Kaepernick and RG3: Is There Anything Left?

[Prime Time]

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.co...y-be-hard-to-find-a-fit-for-colin-kaepernick/

Kyle Shanahan thinks it may be hard to find a fit for Colin Kaepernick
Posted by Michael David Smith on April 11, 2017

AP

The new 49ers coach thinks scheme fit is a reason the old 49ers quarterback hasn’t found a new job.

San Francisco head coach Kyle Shanahan was asked on Monday whether teams think they’d have to change their offense if they were to sign former San Francisco quarterback Colin Kaepernick, and Shanahan answered, “Yeah,” before elaborating that NFL teams want a quarterback who’s going to fit in a specific offense, with little variation.

“You don’t just run stuff and think you’re going to be good at it right away,” Shanahan said. “You’ve got to commit to it and work at it year round, and it’s all the positions. When all your quarterbacks have different ways to be successful, which I’ve been in situations like that and you try to prepare them best, it does take a toll on your offense. What are you trying to get good at? You can’t practice everything. You can’t be great at everything.

You’ve kind of got to commit to something and do it over and over and over again and once the type of running game or drop-back game, you’re going to commit to one quarterback is completely different than the other, then that does affect your team. That’s why I think it can be harder when those type of guys are going through competitions and stuff and like that because even though you’re trying to find the best guy, by trying to be fair to those quarterbacks you’re also being unfair to a team.

You don’t really know what direction you’re going. So, if you have your pick of the best world, you’d like those guys to be somewhat similar, not just because that’s how you want the quarterbacks, just because of the work you’re doing for the rest of the guys on the roster.”

Kaepernick has a unique athletic skill set, and former 49ers coach Jim Harbaugh did an outstanding job of building an offense around that skill set. But the two coaches the 49ers have had since Harbaugh both struggled to find an offense that could make use of Kaepernick’s skills.

Harbaugh still thinks some smart team can win championships if it puts Kaepernick in the right situation. So far, that team has not been identified.

 

[Dxmissile]

You put Kaepernick on the Texans they could be Super Bowl contenders. He is still young strong arm and can run. He also protects his body. Cutler is the only other qb I would take right now but I feel like RG3 is over with

 

[LesBaker]

You put Kaepernick on the Texans they could be Super Bowl contenders.

He can't play............he got sat down for Gabbert............is anyone in the media barking about Gabbert not getting a starting job????????

No they aren't, because it doesn't cop clicks.

CK can't play.

 

[Dxmissile]

He can't play............he got sat down for Gabbert............is anyone in the media barking about Gabbert not getting a starting job????????

No they aren't, because it doesn't cop clicks.

CK can't play.

He won more games than Goff, the guy can clearly play whether you like him or not whether you believe he is getting black balled or not, saying he can't play when he has shown he can isn't a very good argument as to why he isn't signed. This post wasn't even about why they aren't signed it's about whether they have any potential or are they finished. Obviously you making this about something that's it's not. He isn't a Ram so I don't care but as a AA male navy veteran I definitely applaud what he did.

 

[LesBaker]

He won more games than Goff

He lost more too.

And he isn't that good and wants too much money.

That's all there is to it. He is easy to defend sorry call any sports talk show and discuss him.

 

[Prime Time]

Kaepernick might be able to click again in the right system. Unfortunately for him he is radioactive to owners at this time. Is it his mediocre play, his protests, or the amount of cap room he will take up? I'm guessing it's all three factors. However, once the preseason begins and QB's are injured or don't meet expectations, then someone will give him a shot if he drops his price.
**********************************************************************
https://www.forbes.com/sites/simono...e-he-still-remains-a-free-agent/#4440e59f104a

Simon Ogus

It has been a month since the NFL free agency period began and improbably, Colin Kaepernick remains a free agent available for any of the NFL’s 32 teams to sign. Not only has he not signed a contract for 2017, he has not even been invited in for a workout or a visit unless it’s been completely under the radar.

"I am surprised," running back Carlos Hyde said. "I've seen some quarterbacks [that] got signed that Kap is way better than, in my opinion. But I'm not a GM. I'm not a head coach. So that's out of my league."

