Colin Kaepernick is currently the best rushing quarterback in the league. The San Francisco 49ers signal-caller leads all quarterbacks with 242 yards rushing, which can make him difficult to defend. But more difficult to defend than Peyton Manning? Come on now.
According to Andy Benoit of The Monday Morning Quarterback, 12 NFL coaches were asked at last year’s combine which quarterback they would rather face — Kaepernick or Manning. Benoit says a “solid majority” said they would prefer to face Manning.
A few things should be noted. For starters, none of the coaches said they believed Kaepernick is a better quarterback than Manning. They were simply saying Kaepernick is more “stressful” to prepare for. The mini-poll was also taken a few weeks after the Super Bowl, and we all saw what the Seattle Seahawks did to Manning in that game.
The point was that Kaepernick is more unpredictable, whereas you know what you are going to get when facing Manning. While that may be true, I’d rather face Kaepernick 100 times out of 100.
Can Kaepernick beat you on the ground with his blazing speed? Of course, but Manning is a Hall of Famer with an unrivaled football IQ. He can’t beat you with his legs, but he can pick you apart plenty of different ways through the air. Kaepernick, on the other hand, is a below-average passer with poor throwing mechanics. I’d rather try to contain him than try to cover all of Manning’s open receivers.
H/T SI Hot Clicks
