The San Francisco 49ers face the Arizona Cardinals this week, with Colin Kaepernick coming off a pair of solid performances through two weeks. Whether or not you think his numbers were inflated by a soft defense in the second half of the Steelers game, Kap showed us a lot. He showed some pocket poise, some touch, and the rifle he has when needed.
David Neumann will be back on Wednesday with an all-22 breakdown of Kap's performance, but the video above serves as a timely appetizer. Cardinals defense back Tony Jefferson made an appearance on PFT Live to discuss his team and Sunday's matchup. In the final minute or so, Mike Florio asked him whether he sees differences on film in Kap's work from last year to this year. Jefferson did not appear to see much difference:
Well, we're just seeing on third downs, we've been seeing him tuck the ball away and running. Every time it looks like on third down, he's looking at one option and when that option's not open, he's looking to run. So, like I said, we gotta contain him, and try to keep him throwing the ball outside the numbers, because we don't think that's his strength.
David Neumann was reviewing Kap's film today, so I shot him a quick email to see what he was seeing on third down. David had this to say:
By my charting, he scrambled on 2 of 10 third downs against the Vikings and (excluding sacks) 1 of 11 third downs against the Steelers. So obviously that's not a super high scramble rate. The thing I'd need to go back and double check is if it looked like he was going to his first read on most of those throws. Just judging from my notes, there are definitely a few plays in which he moves beyond his first option and still throws. So I don't think there's enough there from these two games to say he's been "one read and go" on third down.
We'll have more on this in the All-22 review on Wednesday.