Over the course of this offseason the least talked about member of the San Francisco 49ers is probably the one guy who actually has a contract with the team. Quarterback David Carr recently joined the small, but growing group of 49ers working out in the South Bay, meaning all three like 2011 QBs are with the team. In the span of five months, 49ers head coach Jim Harbaugh does not appear to have said a single thing about David Carr.
The closest he's come to a mention of Carr was a source indicating Harbaugh graded Carr as a sixth round pick while he was an offensive assistant with the Raiders in 2002. So he wasn't exactly a fan of his long-term potential back then. Nine years later, Harbaugh and 49ers GM Trent Baalke made a bold move up in the second round to secure Nevada QB Colin Kaepernick in the 2011 NFL Draft. Now Kaepernick has joined Smith and Carr in the South Bay to work out and start learning the Harbaugh playbook.
As it currently stands, I'd have to imagine the 49ers QB depth chart is Smith-Carr-Kaepernick. However, one has to wonder how quickly Kaepernick could leap-frog Carr. We haven't heard Harbaugh say what the team has in store for Kaepernick so it's a lot of speculation at this point, as is most anything related to the roster given the lockout.
If you're Harbaugh, do you just want to keep Kaepernick basically strapped down to the bench in 2011, learning the playbook and learning what to do and what not to do as an NFL QB strictly in practice? If that's the case, Carr will remain the clear-cut number two for 2011. On the other hand, if Kaepernick is a quick learner and shows he can make the transition from the pistol to the west coast offense with ease, do you let him just do his thing?
We've seen teams throw rookies to the wolves from day one and we've seen teams hold players out their entire rookie year. The lockout would seem likely to lead the 49ers to the latter given the lack of organized team practices. Am I missing something that would indicate otheriwse?