San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick has been shaking off a lot of rust over the past seven weeks, and with six starts under his belt, we are seeing more and more from him. The passing accuracy remains an issue, but one area where he might be looking better than ever is his running. In Week 12, Kaepernick had 113 rushing yards, with 80 coming on six scrambles, and 33 coming on four designed runs, according to Pro Football Focus.
Through six starts, Kaepernick is averaging 8.1 yards per carry. He entered this season averaging 5.98 yards per carry. Kaepernick has 373 rushing yards on the season, trailing only Tyrod Taylor among quarterbacks. Taylor has 439 rushing yards this season, but he also has played in 11 games to Kaepernick’s six.
It is safe to say he is flashing some things on the ground. On Tuesday, Kaepernick met with the media at the team’s Orlando practice, and discussed what he has been able to do in Chip Kelly’s offense. He talked about the increase in space with three-receiver sets, and also about the decision-making that comes with figuring out when to tuck and run. Here’s a transcript of those particular comments.
Why do you think that your rushing yards are so much greater than they’ve been at any point in your career as far as yards per game? Do you have any theories as to why you’re gaining more yards rushing?
“I think part of it is this offense lends itself that that. There’s more opportunities for that, especially being in three-receiver sets most of the time, a lot more space out there. So, scramble lanes are bigger. When we do run zone-read there’s more space there as well.”
But, most of your yards are coming off scrambles and not designed runs, correct?
“I think it depends on the game. I think it really varies.”
Do you feel like you’re making as good of decisions as you’ve ever made in terms of when to take off, when to stay in the pocket?
“I feel like I’m getting more and more comfortable in this offense. Ultimately, I think that’s what it comes down to for a quarterback is getting comfortable in an offense, really getting your feet settled in, getting that foundation to be able to go out and just play freely and this offense has been great for me in that way.”