The San Francisco 49ers have not declared their starting quarterback for Friday’s game against the Green Bay Packers, but Colin Kaepernick is viewed by most as the likely starter. Chip Kelly would not even acknowledge that Kaepernick would actually play, but he did say he was on track. Kelly has also said the players are getting equal reps in the competition. That all would seem to suggest we’ll see Kaepernick with the 1s when they get started on Friday.
It is possible, and maybe even likely that we see both Kaepernick and Blaine Gabbert getting work with the 1s during the game. Gabbert has done some good things in the first two preseason games, but it has not been nearly enough to say he should be the starting quarterback. He might well end up with the role, but with Kaepernick’s arm apparently good to go again, Friday provides a pretty huge opportunity for him.
The 49ers will likely keep things fairly vanilla against the Packers, but it will be interesting to see what Kaepernick can do with the playbook. A big run would probably not surprise anybody, but will we see anything big in the passing game? Or will the Packers defense sufficiently stifle him. The Packers had little trouble against Kaepernick and the 49ers last year, but Kaepernick does have some fun playoff history against them. None of that is particularly relevant to this game, but when I think of Colin Kaepernick vs. the Green Bay Packers, that kind of stuff creeps into my head.
What do you think we’ll see from Kaepernick Friday evening?