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QB Colin Kaepernick of Nevada Scouting Report & Evaluation
QB Colin Kaepernick - Nevada
One of the wild card players of the enter NFL Draft 2011 process is strong armed Nevada QB Colin Kaepernick. One of the best athletes at the position, Kaepernick completed an excellent postseason where he performed well at both the Senior Bowl and NFL Combine. He is a prospect with size, arm strength, smarts and the athleticism to be a huge threat with his feet and passing. He has the NFL arm to make all the throws accurately with the ability to drill the ball into tight seams and the touch the drop the deep ball into the bucket. His awkward delivery needs some work, yet his gets the ball out in good timing and accurately. His long arms make his delivery look elongated but his timing is more than adequate. Remember the Chargers Philip Rivers was highly criticized for his throwing motion and delivery in general and he has ranked in the NFL’s top ten passers since early in his career.
Though not a first round selection, Kaepernick should come off the board in the early second round with as many as 9 teams having a high need at the QB position. I expect him to come off the board early in the 2nd round with several of the clubs selecting in the top ten teams that did not add a QB in the early first round very interested in drafting the WAC star. We could see as many as 6 QBs selected in the top 40 selections and another one or two within the next round.
Below are two You Tube videos of Colin Kaepernick
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8marza3hMU&NR=1&feature=fvwp
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NMBbvtULCSc#t=33s
Colin Kaepernick Scouting Report
Colin Kaepernick #10 - 6’5” 230 lbs. - Nevada - Sp. 4.55 Rating 85
Hindu Theory - Jason Campbell
Tall athletic senior QB completed a record setting career in the WAC starting all four seasons. Colin led the Nevada ‘Pistol’ offense flawlessly over his tenure that includes big wins over Boise St and a few postseason bowl appearances. He is a tall gangly athlete with good size, arm strength and overall athletic talent that should allow him to become a solid NFL starting passer in time. He moves quickly in the pocket and can make key throws on the move with good accuracy and decision making when he scrambles. He is a fine runner in the openfield with good deceiving speed and some power and elusiveness to make yardage. His ability to run and throw outside the pocket puts pressure on a defense. He is a well-rounded and savvy athlete with the talent to become a starting pro passer with further development on his basic throwing technique and his ability to read defenses. He has a powerful arm that allows him to make all of the throws with the ability to drive the ball down the field. He has developed the touch and accuracy on the short and intermediate throws operating in the Nevada spread offense. His accuracy falls noticeably in the deep zones and he needs work on his footwork and follow through. When under center, his setup, mechanics, delivery and follow through needs work that must improve for him to challenge for NFL starting time. He improved his accuracy each year while eliminating mistakes annually. As with most young passers, he is underdeveloped at reading defenses and coverage and needs development to go through his progressions quicker with better overall decision-making. He needs extensive reps under center before seeing any pro playing time. He has an elongated windup and delivery that needs correction, in addition to further technique work and some critical footwork on his setup and follow through. He can lock on to the primary receiver consistently and force the ball too often that leads to many mistakes. Over his starting career, he showed good ball security and decision-making and threw only 24 interceptions on his way to 10000 yards passing. He has fine mental and physical talent that makes him one of the most intriguing QB prospects where he showed leadership qualities since early in his stay. He is still raw in many aspects of play and needs strong coaching and vital time to develop his skills set further in a pro style offense. He has a very good arm and a high release point with few deflections. He developed good leadership qualities playing at a high-level vs top teams like in the Boise St upside during the late 2010 season.
The Numbers: Over the 2010 season, he started every game and completed 233 passes of 359 attempts with 8 interceptions and 21 TDs on a 65% rate for 3022 yards that earned him 1s team WAC honors. Over his junior season, he started every game and threw for 2052 yards on 166-of-282 passing for 59% with 20 TDs and 6 interceptions. Over his career, he threw for 10098 yards on 60% rate with 82 TDs and 24 picks. He also added 4000 yards rushing making him the only active player with 10000 yards passing and 4000 rushing. He is similar to NFL starter Jason Campbell in size, AA, arm strength and LOD. At the NFL Combine, he came in at over 6’4” and 233 lbs. He ran 4.56 time 32.5” VL and a 9’7” BJ. He threw the ball very well and had good agility drills to finish his workout. At the Senior Bowl week, he gave a strong showing and impressed coaches and scouts with his attitude and his ability to pick up schemes and the new offense.
The Skinny: Big highly productive athlete with the fine size and arm strength to become a quality NFL starter with some critical development. His windup needs clear improvement to get a quicker release, in addition to footwork to set up better that will raise his overall accuracy. He still needs development in several key areas including defense recognition and it would be wise for him to sit a few seasons early in his career to learn an offense and refine his basic talents. Though he can drive the ball down the field, he fails to make the tough intermediate throw accurately to get the ball into tight windows in coverage. He has a high ceiling as a prospect, but his early production could be a minimal at best and a major disappointment if a club’s expectations are too high of him early. He needs further work on recognizing different defensive schemes and learn to go through his check-downs quicker to make proper decisions. His throwing mechanics are only marginal and he needs some critical work and development with an NFL QB coach who can refine his long delivery and his overall throwing technique. Though he has to be considered a developmental player with little experience under center, he is a prospect with huge upside potential to become an NFL starter with refinement of his fine skill set. Solid prospect with the natural talent to become a good starting QB after further development and critical time to learn a system in the proper setting. Probable early round selection and marginal top 40 pick with the talent to go early on the 2nd round to teams like Bills, 49ers or Cards.
Draft Projection: 2nd Round