NFL arranges private workout for Colin Kaepernick

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Lifelong Niner fan here just wanting to chime in from a standpoint of Kaep the player (no politics).

In the early Harbaugh days I was a big Kaep guy over Alex Smith. Smith seemed to have hit his ceiling as a game manager while Kaep had a ton of upside potential. He's smart, athletic, mobile, and has a rocket arm. The first few years were terrific as opposing defenses were having a really hard time keeping a handle on him. But he wasn't without limitations which became more apparent after he was a few years in and teams started to figure him out a bit.

Strengths:
1. Rocket arm. He can zip the ball in there and can let it rip down the field
2. Speed and mobility. Has one of the longest strides of any player I can remember and can cover a lot of ground fast
3. Work ethic. He was known for spending lots of time in the gym keeping his body as fit as the rest of the players on the team (see negatives)
4. Intelligent and in general fairly soft spoken. (see negatives)
Negatives:
1. Single read QB, will try to force a ball. This gets worse the bigger the stage or game. (See trying to force the ball to Crabtree NFC championship vs Seattle and Superbowl vs Baltimore). This led to a number of interceptions and drives killed on third down.
2. Seemed to want to spend more time with 'the guys' in the gym than with the QB's in the film room. Was a hard worker but probably should have allocated his time differently.
3. While intelligent, I suspect if he spent more time in the film room vs the gym it would have served him better. Fairly quiet and didn't seem to ever be a natural leader. I'd say offensively that mantle was taken up by Gore, Staley, and V. Davis.
4. 59.8% lifetime completion percentage. The floor minimum in the NFL seems to be 60%

The Niners made their run on an elite defense which included the best line-backing corps in the NFL (Willis and Bowman). What was probably the best run-blocking offensive line in the NFL, and Frank Gore. In other words they were the traditional 80's style smash mouth team like the Bears or NY Giants of that era. Kaep has enough tools to get a team to the playoffs on a consistent basis, but unless you have an elite 'D' and dominant running game, I don't see a Super Bowl happening, more likely an early annual exit from the playoffs.
This and elite Ds can scheme a guy like that. He's not a bad player but he's also not a destination, IMO. Combine that with the other shit a team would have to deal with and we have the current situation. If he was all that, somebody would take a flyer on him. Fans like wins and will forgive a lot to do so.

Kap was already tail lights. Why would the NFL use this as PR when we all know that the disaster it became was a distinct possibility? I suppose the NFL could have just been dumb about it. Fans act like this was a dis when it was a win for Colin regardless of what happened. There was no downside here for Kap, even if he didn't show like he did. NFL got rolled. Probably deserve it, LOL.
 

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