Colin Kaepernick changed the location of his workout on Saturday without giving NFL teams much notice, but he apparently was able to do enough to leave scouts with the impression that he deserves to be on a team.
Ian Rapoport of NFL Media spoke with talent evaluators who watched Kaepernick, and the overall sentiment is that the 32-year-old is “good enough to be on a roster” but likely as a backup quarterback. Scouts said his arm strength and velocity on throws were impressive, while his accuracy, touch and deep balls were inconsistent. They felt Kaepernick looked similar to how he did when he last played three years ago.
The https://t.co/iLSuC0HswN story on Colin Kaepernick’s workout has been updated with reaction from four high-ranking evaluators who viewed it. Here is a breakdown: https://t.co/DqcvDWfRgJ pic.twitter.com/PaDUz4WJzB
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) November 17, 2019
You can interpret that a number of ways. While it’s impressive that scouts feel Kaepernick appears to be in shape and still capable of making throws after three years away from playing, he was average at best as an NFL starter. Kaepernick is overrated because of the way he burst onto the scene with the San Francisco 49ers. The Niners teams Kaepernick led on deep playoff runs were outstanding defensively, and his style of play was a nice complement to that.
When things unraveled for the 49ers in ensuing seasons, Kaepernick regressed. He was 11-24 as a starter in his final three seasons with San Francisco. For his career, Kaepernick has completed fewer than 60 percent of his passes and has a passer rating of 88.9. That rating would place him 23rd among eligible quarterbacks this season. You could argue that his rushing ability makes up for that, but system does matter when signing a backup quarterback. Teams with offenses that are built around pocket passers are going to be less inclined to sign a backup quarterback with Kaepernick’s skillset.
Kaepernick appeared to be setting the stage for what could come next with the message he delivered to NFL owners after his workout. If he thinks he deserves starter money, he’s going to keep feeling like NFL teams are conspiring against him, because no team is going to sign him with the intention of making him a starter. While it’s true that many teams have shied away from signing Kaepernick for reasons other than football, his skill level plays a huge role in that. Most coaches and front office executives don’t want a media circus constantly following their second-string players.
Does anyone truly believe Kaepernick would be a free agent right now if his skills were more comparable to guys like Patrick Mahomes, Aaron Rodgers, Russell Wilson, Drew Brees, Deshaun Watson, Lamar Jackson and so on? If you’re on that side of things, you probably blindly follow the way certain reporters have covered the Kaepernick saga this week. Kaepernick is simply not a high-end NFL quarterback. If he were, the story would have unfolded a lot differently over the past three years.
