Palm Beach Post: Getting to know … Nevada QB Colin Kaepernick

http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/blog/sh...or-Bowl-Notes-Morning-Practice?urn=nfl-313355

 

http://nflmocks.com/2011/01/27/senior-bowl-day-4-north-squad-practice-notes/

 

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2011/01/27/colin-kaepernick-may-be-making-cutler-like-climb/

 

I was not a fan of drafting Henne. I thought he could be a decent QB. I even think you can win with him if you surround him with a good enough surrounding cast. But I didn't support drafting him b/c I didn't think he could be an elite QB. The kind of QB that could save the play when things broke down or that could put a team on his back and carry them to a victory. I figured that the odds were high that if you took a QB with such limited upside you'd be looking for a QB again very soon. So going into this draft I want to draft a QB with more upside. If that guy isn't in this draft so be it. But I don't want to reach for a need. After Gabbert, I don't like any of the other QBs being talked about as 1st round guys. My next highest is Newton, but I'm not sold on him. I hate Mallet and Locker as prospects. Right now, I would prefer to take a guy like Kaepernick with a later pick (3rd or 4th) than take any of those other three in the 1st. Now if he shows me more in the Senior Bowl and Combine then I might even be comfortable taking him earlier. I'm not sure yet. I certainly see some talent. He has a gun and fairly decent accuracy and ball placement. He certainly has enough size. Against most of the country he showed the ability to extend the play and I agree that he throws very well on the run. His decision making is an unknown to me. He made pretty good decisions in the pistol, but I don't know how complex the reads are in that offense. He does have some mechanical issues that bug me. And he doesn't always get his hips under him when he throws. I think that's the cause when misses. I also need to see more before I feel comfortable saying that he'll be able to extend the play against NFL competition. But the practice reports seem to be painting the picture of a guy who could eventually be in that first round picture.

 

http://www.rgj.com/section/blogs16?plckController=Blog&plckScript=blogScript&plckElementId=blogDest&plckBlogPage=BlogViewPost&plckPostId=Blog%3acf54a7c3-6850-4148-9710-effa04ad5005Post%3af43adc03-5fde-4ec4-bad9-b9fb88b638cb&sid=sitelife.rgj.com

 

IMO Colin has some mechanical quirks that will drive anyone who evaluates QBs crazy. Then you throw in some mediocre competition, a weird offensive system and add a "running QB" label and you have a guy whom many will disregard off-hand. You saw that with Tebow a bit last year other than the level of competition. And Tebow had such a big profile that he couldn't be ignored. But Tebow's throwing motion wasn't as bad as was made out. That early part of the loop made most everybody ignore the rest of the motion which was hardly perfect but it was still fairly typical or average. And if you compared his release on a clock he was still pretty close to what many successful NFL QB had. But so many saw that loop and kept screaming "Leftwich" even though Tebow's release was no where near that slow. Then they discounted his completion percentage b/c of the system and said "no accuracy". Completion percentage isn't proof positive of accuracy, but it shouldn't be disregarded entirely either. If you watched his games it was fairly evident that many of his completions were due to his accuracy and decision making. Those are the two most important QB characteristics in my book. There's more, but the point is that I see Colin facing the same kind of discrimination. I don't mean anything racial, but rather anybody who has been taught to evaluate QBs expects their QBs to look a certain way in terms of throwing motion and overall mechanics. Colin doesn't look that way, but I don't believe that every part of those mechanics is critical. Some parts don't impact the final outcome as much as others. And the final outcome for Colin was fairly successful in terms of accuracy and arm strength. If he is able to continue to achieve that outcome against better competition, then he shouldn't be ignored. I get that right now he's looking good (allegedly) against Locker and not much else, but I'm not certain that he wouldn't look equally as good when compared to a Newton or a Mallet as well. I don't have Colin as a great QB prospect, but I could see him deserving as much consideration as those others being talked about in the first. BTW Newton was the only one of those three (Newton, Mallet and Locker) that I had as deserving first round consideration and with Newton it's mostly based on potential. I have Mallet as a 2nd round prospect and Locker as a 4th. So my saying that Colin should be considered above Locker puts him in that 3rd round range. If Colin shows enough in prostyle system and shows above average athleticism then I could see him jumping up to the 2nd in ranking and even being worth the same first round consideration on potential that a guy like Newton gets. My big issue with Mallet is his sporadic accuracy and how he seems to make too many bad decisions under pressure. Colin seems to be better under pressure and I expect that his accuracy in a prostyle system to be far more consistent. It certainly was more consistent in the pistol. And I wonder if I wouldn't be giving Colin the same 'potential bump' as Newton if he had shown his athleticism on the same big stage. But Colin's mechanical flaws and system questions would prevent me from my ever ranking him on the level of a Gabbert and certainly a Luck. He's just not on that level as a prospect.

