San Francisco coach Chip Kelly doesn’t see a lot of difference between the two players in his quarterback competition, Colin Kaepernick and Blaine Gabbert.
Kelly said on 95.7 The Game that he doesn’t see a lot of difference between the two players, and they’re both equally good fits for his offense.
“They’re similar. They have a similar skill set,” Kelly said, via NinersNation.com. “They’re both 6-foot-4-plus. They both can really run, which will help keep plays alive. Obviously, we’re not a quarterback-run offense, but if the quarterback can run, you can use a little of that to your advantage. And they both have extremely strong arms. So, from a skill set standpoint, the two of them are kind of cut out of the same mold.”
Kelly said the presence of Kaepernick and Gabbert was one of the reasons he wanted the 49ers job.
“I was excited, and you know part of looking at the roster, when you have an opportunity to analyze what’s out there,” Kelly said. “I was excited about what they have here at the quarterback position. Obviously Kap’s coming off an injury, was on injured reserve, and is back getting healthy. But I thought Blaine when he played, played well. So I think there’s talent there. It’ll be a good competition when we get Kap fully healthy.”
Not too long ago, it would have sounded crazy to compare Kapernick and Gabbert -- Kaepernick was viewed as one of the NFL’s bright young stars, and Gabbert was viewed as one of the NFL’s biggest recent draft busts. But Kaepernick played worse than expected last year while Gabbert played better than expected. Now it appears, to Kelly anyway, that they’re similar players.