San Francisco 49ers head coach Chip Kelly formally announced Colin Kaepernick will be the team’s starting quarterback when they face the Tampa Bay Buccaneers this weekend. On Sunday, following the loss to the Bills, Kelly was asked who his starting quarterback would be against the Bucs, and he said, “We’ll see.” This clarifies things from the start of the prep week. Kelly also said Blaine Gabbert will remain the backup, and Christian Ponder remains the three.
Kaepernick made a lot of mistakes on Sunday, but also flashed some of the skills that have sucked us in the past few years. It is no surprise that he will get this next start. Blaine Gabbert got five starts, and my guess is Kaepernick gets at least a similar number of starts. Whether he keeps the job after that remains to be seen.
The 49ers host the Bucs before heading into the bye week. After the bye, they host New Orleans, travel to Arizona, and host New England. Given what we’ve seen of the 49ers defense, the offense is going to need to put up a whole lot of points. We’ll see if there is any improvement from Sunday, or if things are settling in for that 1-15 haul (or maybe both!).