Content available exclusively for subscribers
Some people wanted the Jets to sign this player, but they passed.
And Jon Gruden said something yesterday that sheds some light on why the player is still unsigned.
NFL scouts like to say, “The film doesn’t like” when evaluating players.
So perhaps that explains why free agent QB Colin Kaepernick remains unsigned.
While some believe the Kaepernick is being blackballed due to his 2016 anthem protests, Oakland Raiders coach Jon Gruden thinks his unemployment might be more performance related.
“I think there’s a lot of intrigue there,” Gruden said Tuesday at the NFL owners’ meetings in Orlando. “His performance on the field wasn’t very good, on tape. I think, Robert Griffin, a rookie of the year, [I’m] surprised he’s out there. Tim Tebow takes a team to the playoffs, there’s some surprise that he never came back. You know, Johnny Manziel, he’s out there. Back to Kaepernick, he got beat out by [Blaine] Gabbert to start the [2016] season. I think that says something.”
Gabbert has struggled on the NFL level after entering the league as a 2011 first-round pick, and is now on his fourth team (Tennessee) in eight seasons.
His last few years in San Francisco, Kaepernick struggled on the field, and got beat out by Gabbert for the 49ers starting job at the beginning of the 2016 season.
So perhaps Kaepernick’s substandard play late in his San Francisco career has more to do with being jobless than activism. Many NFL teams need quarterback help, so if Kaepernick was a top-shelf signal-caller he’d probably have a job, regardless of his anthem-protests.
And some of Kaepernick’s shortcomings on the field, which are common with a lot of quarterbacks coming out of college, need to be a cautionary tale for the Jets when picking a QB in the draft.
Yes, Colin has a rocket arm. But there is so much more to the position on the NFL level aside from great arm talent.
His last few years in San Francisco, Kaepernick struggled reading defenses and was not comfortable or confident working through progressions.
This applies to a lot of college quarterback prospect, and why most of them flame out in the NFL level.
So many colleges use spread offenses (the type Kaepernick played in at Nevada). These offenses are so simplistic – the quarterback works heavily out of the shotgun with predetermined reads. Most plays involve one-read passes.
So when a lot of these signal-callers come to the NFL, they tend to bird-dog passes to their primary receivers because they were so used to having just one-read in college.
Now it’s true that Kaepernick did have an impressive stretch early in his career, including going to the Super Bowl with San Francisco. Jim Harbaugh did a brilliant job of calling plays to hide his weaknesses.
Then opposing defensive coordinators had a ton of film on Colin and the league caught up to him.
This happens to a lot of young quarterbacks. The league figures them out, especially the one-read guys.
Jets need to pick a guy in the 2018 draft who sees the whole field, is accurate and is good at going through his progressions.
No one-read, bird-dog guys.
March 28, 2018
Premium will return by 9:30 pm on Thursday.