 

http://www.rotoworld.com/Content/home_NFL.aspx

 

http://msn.foxsports.com/collegefootball/story/Ranking-the-Senior-Bowl-quarterbacks-012811

 

http://www.recordcourier.com/article/20110128/SPORTS/110129858/1062&ParentProfile=1049

 

http://www.al.com/sports/index.ssf/2011/01/nevada_qb_spurned_pro_baseball.html

 

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2011/football/nfl/01/27/senior-bowl-risers-sliders/

 

His backswing is jacked, but His release and follow thru is really nice, hand motion follows the target, very condusive to being accurate...The baseball mechanics may have something to do with that.. He sure is interesting.

 

That's where I am. I'm not ready to say anything definitive on him yet. I am really looking forward to seeing him play on Saturday. If you watched him play a year ago, he was horrid. I completely disregarded him as a "never will be". But the improvement this year was incredible. I read somewhere that in HS he had a total of -75 yards rushing. This is the same guy who put up those impressive rushing totals in college. Maybe he's one of those late bloomers? Maybe his passing ability made a similar jump last year.

 

According to reports from the Senior Bowl practices. Kaepernick has so far been the best QB on the field. Reports are that his stock has risen and he will probably be picked somewhere in the first round. Locker, whom many on here have stated they would like to see the Dolphins draft has continued to show that he is not accurate when throwing the football. While he has size, speed and a strong arm. He just doesn't appear to be able to throw the ball where he needs to throw it. Instead of helping his draft status by playing in the Senior Bowl. It now appears that Locker will not be drafted in the first round and depending on how he looks in the game. He could fall all the way to the third round of the draft. I never had any interest in Locker because his lack of accuracy reminds me too much of the Dolphins present QB. As far as
Kaepernick goes. I would be very happy if the Dolphins select him with the 15th pick in the draft. He would probably take a couple of years to adjust to the NFL, but I think he has far more upside than every other QB in this years draft.

 

http://nflmocks.com/2011/01/28/2011-senior-bowl-quarterback-analysis/

 

http://www.rgj.com/section/blogs16?plckController=Blog&plckBlogPage=BlogViewPost&U=cf54a7c3-6850-4148-9710-effa04ad5005&plckPostId=Blog%3acf54a7c3-6850-4148-9710-effa04ad5005Post%3ac61a7301-78ed-4e79-8194-dae386a14b60&plckScript=blogScript&plckElementId=blogDest

 

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/sports/...ns-jake-locker-l0129-20110128,0,5495609.story

 

http://www.kolotv.com/wolfpack/headlines/FoxSports__114836919.html

 

I'm pretty much to the point where if this team EVER spends another second round pick on a QB I'll drive from WA to FL just to ish on the owners desk, and then I guess I'd have to start watching baseball or something, go Mariners, whoopdiedee

 

Man IDK. Kinda reminds me of the Pat White experiment, and we all know how well that turned out. Hope he ends up elsewhere, personally.

 

I don't see much comparison in their games (White and CK). My big issues with White were that I didn't think he was a compelling enough athlete to be able to run like he did in college (quickness wise). I also didn't think he was big enough to take the pounding a wildcat QB would take in the pros. Philosophically, I disagreed with taking a QB with a #2 who didn't have the upside to potentially be a franchise guy.

