With the loss on Sunday, Colin Kaepernick led the San Francisco 49ers’ fall to a less than spectacular 6-3 record. Conversely the Kansas City Chiefs led by former 49er Alex Smith, have jumped out to a 9-0 start; which has led much of the media and 49er fans to start questioning whether the 49ers made a mistake in choosing Kaepernick over Smith.
Stop. Everyone needs to pump the brakes. Kaepernick is, was and will continue to be a better quarterback than Smith. It was a good decision to replace Smith with Kaepernick last season and is still a good decision today despite the season records.
“I truly believe Colin Kaepernick could be one of the greatest quarterbacks ever,” said Ron Jaworski former NFL quarterback and current NFL analyst on ESPN’s NFL Live. “I love his skill set. I think the sky’s the limit.”
When it comes to just pure, raw talent, Kaepernick is off the charts. He is one of the most athletically gifted quarterbacks in the league. His running makes one think of a cheetah and he has such a cannon for an arm, he threw a 92 mph fastball his senior year of high school which led to the Chicago Cubs drafting him in 2009.
Smith, on the other hand, just does not have any of those previously stated assets. Sure, he is dependable, decent and a known commodity; but like the 49ers when he was with the team and the Chiefs now, teams win with Smith, not because of him.
The Chiefs currently rank 27th in the league in passing and have gone five games without a passing score this season with only 192 passing yards per game over the last five games. While the 49ers currently rank 32nd in the league, it has almost everything to do with injuries.
Mario Manningham, Vernon Davis and Michael Crabtree are all facing injuries. Anquan Boldin, despite having a stellar performance in the opening game against the Green Bay Packers, has yet to replicate his early success. The Chiefs have avoided the debilitating injuries that have helped Smith and the team get the record they have.
Another huge reason to take a deep breath on the Smith versus Kaepernick debate is strength of schedule. Before the season started, the 49ers had the ninth hardest schedule in the league with opponents winning a combined 132-122-2 the previous season. While the Chiefs opponents have a sub .500 record of 121-135-0, it has been a cakewalk for them.
One of the reasons people are so quick to dismiss Kaepernick and wish for Smith comes down to expectations. Kaepernick bursts onto the scene when he emerged as one of the NFL’s most devastatingly dynamic dual threat quarterbacks. In his first seven regular season games, he threw for 1,814 yards and 10 touchdowns and rushing for 415 yards and five touchdowns.
He threw for four touchdowns in three postseason games and rushed for a single-game NFL playoff record 181 yards in the NFC division playoffs last season against season.
This meteoric rise has raised our expectation that when he does struggle, we are quick to judge.
The reason the media and many fans are so high on Smith at the moment is due to the drastically low expectations people have of him.
Expectations are there for a reason. Why are Kaepernick’s expectations so much higher than Smith’s? He is flat out a better player and a better quarterback.
Kaepernick and the 49ers have a rigorous schedule, an injury depleted roster and they are still in the hunt for a playoff spot. People need to take a deep breath and remember that the time to panic is not now.
Kaepernick’s upside is astronomical and he has the potential to not just be a good quarterback but a historically great one. So before Sunday comes around, everyone needs to pump the brakes and be glad that one of the best and brightest young quarterbacks is wearing red and gold.
