San Francisco 49ers: Starting Quarterback Should Be An Easy Call To Make

The San Francisco 49ers have all eyes on them as their quarterback competition heats up – but naming the actual starter for the season should be an easy call to make.

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With training camp underway, the quarterback competition for the San Francisco 49ers is beginning to get rolling. Colin Kaepernick has been fully cleared medically and can begin doing everything football related after missing the early offseason work as he recovered from surgery. Blaine Gabbert on the other hand, has been doing all the work and immersing himself in new HC Chip Kelly’s system from day one.

Though Kelly and the 49ers continue to insist that it’s a wide open competition, naming the starter should be one of the easiest calls to make. As strange as it is to hear it – let alone write it – given the difficulties he’s had throughout his career and the lingering “first round bust” label that’s been attached to him, Blaine Gabbert gives the 49ers the best chance to win.

To hear most people tell it, Kaepernick was born to run Kelly’s offense. They see him as best suited to be Kelly’s quarterback because he’s big, strong, athletic, and very mobile. But some people seem to think that Kelly’s offense revolves around a running quarterback – mistakenly so.

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Yes, Kelly’s quarterbacks need to be mobile. But his offensive system is centered around a strong running game. Quarterbacks need to be able to move and make plays outside of the pocket, but they don’t necessarily need to be the enormous running threat some folks seem to think is a staple of Kelly’s offense. They just need to be able to keep defenses honest.

Or, as Kelly put it at a coaching clinic:

"“We want the ball in the running back’s hands. We do not want the quarterback carrying the ball. The option can put the ball in his hands, but the defense can force it out of his hands. We want the quarterback to give the ball unless he cannot.”"

More important to Kelly’s system is the ability to read the defense, make the right decisions, and above all, be accurate when throwing. Which is the crux of Kaepernick’s problem – too often, we’ve seen his inability to read defenses, make the right decisions, or be accurate.

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He has a career completion percentage below 60 percent, and just last season, displayed an alarming tendency to make bad decisions and even worse throws. Not that Gabbert was astronomically better, but he was able to take command of San Francisco’s offense last season and raised the level of offensive play as a whole.

But more importantly – and the biggest reason Gabbert should be named the starter – is that he has the trust and confidence of his team. Whereas Kaepernick has been called “aloof” or has been said to “be alone on an island” in the locker room, Gabbert has enjoyed vocal support from his teammates.

Alex Boone, who departed as a free agent for Minnesota this offseason, said this:

"“To be honest I think that Blaine did a great job last year and from what I know of Blaine, I think he’s probably gonna take the reins. I mean I think he’s a good guy, he knows what he’s doing out there, and he just has the support of the group so I think that’s one of the things to look forward to.”"

After ending last season as the team’s starter, Gabbert has reportedly been working hard to absorb Kelly’s system from day one, even helping to organize a pre-camp practice session with his receivers aimed at preparing for the coming season and building chemistry with his teammates.

And having that trust, that camaraderie, and chemistry is of the utmost importance.

Kaepernick and Gabbert are both sharing the reps with the first team in the early going. Kelly is saying that the competition is still wide open and won’t put any sort of timeframe on naming the starter.

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But given their performances last season – neither of which was spectacular, to be fair – Gabbert would seem to have the edge in that he already has the trust of his teammates, where as Kaepernick would still need to build those bridges.

There will be a lot of heated battles in camp for San Francisco this year – but the fight between their quarterbacks should be the easiest one of all to call.