Welcome to a whole new world, San Francisco 49ers fans. Following Kyle McLorg's initial report that Colin Kaepernick is going to be benched for this weekend's game against the Atlanta Falcons, local and national media have all confirmed it. Blaine Gabbert is going to be the starting quarterback this weekend.
Kyle followed up by reporting that the 49ers waited until this week so that Gabbert could start against a weak Falcons defense. The unit has not been awful, but it is not a particularly good defense. And considering what the 49ers are going to be rolling out on offense, that is probably a good thing.
On the same day this QB news dropped, the 49ers made another notable move, trading Vernon Davis to the Denver Broncos. They are likely going to put Reggie Bush on injured reserve in the next day or two, and Mike Davis will miss at least some stretch of time following surgery for a hand fracture.
The 49ers could conceivably be rolling out Blaine Gabbert and Kendall Gaskins in the backfield, with an offensive line that still includes Marcus Martin, Jordan Devey and Erik Pears, and tight ends including Vance McDonald, Garrett Celek (pending his run through the concussion protocol) and Blake Bell. Anquan Boldin is dealing with a hamstring injury, and he very well could still end up getting dealt, leaving Torrey Smith to fend off double teams opposite Jerome Simpson and Quinton Patton.
The 49ers very well could shock us all and beat the Atlanta Falcons this Sunday. Given how crazy the NFL can be, I suppose anything is possible. But given what this team is rolling out on offense, it is hard to think they can put up any kind of consistent offense. I'm sure plenty will disagree given what we saw the last two weeks, but who knows if this group has in fact even hit rock bottom yet.