Chip Kelly has 'no idea' who will be 49ers' QB but loves Gabbert's athleticism
The early reviews of Chip Kelly's offense are certainly encouraging, but it's still unclear who will run it.
By
Ryan Wilson
•
2 min read
The early reviews of Chip Kelly's offense are certainly encouraging -- 49ers tight end Garrett Celek even used the word "genius" -- but it's one thing to dominate in shorts and T-shirts, and something else entirely to do it in pads against another team.
Plus, you can be the smartest football mind on the planet and struggle to win football games if you're without a franchise quarterback. Kelly had firsthand experience with that in Philadelphia last season and it cost him his job. Now in San Francisco, he'll need to figure out whether Colin Kaepernick or Blaine Gabbert gives the 49ers the best chance to win.
So who has the early edge?
"I have no idea," Kelly told KNBR 680-AM, via the MercuryNews.com. "We're not playing a game until September. At this point in time, it's early, and one of the players, Colin, is injured right now, so he's not been a full participant in everything."
Before Kaepernick landed on injured reserve last season, he was benched for Gabbert, though that was under former coach Jim Tomsula. Meanwhile, Kaepernick has spent the intervening months rehabbing from surgeries on his right thumb, left shoulder and left knee.
"Kap's at every meeting. Kap's at rehab. Kap's at every practice, doing what he can," Kelly continued. "We don't know exactly what we have until we get those guys up and running. That won't be determined until preseason camp."
And while Kaepernick has been present for offseason workouts, he still hasn't been medically cleared to return to the field.
"He's still working extremely hard in the rehab part," Kelly said. "I think people forget he had a thumb injury, a shoulder injury and a knee injury that he's coming off of. So right now, Blaine is out there, Thad Lewis is with us, and Jeff Driskel are the ones taking the snaps in the offseason program."
TheMMQB.com's Andy Benoit, who watches as much film as some coaches, has some thoughts on Kaepernick vs. Gabbert.
If I had to put odds on who starts most games at QB for #49ers, I'd say Gabbert the favorite at 5:1.
— Andy Benoit (@Andy_Benoit) May 13, 2016
Stylistically, Gabbert fairly well-suited for Kelly's scheme. Much better fit than Kaepernick for passing game.
— Andy Benoit (@Andy_Benoit) May 13, 2016
Concern with Gabbert is how he performs in muddied pocket. Quick scheme like Kelly's eliminates some of that.
— Andy Benoit (@Andy_Benoit) May 13, 2016
Kelly isn't in any hurry to tip his hand but he does seem intrigued by Gabbert's potential.
"He's extremely athletic," Kelly said of Gabbert. "It's interesting, the three of them, if you look at Driskel, Blaine and Kap, they're all 6-4 plus, and all can run. All of them are at 4.6 (seconds in the 40-yard dash) or under 4.6, which is kind of rare to have three guys that can kind of do the same thing. But it's beneficial to you.
"The one thing that jumped out right away was how athletic Blaine is. I didn't see, we did not play against him while I was in Philly, so this is really my first exposure to him. His athleticism is the first thing that jumped out at me."
We'll have wait to see if that translates into a starting job -- and more importantly, wins -- in San Francisco. The good news is that Kelly was ridiculously successful in his first year with the Eagles, where Nick Foles (!) threw 27 touchdowns and just two interceptions. The bad news is that things went sideways quickly and Kelly didn't make it through his third year in Philly.
