Mike Freeman’s 10-Point Stance: Niners Need to Embrace Colin Kaepernick Again

Sit Blaine, bringing the pain and Sea Bass…

   

1. It’s Time for Colin Kaepernick to Start

This column isn’t about Kaepernick’s protest. So for those who believe Kaepernick’s decision to kneel during the national anthem will lead to the end of Western civilization, or the swallowing of all life by a black hole, you can read on. This is strictly about football and why the Niners need to make a change at quarterback.  

Why he isn’t starting makes no sense.

Coach Chip Kelly—a strong Kaepernick supporter—says Kaepernick isn’t physically ready to play. He’d know, but it seems like Kaepernick is fine. After all, at his press conference before the 49ers played Seattle, the San Francisco coach said Kaepernick was playing Russell Wilson on the scout team.

If he’s healthy enough to play Wilson on the scout team, why isn’t he healthy enough to play?

Further, if Kaepernick isn’t ready, then why was he deemed the No. 2 QB on the depth chart?

“Because he’s capable to be the backup,” Kelly said, according to a transcript from the team. “But I don’t think he’s ready to go full-time. He’s continuing to work on it… Kap will be the first to tell you, if you guys have been around here before, I think his playing weight has been around 225 and he’s not at that right now. 

“He had a serious layoff in times in terms of being able to medical rehab. To get the full Kap for what you need, the potential that he has, he needs to continue to just work on the physical aspect of things.”

Kelly has had a remarkably copacetic season thus far with his players. He’s been smart, introspective and has gained great respect in the locker room.

But for whatever reason, he’s had a blind spot about playing Kaepernick. I don’t understand it, and I’m not the only one.

Seattle’s Michael Bennett said Kaepernick gives the 49ers the best chance to win.

Bennett, conversely, was asked about the challenge of containing Gabbert.

“There is no challenge,” Bennett told the Seattle Times. “He threw for 100 yards. The challenge is him reading the defense and staying in the pocket.”

Well, dayum.

The 49ers have been more competitive than most thought they’d be, and they could win eight or nine games with Kaepernick, because the league is so unpredictable now. So many stars are hurt, and divisions are more up for grabs than they have been in some time, even in the NFC West. Consider for a moment that a team that didn’t score a touchdown in its first two games—the sorry Rams—are leading the division through three weeks. 

Kaepernick isn’t the same player he was when the 49ers went to the Super Bowl, but he’s certainly better than Blaine Gabbert and his 68.6 passer rating and 3-to-3 touchdown-to-interception ratio.

   

2. D-Fence!

For the first time in a long time, defense is dominating the NFL.

I know, right? Ridiculous. What’s next? A real estate investor will become president?

But this is where we are in NFL history. Since the Broncos’ defense keyed their Super Bowl run last season, there’s been a palpable, calculable change–a new era in football has begun.

For years, the NFL has been engineering the game to create more offense. It has lessened the ability of players to hit harder. The rules prevent defensive backs from physical pass coverage. The quarterback can’t be hit as hard or in as many places on the field. 

All of these changes made the game safer but put defenses at a strategic disadvantage. Scoring went up, and on the defensive side of the football, so did frustrations. 

Something is different now. Consider the headlining performances in Week 3:

• The Chiefs intercepted the Jets’ Ryan “Sixpatrick” six times Sunday. According to ESPN’s Trey Wingo, he became the first quarterback to throw six picks without a touchdown pass since Tom Tupa, who started his NFL career in 1988.

It’s not just that Fitzpatrick was putrid (he was); it was more that the Chiefs defense was incredible.

• The Vikings had eight sacks on Sunday against a good Carolina offense, a unit that dominated the NFL last year (except in the Super Bowl). It was the most sacks in a road game for the Vikings, according to the NFL, since 2003. And it was one shy of the team road record of nine set in 1970.

• The Eagles defense was ranked 28th in the league last year. They add Jim Schwartz, a solid defensive coordinator, and they’re ranked No. 1 now. They held one of the most potent offenses in history, the Steelers, to three …

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