The San Francisco 49ers are sticking with Colin Kaepernick at quarterback this weekend against the New York Jets, and it would appear Blaine Gabbert will remain the only other option behind him. There has been a small but vocal crowd calling for Christian Ponder to get a shot, either simply being active, or actually starting for the 49ers. On Wednesday, Chip Kelly shot that down for the time being. He was asked if there was any desire to see Ponder active this Sunday against the Jets. His response:
“We haven’t had any discussions about that so far. Really, it was just who was going to be the starting quarterback against the Jets and then let’s get forward because part of game planning evolves around who’s pulling the trigger. So, that was our conversation was just about who was going to start and I think both Ryan, Curtis and myself agreed that it was Kap.”
There was a follow-up question asking if Gabbert will be Kaepernick’s backup this weekend, and Kelly said yes.
So if you have been chanting for Christian Ponder, you can keep chanting, but I would not get my hopes up anytime soon. Of course, if Ponder is the kind of quarterback that gets your hopes up, things are really not good.
Ponder and Gabbert are both free agents after this season, while Kaepernick can and probably will opt out of his contract. The 49ers could decide to re-sign one or more of these quarterbacks, but they could also head into the start of free agency without a single quarterback on the roster. I could see the team re-signing one of Ponder or Gabbert, and Kaepernick’s situation remains in flux. But there will hopefully be some significant turnover at the position this offseason.