The San Francisco 49ers supposedly were going to have a quarterback competition this summer between Blaine Gabbert and Colin Kaepernick. That has really not materialized, and now word is coming out that indicates general manager Trent Baalke couldn’t be happier with the development.
I've heard for weeks that Trent Baalke is pushing for Blaine Gabbert and against Colin Kaepernick in 49ers QB race: https://t.co/fQ3uC6NIHr
— Tim Kawakami (@timkawakami) August 16, 2016
As you may have heard, Kaepernick did not compete in the first preseason game because of what head coach Chip Kelly called “arm fatigue.” The quarterback is still being held out of practice this week, and a new report on Monday indicates the problem is a lot worse and could linger for some time (more on that here).
In the meantime, Gabbert, who has been touted as the heavy favorite to win the job for weeks, continues to run the first team without any real threat behind him.
We’ve postulated here that the 49ers’ quarterback “competition” was never really a real thing to begin with — a farce, if you will.
Maybe Kelly has been genuine about his desire to foster a legitimate competition between the two quarterbacks. Maybe he has liked Gabbert from the start. He sure has had a ton of positive things to say about the former first-round pick, but he also has lauded Kaepernick at times.
Regardless of what Kelly thinks it sure seems like Baalke, who some have suggested has been down on Kaepernick since Jim Harbaugh left, would be pleased if the lanky mobile quarterback never played another down for the organization.