With CK, I would only take him (1st or 2nd round) if I believed he could potentially be a franchise guy. Obviously, no pick is guaranteed to become a franchise QB, but if he shows enough athleticism and (as I suspect) more accuracy in a prostyle offense than he did in the pistol (although he was pretty accurate in the pistol this last year, so maybe just "as much"), then I would be comfortable saying that his odds of becoming a franchise QB are as high as Newton's and higher than Mallet's, Locker's or any other QB in the draft.

 

http://fifthdown.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/01/29/q-and-a-with-nevada-qb-colin-kaepernick/

 

http://www.rgj.com/section/blogs16?plckController=Blog&plckBlogPage=BlogViewPost&U=cf54a7c3-6850-4148-9710-effa04ad5005&plckPostId=Blog%3acf54a7c3-6850-4148-9710-effa04ad5005Post%3a6e65b0da-23c7-4f2c-aaa8-9859a227ff80&plckScript=blogScript&plckElementId=blogDest

 

http://www.rgj.com/section/blogs16?plckController=Blog&plckBlogPage=BlogViewPost&U=cf54a7c3-6850-4148-9710-effa04ad5005&plckPostId=Blog%3acf54a7c3-6850-4148-9710-effa04ad5005Post%3aef82622b-f1e6-4072-b908-b552913fa615&plckScript=blogScript&plckElementId=blogDest

 

By NFL throws do you mean arm strength? Because the guy definitely has enough of that. If you were referring to mechanics, he does need some work. He has an elongated release that comes out fairly side armed. I read that one scout thinks he won't be successful in the NFL because he doesn't play tight to his body. I think he is a pretty good prospect though.

 

His release is ugly, slow, and long. Good luck with that when he doesn't have a clear lane or pocket.

Unless you want to try and run the pistol in the NFL.

 

I have watched him for a while now and I'd like to see his arm be the focus of his skills instead of his feet. Kinda looks like a young Michael Vick who throws like Bernie Kosar. He's very exciting and could add a lot to the team. I'd like to see him wearing Dolphin uniform if we can get him in the right round.

 

http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/senior-bowl-stock-rise-and-fall-012911

 

http://www.rgj.com/section/blogs16?plckController=Blog&plckScript=blogScript&plckElementId=blogDest&plckBlogPage=BlogViewPost&plckPostId=Blog%3acf54a7c3-6850-4148-9710-effa04ad5005Post%3a4859474d-143e-4fd2-b4f1-0959dc6ea64c&sid=sitelife.rgj.com

 

I like the kid but ultimately QB is played with your head and your arm, not your feet.

A first round pick? Seems a bit high.

 

Besides the things that people know about him, he's got an excellent follow thru, the ball comes out faster than I originally thought, good velocity, and most importantly, he's got natural accuracy..

over 50 percent of all pass plays come out of the shotgun..Iam ready for a little zone read action..I aint scared.

 

I think what has people excited is that he's showing that he's not a running QB. His arm looked to be the best at the Senior Bowl and at the Manning camp, the Mannings, who have probably witnessed a few good arms in their time, were reportedly giddy about Kaepernick's velocity. The upshot is that he looks like a passing prospect with good size and an exceptional arm who also happens to have 4.5 speed. He's not the quickest athlete, but according to the practice reports at the Senior Bowl he still looked like an above average athlete.

 

Iam starting to see our own Vince young..just with better NFL skills..

I really like this player..

 

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2011/02/12/colin-kaepernick-to-do-full-combine-workout/

 

http://www.rgj.com/section/blogs16?plckController=Blog&plckBlogPage=BlogViewPost&U=cf54a7c3-6850-4148-9710-effa04ad5005&plckPostId=Blog%3acf54a7c3-6850-4148-9710-effa04ad5005Post%3a4859474d-143e-4fd2-b4f1-0959dc6ea64c&plckScript=blogScript&plckElementId=blogDest

 

http://www.rgj.com/section/blogs16?plckController=Blog&plckBlogPage=BlogViewPost&U=cf54a7c3-6850-4148-9710-effa04ad5005&plckPostId=Blog%3acf54a7c3-6850-4148-9710-effa04ad5005Post%3aef82622b-f1e6-4072-b908-b552913fa615&plckScript=blogScript&plckElementId=blogDest