The 49ers have a way forward with Colin Kaepernick at quarterback, Kevin Lynch of the San Francisco Chronicle argues. In Miami, Kaepernick ran for 113 yards and threw for 296 more with three touchdowns against one interception. While he can’t provide that kind of production every week, Lynch sees that as a glimpse of what Kaepernick is capable of doing in Chip Kelly‘s offense. It has been widely speculated that the Niners will move on from the controversial Kaepernick in the offseason, but it’s always difficult to find a capable QB and they might not find a ton of attractive options in the spring.
Here’s more out of the NFC West:
- Seahawks defensive end Michael Bennett appears to be on track to return following a five-game absence, John Boyle of Seahawks.com writes. “I visited with Mike, he thinks he’s on,” coach Pete Carroll said of Bennett, who had arthroscopic knee surgery last month. “We’ve got to get all the clearance from the doctors, but the trainers think he’s in good shape and ready to go, so we’re counting on him playing. He’s very positive about it, he’s really looking forward to getting back.”
- 49ers general manager Trent Baalke recently praised pending free agent tight end Vance McDonald, as Matt Barrows of The Sacramento Bee writes. “He’s gotten much more consistent, he’s doing a good job blocking,” Baalke said. “He’s a good all-around football player, and he has a chance in this scheme to do some things, as you say, because the matchups are favorable.” Barrows notes that among NFL tight ends with at least 20 receptions, McDonald is No. 2 behind New England’s Rob Gronkowski in averaging 17.4 yards per grab. There should be a lot of changes for the 1-10 Niners in the offseason, but McDonald could be playing his way on to the 2017 team.
- The Rams, Cardinals, Seahawks, and Cardinals were all on hand to watch the tryouts of two rugby stars who are hoping to transition to the NFL.
Cardinals are listed twice in the last section
Us Niner fans don’t want Chip Kelly or Kaepernick or Baalke. Need a complete house cleaning.
I agree. To me it starts with Baalke. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t like Chip but I think we can do worse as far as a coach goes. I think we should can Baalke, let Kaep walk because we know we will opt out, fire Chip and draft a QB. We should let Gamble take over at GM. Gamble (if he gets the job) should call Fangio and see if he would be interested in the Head Coaching job. I really like that guy and I think he would be the perfect fit. Hard nosed, great defensive mind that will pound the ball, use up the clock and play hard hitting defense. Get back to that west coast offense where we run the ball, run screens and slants and just flat out control the game and give our defense more of a rest then they are getting. I honestly don’t think we have a good defense but I do think they are better then they are playing but they are tied and end up breaking down. If you look at every game for the most part we are in the game in the first half and in he second half we break down. Maybe I’m wrong, maybe Fangio wouldn’t be the guy but I’d like to give him a shot at it. I know that he might be mad he was overlooked after Harbaugh but with Baalke gone maybe he will let that go and come Coach the team.