“I think he’s proven that he can play at this level,” linebacker Navorro Bowman told CSN Bay Area. “He’s made a choice that’s kind of had a little backlash from it. But I think he’ll be fine. Someone will give him a job,” Bowman said. “He’s not like a bad guy or anything. So I think that’s what matters in the NFL, if you can play level and your character is great. So I wish him the best.”
*******************************************************************************
Jay Cutler is considering retirement.

https://www.all22.com/chicago-bears/report-former-bears-broncos-qb-jay-cutler-retirement

I can find nothing new on RGIII.

 

[kurtfaulk]

He won more games than Goff, the guy can clearly play whether you like him or not whether you believe he is getting black balled or not, saying he can't play when he has shown he can isn't a very good argument as to why he isn't signed. This post wasn't even about why they aren't signed it's about whether they have any potential or are they finished. Obviously you making this about something that's it's not. He isn't a Ram so I don't care but as a AA male navy veteran I definitely applaud what he did.

32 out of 32 teams would pick goff over the krapper without hesitation.

.

 

[BonifayRam]

Romo's back was sore & went home early. The rest of the old girls are still at the bar getting no looks & their drinks are empty so sad its getting late.......

 

[Dxmissile]

32 out of 32 teams would pick goff over the krapper without hesitation.

.

That might be true but that narrative could definitely change after this year. This topic was about what they can offer a team not this other stuff

 

[yrba1]

Kaep could've easily signed a backup deal with another team. Only reason he's out of an NFL job right now is because he has the media circus following him a la Tebow and Michael Sam.

 

[Prime Time]

Colin Kaepernick. Shannon Sharpe, and Skip Bayless: a real battle of the wits...

Since Florio's "the Redskins must change their name because I said so" project failed miserably, his latest obsession is to get Kaepernick signed. Not a word from him on why RGIII hasn't been signed.
***************************************************************************

View: https://twitter.com/undisputed/status/863133188624744448

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2017/05/13/colin-kaepernick-speaks-to-shannon-sharpe/

Colin Kaepernick speaks (to Shannon Sharpe)
Posted by Mike Florio on May 13, 2017

Conspicuously quiet during his extended stretch in free-agency, 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick recently broke his silence. Sort of.

Kaepernick called Hall of Fame tight end Shannon Sharpe on Thursday night, after word emerged that Dr. Harry Edwards, described as an advisor to Kaepernick by USA Today, claimed three teams had reached out to Edwards about Kaepernick. Sharpe shared the contents of the conversation Friday, on FS1’s Undisputed.

“[Kaepernick] says, ‘People keep putting out that I’m asking for nine, ten million dollars,” Sharpe said. “Shannon, they don’t know what I’m asking for. I have not talked to, my representative has not talked to [teams].

“What I find even stranger,” Sharpe added, “is why are teams reaching out to a sociology professor and not calling the player and his representative himself? Dr. Harry Edwards says he’s healthy enough to play, but he can’t answer the question [of] does he want to play? You would think, you’re that close to Kaep, you don’t know if he wants to play? This is not adding up.

“Here’s something else,” Sharpe said. “It seems to me that everything that’s starting to disseminate out is coming from one organization. That’s the former organization that Colin Kaepernick played for. Now [49ers G.M.] John Lynch said early on he knew for a fact that one team wanted to sign Colin Kaepernick. It’s hard for me to believe that he could know that when he didn’t know the Chicago Bears were gonna take Mitchell Trubisky. . . .

“And what I find that since so much information is coming out of San Francisco, guess who’s been a paid consultant to the San Francisco 49ers for over 20 years? The very advisor that these alleged three teams have called. . . . Why would you ask Harry Edwards, who’s a sociology professor, whether or not Colin Kaepernick wants to play and whether or not he still can play when you can pick up the phone and call Colin Kaepernick himself, when you can call his representative yourself? . . .

“Something doesn’t smell right to me,” Sharpe said. “Talking to Kaep last night, no team has called him.”

This information meshes with our item from Friday morning, which explained that despite Edwards’ claim of multiple inquiries directed to him, no NFL team has reached out to Kaepernick or his agent. That article invited derision from Jason Whitlock of FS1, who argued via Twitter that Kaepernick should be the one contacting teams and not the other way around.

