Following the 49ers' 28-0 win over the Rams on Monday night, the opinions on Blaine Gabbert's performance are coming in.
Greg Cosell believes there were more negatives than positives, and called Gabbert "very erratic."
Steve Young, who was the TV game analyst, weighed in on Wednesday evening when asked about Gabbert's accuracy.
"Comes and goes," Young told KNBR 680. "There were a couple throws that we highlighted -- one was a touchdown and one was a crossing route -- when he gets his body in the right spot, it's good. But remember the fourth down play, he tried to speed it up and he threw it into the ground. You gotta be able to take a breath, get your body in position, and then let it go.
"If he gets his body underneath him, I think he can make the throws. It's rushing, making a quick decision and then not getting your body moved in the right place and then trying to throw it ... he needs to make sure that if he's gonna make a quick move to throw a football, quick adjustment, that the whole body comes with him, because then he can be accurate."
[MAIOCCO: Kelly, 49ers 'have all the confidence in the world' in Gabbert]
San Francisco 49ers
Gabbert completed 22 of 35 passes for 170 yards and a touchdown. He did not throw an interception and registered 43 rush yards.
As Cosell pointed out, Gabbert "rushes himself, he plays fast and therefore his feet are not set."
Young agrees and provided more insight.
"When your mind is racing, you can't be an anticipatory thrower -- somebody who throws people open," the Hall of Famer explained. "That's where the mastery comes. You want to see great players -- it's the guys that every throw is taking somebody to a new spot to get open because I know what's coming ... Blaine obviously has a distance to go.
"Chip is gonna give him plenty of opportunity ... if you say to yourself at the end of the year, 'Blaine Gabbert is making a lot of those throws,' then you know that there's a trajectory to it. But if at the end of the year you're saying, 'He's still throwing in the dirt, that didn't work,' then you know there's no trajectory there and then it probably has its own ending that you've already written."
The Jaguars selected Gabbert with the 10th overall pick in the 2011 draft. Over 27 starts in Jacksonville, he went 5-22.
The 49ers acquired Gabbert in March 2014 for a sixth-round pick.
"I actually had to talk to a couple people that are out there (with the 49ers) every day. And the people around there every day kind of describe Blaine as somebody that is -- take this the right way -- an abused quarterback," Young added. "Somebody who has been beat up emotionally, mentally and because of that has unusual responses because there's not a sense of confidence.
"And that's why when I talked about early in the game, if we can get him aggressive, taking it to (the defense), rather than 'careful, third down drop it off' ... I think there is some abuse from Jacksonville and that needs to get out of the system quickly. Nobody in the NFL has time for you to have this history."
