thesack12 wrote:^ You claim "everybody was talking" about how perfect a fit Kelly's system was for Kaep, which most definitely was not the case, yet accuse me of having cake and eating it too? Thats fine.
Go ahead and look back and find where I said Kaep was a perfect QB, or even where I said he didn't have flaws. In fact go back and find where I even said that he should be the guy past 2017.
I'm tired of this subject, so here's my bottom line. The one and only time Kaep has had competent coaching and talent around him he had the team 5 yards away from winning the super bowl and 1 play away from a repeat super bowl appearance. So the proof is in the pudding that if he has the right situation around him he can be a championship caliber QB.
The truth of the matter is, yes I like the guy. I've met him a couple different times and each time found him to be a grounded very personable guy. On the field wise, ever since he came to San Francisco he has represented the team's best chance to win games, which is what concerns me most. Until he's no longer on the roster or a better option joins the team, I will continue to hold firm in my support for him when it comes to my favorite team's on the field aspirations.
Is he as good as I sometimes portray him to be, well nope. But is he as bad as many claim he, nope to that as well. This notion that he doesn't have NFL caliber talent is frankly absurd.
But I've said my peace, so feel free to get the last word.
Using 2012 as a benchmark is dangerous for a few reasons.
First and foremost, as noted above, Kap came in midseason, before teams had much opportunity to study him and figure him out. We're well past that point now, and the results have not been good.
Second, we're not going to reassemble the type of talent we had in 2012 any time soon (or ever again?). From a pure all-around talent standpoint, that team has got to be in the discussion of the best since the salary cap era. We had pro bowl-caliber talent at virtually every position. Gore, Staley, Iupati, J. Smith, A. Smith, Willis, Bowman, Whitner, and Goldson all made the pro bowl that year. Ray Mac and Brooks weren't name guys, but they both played at an extremely high level, and Boone, A. Davis, and Miller were mauling people in the run game. V. Davis had a down year, but still had the 13-TD talent he had shown in 2009 and repeated in 2013. Even the much-maligned Crabtree ended the season on a pro bowl pace (from week 8 through the playoffs - 12 consecutive games - he posted 1022 yards and 11 TDs). I honestly can't think of a single starter on the current team that I would take over a 2012 starter.
Third, we probably win that SB if Kap had gotten the snap off on time on the 3rd down run (granted it would have been due to Kap's athleticism). Part of that has to be on Harbaugh, as getting the calls in on time was a constant problem for his staff, but we had time to get the play off if Kap had been more aware.
I have gone back and forth on Kap off the field. Ultimately, I think he's a pretty good guy who has been largely misunderstood and judged by people who haven't really studied his background. He's done some stupid stuff IMO, but nothing that should influence personnel decisions. But none of that affects my feelings about him as a player. He's just not a good QB. Oh, he's probably talented enough to start for some NFL team in much the same way that Tebow was, but I don't think that team could rise out of the cellar without superior talent basically across the board. For all Kap's improved play this year, he was what, 1-10 as a starter? He won the same number of games as Gabbert. And Kap is an awful fit for Shanahan's offense. Add that to his salary figure, and it's pretty clear he's got to go.