Although Whitlock’s message was somewhat obscured (as it often is) by his shtick and his style, he makes a valid point: What have Kaepernick and his agent done to affirmatively market the quarterback’s services? I’ve been unable to get an answer to that question. (Maybe Shannon Sharpe can, since he has a pipeline to the player.)

Perhaps Kaepernick and his agent have decided to wait to see whether anyone calls, given that the supply of competent quarterbacks doesn’t match the demand for even incompetent ones. Quarterbacks who didn’t nearly win a Super Bowl and who didn’t have a 4-to-1 touchdown-to-interception ratio and a 90.7 passer rating with a 2-14 roster don’t have to initiate contact with teams; the teams come after them.

Last year, Brock Osweiler got $37 million from the Texans without ever meeting them. For what? The 2012 draft pick (one year after Kaepernick) sat on the bench for three years before winning five regular-season games behind a quality offense complemented by a championship-caliber defense. But Osweiler didn’t have to go find Houston. Houston found him.

Examples of this dynamic at the quarterback position are rare, because quality quarterbacks rarely become available in free agency. Eleven years ago, Drew Brees found a landing spot and an eight-figure contract with the Saints in 2006 despite having more than 20 studs still in his surgically-repaired throwing shoulder. Although Peyton Manning went on to have four successful season in Denver, the jury was out in 2012 as to whether he’d thrive again.

He had had four neck surgeries, and the nerves leading from his spine to his throwing arm were still in the process of regenerating. In hindsight it worked out well, but at the time Manning presented the same kind of calculated risk that the Saints took (and the Dolphins wouldn’t) on Brees six years earlier.

Even with that clear physical concern regarding Manning’s age, his neck surgeries, and his dead-but-eventually-resurrected arm, a dozen teams lined up for a chance to sign him.

That’s not, despite the best efforts of those on Twitter who like to jam 140 characters into their own real or contrived agenda, a comparison of Manning and Kaepernick’s careers and abilities. It is, however, a comparison of their circumstances. Manning, with very real health concerns in 2012, had his pick of teams. Kaepernick can’t even get one to pick up the phone and call him or his agent.

If you have personal disdain for Kaepernick based on his activities from 2016, that’s fine. But try to take a step back from that and be objective on this point: Does it make sense that teams would leak a smattering of flawed assumptions and false narratives aimed at justifying the decision to not even have a conversation with the guy?

If/when a team like the Browns or the Broncos (both of which wanted him a year ago, when he was recovering from three different surgeries but had yet to engage in activities that rubbed some the wrong way) were to admit that they don’t like his politics and/or they fear losing money via alienated fans and/or he’s not good enough to justify the extra media attention his arrival would invite, then a meaningful conversation and debate could be had regarding those concerns.

Instead, it’s been a shell game of excuses and lies for more than two months, which means that those who are avoiding Kaepernick fear that telling the truth will look a lot worse than continuously trying to avoid it.

 

[thomonkey]

He won more games than Goff, the guy can clearly play whether you like him or not whether you believe he is getting black balled or not, saying he can't play when he has shown he can isn't a very good argument as to why he isn't signed. This post wasn't even about why they aren't signed it's about whether they have any potential or are they finished. Obviously you making this about something that's it's not. He isn't a Ram so I don't care but as a AA male navy veteran I definitely applaud what he did.

kaepernick is an above average qb in a zone read option offense. in a pro style offense he is way below average. teams are moving away from zone read option schemes because d coordinators are much better at defending it now and cam newton showed that even if you get a qb who can run that offense to perfection its not worth it because it exposes your most important player (qb) to a high risk of injury.

so the dilemma is deal with kaepernik's baggage to get a below average qb in your system and thats an easy call.

 

[den-the-coach]

Instead, it’s been a shell game of excuses and lies for more than two months, which means that those who are avoiding Kaepernick fear that telling the truth will look a lot worse than continuously trying to avoid it.

Just like all those people who said they weren't voting for Trump and did...Wake up and smell the coffee Mike!

