SANTA CLARA — In a one-on-one drill Tuesday at 49ers training camp, Bruce Ellington ran a stop-and-go route down the sideline, burned the defensive back covering him and hauled in a gorgeous 40-yard strike from Colin Kaepernick.
It was the perfect example of why the 49ers are running a quarterback competition with a major glitch attached to it.
Understand this: Kaepernick will not get to display his improved touch on deep passes in the preseason, or his other playmaking strengths. Play-calling will be buttoned-up and improvising skills will be frowned upon. San Francisco is looking for ordinary on Sunday against the Texans, not extraordinary.
“Can we throw and catch simple routes?” offensive coordinator Curtis Modkins told reporters about the expectations against Houston. “There’s not any game planning going on for the first game.”
If simple is what the 49ers want in their starting quarterback, that’s exactly what Blaine Gabbert gives you. He’s the clear low-risk option, with fewer question marks attached to him and less baggage. Gabbert’s used to playing this check-down style of football that most teams execute in the preseason. He’ll give you a higher completion percentage, probably less interceptions and he gets rid of the ball quicker. It’s robotic, but can work when paired with an elite defense.
But while Gabbert’s approach minimizes mistakes, he’s not the playmaker that’ll inherently help a 49ers offense lacking talent. Kaepernick has certainly shown flashes in training camp that he’s not some washed up has-been. His arm strength can still throw wide receivers open and on days like Tuesday, improved accuracy and footwork in the pocket have been apparent. Maybe he’s not the same stallion leading the 49ers to the Super Bowl like he did in 2013, but the upside is still there.
As much as it may pain him, it would behoove Kaepernick to play boring football on Sunday. Play rigidly within the offense, fire quick passes to tight ends and running backs in the flat. At best, he can show the 49ers he’s thinking quicker in the pocket. At worst, he can say this is exactly what you were looking for.
But this approach puts the 49ers at a serious disadvantage. The coaching staff and the fan base want to see Kaepernick decipher Green Bay’s exotic defensive looks and cornerback blitzes. Maybe he gets a little taste of that against the Packers in Week 3 of the preseason, but one sample size is going to be too small to convince anyone either way that Kaepernick is a new man, or a wasted project.
Obviously Chip Kelly doesn’t want to tip his hand at wrinkles he’s added to his offense. But San Francisco truly is going to enter the season not knowing if Kaepernick has actually turned the corner. Modkins, who told reporters he will have input on the quarterback decision, did his best to convince us the preseason will be enough to determine the right guy for the 49ers.
“It doesn’t matter whether it’s an exotic game plan or not. That doesn’t matter, right? It’s football and you’re evaluating how they play football,” Modkins said.
Except game plans and taking the play calling stranglehold off of your quarterback do matter. The consensus around the NFL is that the preseason is to dictate depth on the backend of the roster and to season rookie players — not to decide quarterback competitions. Kelly was put in a lose-lose situation. Naming Gabbert the starting quarterback before training camp would put pressure on him to out perform Kaepernick every single day in practice. Letting the competition drag out means the head coach has to make a season-altering decision based on glorified scrimmages.
One thing to note about the 49ers’ quarterback competition: the offensive line looks much improved from a year ago. All bets are on Anthony Davis reclaiming his spot at right tackle before the season opener and first-round draft pick Joshua Garnett plays with a mean streak. A better offensive line only makes the case to start Kaepernick even stronger. His 2015 campaign was disastrous but very few quarterbacks in the league could’ve thrived behind a line punctured on nearly every play.
Torrey Smith told KNBR on Monday that he wants this quarterback competition to be over sooner rather than later. It’s fair of him to want to build more practice reps with the QB who he’ll be asked to move the offense down the field with.
But if the 49ers are going to give Kaepernick a fair shot, they shouldn’t follow Smith’s advice.
Unless Gabbert or Kaepernick completely craps the bed in the preseason, Chip Kelly needs to wait until Week 3, start Kaepernick against a game planned opponent, and see how he fares with much more thinking — and pressure — to live up to.