ESPN analyst and former NFL quarterback Ron Jaworski made headlines this week when he suggested that third-year San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick — who has only seven career regular-season starts to his name — "could be one of the greatest quarterbacks ever."
That, of course, is a ridiculously lofty statement. Kaepernick had a fantastic season after taking over for Alex Smith, leading the Niners to the Super Bowl and emerging as an incredibly hard to stop dual threat. However, the sample size is small. Kaepernick might have top-tier speed and a rocket arm, but there's a reason why 35 men were drafted ahead of him in 2011.
Let's see how Kaepernick handles the fact that defenses will now be preparing for him. We've seen many quarterbacks dominate in short early-career spurts before being solved, so Jaworski is really going out on a limb.
On the bright side, Kaepernick's got a lot of support. Anquan Boldin joins a solid receiving corps and the Niners have one of the best running games in the league with Frank Gore leading the way. The offensive line is jacked, the defense is stacked and head coach Jim Harbaugh is a quarterback guru.
Still, he's playing in a town that once possessed Joe Montana and Steve Young, so the pressure's on.
