they both have extremely strong arms. So, from a skill set standpoint, the two of them are kind of cut out of the same mold.”
The issue here for Kelly is that he has yet to see Kaepernick take part in football activities after the quarterback underwent three surgeries following the 2015 season. There’s no timetable for Kaepernick’s return to off-season activities.
Without seeing first hand what the embattled former Super Bowl quarterback can do in his offense, it’s hard to take Kelly’s comments seriously. Though, his skill-set and how it relates to Kelly’s system surely can show up on tape.
Kaepernick and Gabbert split time under center in Jim Tomsula’s only season as the team’s head coach last year.
Kaepernick was benched in lieu of the former top-10 pick after putting up just six touchdowns and five interceptions in eight starts.
For his part, Gabbert performed at a much higher clip in his half-season sample size under center. He averaged 72 more passing yards per game while compiling 10 touchdowns and just seven picks.
Both do seem to fit what Kelly likes to do on offense. And in reality, both should be able to perform at a higher clip simply due to the presence of the innovative offense mind, something that was lacking a great deal in San Francisco last season.