Chip Kelly doesn’t give ringing endorsement for Colin Kaepernick
The most interesting part of Chip Kelly being hired by the San Francisco 49ers was what he’ll do with quarterback Colin Kaepernick.
On one hand, the fit between Kelly and Kaepernick seems great. Kaepernick has a skill set that would seem to work well in Kelly’s offense, and giving him fewer reads might get him back to the form he showed earlier in his career. On the other hand, he really struggled last season, and there might not be any quick and easy fix to that. And despite the reputation of Kelly’s offense, Kelly has repeatedly stressed accuracy over mobility as the most important trait his quarterback needs to have.
Also, we have no idea if Kaepernick will be on the 49ers roster in a few months, which is no small thing.
In his introductory press conference on Wednesday with the Bay Area media, Kelly pretty much punted on saying anything substantial about Kaepernick’s future. If you want to really put his comments under a microscope, was his unprompted praise for Blaine Gabbert a sign of the 49ers’ plans?
“Obviously, Kap is an extremely talented football player,” Kelly said, according to CSN Bay Area’s Matt Maiocco. “And you need to have a good quarterback to win. But I was also impressed in the film I watched in terms of how Blaine played this year, also.
“I think statistics bear out that you probably need two good quarterbacks in this league with the injury rate quarterbacks have. I think both of those players make this an attractive situation.”
If Kelly was really excited about Kaepernick in his offense, he could have made that very clear. He seemed prepared for every question he got on Wednesday, and surely he knew he’d be asked about Kaepernick. But there also wasn’t much reason for him to say more than he did on the matter.
What makes it a bit harder to read is that unlike his last season with the Philadelphia Eagles, Kelly doesn’t have control of the 49ers roster. And that’s OK with him. But Kaepernick’s future will ultimately be general manager Trent Baalke’s decision. Of course, it’s also likely that Kelly will have a lot of input on who comes or goes at quarterback.
“Trent has control of the 53, and I’m real comfortable with that,” Kelly said, according to CSN Bay Area. “I wouldn’t be here if I wasn’t. I think the way this personnel department is set up and how they structure things, I’m excited to be a part of it.”
There were many reports last year that Kaepernick was likely to be finished in San Francisco, but those reports didn’t factor in a new coach and his preferences. Kaepernick’s $11.9 million salary becomes guaranteed if he’s on the roster on April 1, which does give the 49ers some time to sort through their options or simply determine if Kaepernick is the right fit in Kelly’s offense.
There was a lot of curiosity before Kelly’s introductory press conference about his opinion on Kaepernick. There really wasn’t a definitive answer from Kelly about the situation on Wednesday. So we’ll wait and keep guessing.
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Frank Schwab is the editor of Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @YahooSchwab
