Quarterback Battle Made In San Francisco

The San Francisco 49ers currently have themselves what could be described as a good problem to have at the quarterback position. Starting quarterback Alex Smith has been sidelined with a concussion, which opened the door for his backup Colin Kaepernick to step in and make his starting debut this past Monday night against the Chicago Bears. Kaepernick didn’t just step in for Smith; he stepped up and on national television showed everyone just how good he could potentially be as a starting quarterback. The 49ers dominated the Bears and rolled to a 32-7 win with Kaepernick’s performance, which was apparently strong enough that it reportedly has head coach Jim Harbaugh leaning towards naming him as the starter going forward, even if Smith is healthy or not. According to reports from Sports Illustrated and ESPN, Harbaugh is apparently giving Kaepernick all of the first-team reps in practice and he may have already informed Smith that Kaepernick will be the starter. Harbaugh didn’t exactly tip his hand this week to the media on which way he’s leaning once Smith is cleared to return to the field. Sometimes it’s what’s not said that speaks volumes, and in this case with Harbaugh, that is exactly what happened. There was Harbaugh doing his best Billy Flynn impression as he tapped danced around the question of who would be his starting quarterback. “I usually tend to go with the guy who has the hot hand,” he said, “but we have two quarterbacks who have a hot hand.” My gut feeling on this is that Harbaugh wants the Kaepernick era to start sooner than later, but he’s just not willing to come out and say that right now, which makes sense. Smith has done a good job at quarterback for Harbaugh since he took over as the head coach, however the 49ers were not exactly in a hurry to bring Smith back this past off-season. Harbaugh inherited Smith when he took over as head coach and decided to keep him. Kaepernick was drafted by Harbaugh and his upside is projected to be higher than Smith’s. Kaepernick has the running ability and the play-making ability that can open eyes whenever he’s on the field, however against the Bears, he showed Harbaugh that he can also be accurate in the passing game. He also showed a great deal of poise. It was only one game, however it may have been enough for Harbaugh to stick with the switch. Smith has put together an impressive season as the starter for the 49ers. It just seems that no matter what he does going forward, Harbaugh has his long-term plans fitted for Kaepernick to be his guy. Harbaugh’s tap dance for the media created a quarterback controversy for his ballclub. Whichever way Harbaugh decides or has decided to go, it doesn’t change the fact that this is a football team built to go to the Super Bowl. It’s all good that this team has two capable quarterbacks, however stability is just as important to have, especially at this point in the season where playoff positioning becomes more of a concern. The post Quarterback Battle Made In San Francisco appeared first on FootBasket.