 

[Prime Time]

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.co...ing-colin-kaepernick-rgiii-as-backup-options/

Pete Carroll: We’re considering Colin Kaepernick, RGIII as backup options
Posted by Josh Alper on May 15, 2017

In his Monday Morning Quarterback column for TheMMQB.com this week, Peter King shared his opinion that the Seahawks offered the best fit for Colin Kaepernick to continue his NFL career as the backup to Russell Wilson.

Among the reasons King cited are the Seahawks’ current backups — Trevone Boykin (who has been arrested twice this offseason), Jake Heaps, Skyler Howard, and Michael Birdsong — and coach Pete Carroll leading “the sports universe in free spirits/distractions on the roster.” During an appearance on Brock & Salk on 710 ESPN, Carroll was asked if the Seahawks would consider adding Kaepernick or former Redskins and Browns quarterback Robert Griffin III to the roster.

“We’re looking at everybody. We really are,” Carroll said. “We’ve been tracking everything that’s going on, and we’ve got cap and roster issues and stuff like that that we’re still trying to manage properly. But quite frankly, yes, we are looking at all those guys.”

Both of the quarterbacks make some sense as mobile players who could do some of the same things Wilson does in the Seattle offense if called upon during the 2017 season. At the least, the Seahawks would get a chance to see the players in their offense over the next few months to see if there’s interest in a longer stay.

We haven’t heard much of anything about Griffin since he was released by Cleveland, but Kaepernick’s lack of suitors has been a popular topic this offseason. Carroll’s comments suggest the Seahawks could be the team to change that, but, for now, the status quo remains for both quarterbacks.

 

[Prime Time]

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.co...ld-have-cut-kaepernick-if-he-hadnt-opted-out/

John Lynch: 49ers would have cut Kaepernick if he hadn’t opted out
Posted by Mike Florio on May 31, 2017

Getty Images

One of the popular narratives regarding Colin Kaepernick’s lingering unemployment is that he has only himself to blame after opting out of his 49ers contract. This flawed assumption overlooks the fact that the 49ers would have cut Kaepernick if he hadn’t opted out.

“HOW DO YOU KNOW THAT?!?!?” some of you have said in response. Here’s how. 49ers G.M. John Lynch said so on Wednesday, in a PFT Live interview to be aired later this week.

“Yes,” Lynch said regarding whether Kaepernick would have been cut if he hadn’t opted out, “and we had that conversation with him. So I don’t want to characterize it as he made a decision to leave here. We both sat down and under that current construct of his deal, it was a big number. [Coach] Kyle [Shanahan] had a vision for what he wanted to do, and one thing I think Kyle was very clear and I think Colin appreciated, is that Kyle has an idea of how he’d play with Colin Kaepernick.

But he preferred to run the exact offense that he ran in Atlanta last year that was record-breaking in this league. And if you change it for the quarterback, you change it for everybody on that offense. So he had a great discussion that I think gave Colin clarity, so we moved on.

Brian Hoyer was one of the guys we pursued. Once we pursued him, we didn’t see Kaep as a backup that would really fit in that scheme and we communicated that to him. So I think we’ve been very up front with it. But I think that is a fair characterization. Yes, he was not going to be here under the construct of his contract. We gave him the option, ‘You can opt out, we can release you, whatever.’ And he chose to opt out, but that was just a formality.”

Lynch also addressed the perception/accusation that the 49ers have been spreading negative information about Kaepernick, pointing to the decision to invite Peter King of TheMMQB.com into the team’s draft room.

“Part of the narrative that was created — you know how it works, headlines coming out of quotes — was that Colin didn’t have an interest playing football,” Lynch said in reference to a claim from King citing unnamed 49ers sources regarding whether Kaepernick is fully committed to his craft.

“I feel like that’s part of my job is controlling what comes out of this building, and to the extent that there was a perception that we were contributing to that Colin didn’t want to play football, we wanted to put an end to that.

“I’ve talked with Colin and I’ve told him that I felt bad that if indeed that is contributing to that thought. The one thing that I knew from sitting with Colin when we had our opportunity to sit down and he ultimately opted out, we had a great discussion that stuck out with me that this is a guy who is really interested in getting back in this league and playing at the highest level. And I’ve talked to him since, and that very much is the case.”

