Some teammates and 49ers insiders have questioned Colin Kaepernick’s intangibles over the past year.
Former San Francisco running back Frank Gore, for instance, was excited to be in the huddle with the Indianapolis Colts and quarterback Andrew Luck last season after an entire career with the 49ers, and said Luck was unlike any QB he’d ever played with, including the guy who recently helped the Niners reach the Super Bowl.
“I’m not knocking my other quarterbacks, I respect them other guys, but being around this guy a couple months, he’s a different breed,” Gore told USA Today. “He’s smart. He makes me feel young. He runs the huddle. I never had that.”
But don’t count fullback Bruce Miller among the 49ers who question the qualities of Kaepernick or Blaine Gabbert, who could turn out to be competitors for the starting role in training camp – because the 49ers continue to insist they would be perfectly happy not to trade No. 7 away if he’s a good fit with new head coach Chip Kelly.
Speaking on Sirius XM NFL radio recently, Miller – when asked about Kaepernick – said he’s confident he has everything a winning team needs.
“I’m just a big fan of both those guys (Kaepernick and Gabbert), and hoping that they are both back with us,” Miller told hosts Vic Carucci and Dan Leberfeld, according to SB Nation. “Fantastic football players, so what they can bring to our team is going to be big for us. He’s a great leader in the locker room and I just hope he’s around for as long as I’m there, for sure.”
Kelly apparently is eager to work with both Kaepernick and Gabbert, believing they fit his spread offense, and reports last week indicated the 49ers will allow Kelly’s opinion to be the key element in whether the team keeps Kaepernick or decides to release him or send him elsewhere.
