ESPN analyst Ron Jaworski has made many notable comments about San Francisco 49ers QB Colin Kaepernick in the past. His most notable quote was back in August 2013.
I truly believe Colin Kaepernick could be one of the greatest quarterbacks ever. I love his skill set. I think the sky's the limit.
As Kaepernick prepares to take over as the quarterback of the 49ers, Jaworski shared his opinion on how he thinks Kaepernick will fare in Buffalo when he called in on ESPN’s radio show Mike and Mike.
I expect him to play well. I think Colin Kaepernick has tremendous talent. I think over the past couple years he was coached improperly and his mechanics began to lag. I said it when Jim Harbaugh left there that he would struggle because Colin Kaepernick is a guy that has to be coached hard. You gotta be on his back every single day. You have to work on mechanics every single day.
Just think back guys, he was six inches away from winning the Super Bowl over the Baltimore Ravens. Pressure from Ed Reed forced him to the ball throw the ball a tad prematurely, missed Michael Crabtree, or he would've been a Super Bowl champion quarterback rather than Joe Flacco. He has that kind of talent. The talent must be channeled, it must be focused, and he must be coached hard.
Obviously Jaworski doesn’t realize that Jim Harbaugh was coaching the 49ers in 2014 when they went 8-8 and that the Jim Tomsula era was only one year long. Apparently it felt longer than one season to more than just 49ers fans. He makes a fair point but he fails to mention how much talent was on the team when the 49ers made their Super Bowl run. It was an entirely different roster in 2015 as it is now in 2016.
The concept of Kaepernick needing to be “coached hard,” while being a compliment of sorts to Harbaugh’s intensity, is not a compliment to the quarterback. It implies that without constant supervision and correction, Kaepernick will revert back to bad habits that he had prior to Harbaugh’s supervision.
Jaworski says more about Chip Kelly as a coach by not saying anything about him directly. While many analysts have been talking about the need for his offense to evolve, Jaworski at least implies that Kelly will have a positive impact on Kaepernick’s play by keeping him focused.