Lynch punctuated his explanation with an apology to Kaepernick, and a reiteration of the perception that Kaepernick wants to play.

“I want to put that to rest,” Lynch said. “I’m sorry that this came out of this building. That’s one of the challenges that I’m finding is controlling the message that comes out of your building. There’s so many people, and it’s hard to find because, ‘Sources this, sources that.’ I didn’t feel good about that and I’ve talked to Colin.

That was what was most important to me, to talk to Colin directly and let him know that I was sorry that that did [come out] and that nothing else like that will come out of this building if I have anything to do with it. That’s where that is. We wish Colin the best and I can tell everybody out there he very much is sincere in his interest to get back in this league, and I hope it works out for him.”

The full 24-minute discussion with Lynch will eventually be posted here. Much of it will be aired on Friday, as part of the three-hour weekday PFT Live show.

 

[bubbaramfan]

Does Kaperdink even still want to play in the NFL?

 

[Prime Time]

http://mmqb.si.com/mmqb/2017/06/07/colin-kaepernick-backup-quarterbacks

The 15 Backup Quarterbacks Better Than Colin Kaepernick
Colin Kaepernick has a complete inability to play in the pocket. And that’s not what teams want to have in their backup signal-caller
by Andy Benoit

First off, what you’re about to read has zero to do with Colin Kaepernick’s protest of the National Anthem. For proof, here’s an article that I wrote in March 2016, before the protest, saying that Kaepernick would be out of the NFL before he won another 10 games as a starter.

That forecast appears to be coming true, because Kaepernick can’t even find work as a backup. And it’s mostly due to the same reason he couldn’t find work as a starter: teams don’t think he’s good enough. Twitter went up in arms earlier today when I tweeted this:


View: https://twitter.com/Andy_Benoit/status/872272546414051328?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw&ref_url=http%3A%2F%2Fmmqb.si.com%2Fmmqb%2F2017%2F06%2F07%2Fcolin-kaepernick-backup-quarterbacks

Let me amend myself—there are actually 15 backup quarterbacks better than Kaepernick, and that doesn’t even include rookies Mitchell Trubisky, Patrick Mahomes, Deshaun Watson, DeShone Kizer and Davis Webb.

The list, in no particular order:

Jimmy Garoppolo, Patriots
Matt Moore, Dolphins
Colt McCoy, Redskins
A.J. McCarron, Bengals
Chad Henne, Jaguars
Geno Smith, Giants
Drew Stanton, Cardinals
Brock Osweiler/Cody Kessler, Browns
Chase Daniel, Saints
Derek Anderson, Panthers
Nick Foles, Eagles
Ryan Mallett, Ravens
Matt Barkley, 49ers
Landry Jones, Steelers
Matt Cassel, Titans

Kaepernick is talented enough to be an NFL backup. In fact, I think he’s better than almost half of the backup QB in the league, but that’s it. With zero hesitation, I would take any of the 15 backups I listed before I’d take Kaepernick, because those 15 quarterbacks are all willing and able to play from the pocket. A few of them have even shown they can make throws from a cluttered pocket. That’s a trait most starters have and one Kaepernick is nowhere near possessing.

Inside the NFL, this is where 90% of the discussion about Kaepernick begins and ends. Playing from the pocket is not a quarterbacking attribute; it’s a prerequisite. If a team’s QB can’t play from the pocket, the vast majority of the play designs won’t work. Coaches can’t draw up plays that call for the quarterback to break down, run around and hopefully find an open guy. Today’s defenses are too good for that.

Is Kaepernick capable of dropping back and releasing the ball at the top of his drop? Sure, but usually only when the play design has an either/or read—when Kaepernick has just one or two receivers to consider and doesn’t have to read the entire field or full coverage.

But even on these, Kaepernick tends to get off track in his dropback with unsettling regularity. He’ll move needlessly, creating pressure that wouldn’t have existed. Or at the very least, his needless movement will get him out of sync with the timing of his receivers’ routes.

Also, when Kaepernick moves, he ceases to be a throwing threat. Watch Tom Brady—he moves with subtly and nuance, his eyes stay downfield and he almost never sacrifices his readiness to throw.

Watch Aaron Rodgers—he moves a lot, sometimes unnecessarily, but he never sacrifices his readiness to throw. Stylistically, most NFL starters are like this. (The Bradys and Rodgerses of the world, of course, do it at a much higher level.)

Kaepernick, on the other hand, brings the ball down, gets out of his throwing stance, takes his eyes to the pass rush and immediately assumes a runner’s mindset. Sometimes after this, he’ll try to go back into a passer’s mindset, which means taking his eyes back to the field and spontaneously reevaluating a defensive look that has now changed and that he hadn’t fully processed in the first place.

Imagine playing wide receiver with a quarterback like this. Or blocking for that guy. You have no chance at establishing rhythm. The timing and detail that you’ve practiced over and over goes out the window.

Exacerbating matters, Kaepernick is not a proficient passer on the move. A coach of his once told me, “He only has one club in his golf bag.” What the coach meant was Kaepernick can throw fastballs, but only fastballs. When he nails those, they look as good as anything you’ll see. His arm can be incredible. But touch passes? Anticipation passes? They’re not in his bag.

Kaepernick is a talented athlete. (Though it’s worth noting that his athleticism was significantly diminished by rapid weight loss last offseason. Teams are surely wondering whether he’ll ever recapture it.) But he’s not a talented quarterback. His weaknesses happen to be the very weaknesses that an NFL quarterback can least afford to have.

I know what you’ll say next: In 2012, Kaepernick went to the Super Bowl! Yes. It was on an uber-talented 49ers team, and Kaepernick stepped in midseason. His style of play was extremely unconventional, especially considering 2012 was the year the read-option burst onto the scene. Defenses had not seen a quarterback like him and, in the middle of the season, they didn’t have time to figure out a full response.

But after the Super Bowl, teams had time to study Kaepernick and the rest of the league’s flawed-but-mobile quarterbacks, including Robert Griffin (who is also now unemployed—as that same March 2016 article predicted).

The more of Kaepernick they saw, the more ways they found to exploit his failings. Not coincidentally, until last season, Kaepernick’s passer rating, TD-INT ratio, sack rating and yards per attempt declined steadily from 2013–15.

Last season’s statistical rebound was mostly artificial. The Niners went 1–10 in games that Kaepernick started, and each week, the tape revealed a startling number of plays where Kaepernick’s read was clear, but he didn’t attempt the throw. This has always been an issue with Kaepernick, and it’s one that fans can never see on paper. There’s no way to statistically capture the impact of balls that should be thrown but aren’t.

To coaches, unattempted open throws are a huge problem, probably worse than everything except turnovers.

Each backup has his own limitations, but none of them have an utter inability to operate on schedule and from the pocket, like Kaepernick does. Are (most of) these guys great in the pocket? Of course not—that’s why they’re backups. But stylistically, they’re all capable of consistent pocket quarterbacking.

The last thing a coach wants to do is rewrite his offense for a backup QB. When the backup is in, your hope is to continue running the bulk of your system. Kaepernick’s unique but flawed style does not fit many systems. The closest one would be Seattle’s, and the Seahawks decided this week that they’d rather have Austin Davis.

Maybe this indirectly takes us to the anthem protest. The fallout from the protest has made Kaepernick a distraction, not because of what he did, but because of the attention that follows him for it. Most people in the NFL probably have no problem with Kaepernick’s protest. They may not have liked it, but they accepted his right to do it and his commitment to the movement.

Still, because of it, Kaepernick, who was already polarizing to begin with, has become a lightning rod. To sign Kaepernick, a team must be willing to take on the distraction that follows lightning rods. And the team must be willing to alter its entire offense (for worse). It’s not worth it, just like it wasn’t worth it a few years ago with Tim Tebow.

Tebow, in fact, was virtually the exact same scenario as Kaepernick, only more extreme. Tebow’s supporters were more ardent than Kaepernick’s, and Tebow was a markedly worse QB.

NFL teams don’t care which end of the spectrum the distraction comes from. They only care that the backup quarterback brings any sort of distraction. But more than that, they care that the quarterback can’t play the way they need him to play.

 

[den-the-coach]

IMHO, I truly believe that he could sign with one of these nine teams.