Blaine Gabbert Named 49ers' Starting QB over Colin Kaepernick

The Blaine Gabbert era in San Francisco will continue, as 49ers head coach Chip Kelly named the former first-round pick his starting quarterback over Colin Kaepernick on Saturday for the Sept. 12 season opener against the Los Angeles Rams, per the team's official Twitter account.

After beginning 2015 as San Francisco's backup quarterback, Gabbert took over as the starter in Week 9 after Kaepernick struggled through the first eight weeks.

Once considered a bust with the Jacksonville Jaguars, Gabbert performed well in his stint leading the 49ers. His numbers weren't eye-popping, but they were superior to Kaepernick's in many key categories:

Player	Games Started	Passing Yards	TD-INT	Completion %	Yards Per Attempt	QBR
Gabbert	8	2,031	10-7	63.1	7.2	42.59
Kaepernick	8	1,615	6-5	59.0	6.6	47.14

Even running the ball, Gabbert was more effective than Kaepernick last season. Gabbert averaged 5.8 yards per attempt, compared to 5.7 for Kaepernick. 

Through most of the offseason, Kelly avoided tipping his hand about his choice, though he did praise Gabbert's athleticism when speaking to KNBR 680 AM in May (via Cam Inman of the Mercury News):

"

He’s extremely athletic. It’s interesting, the three of them, if you look at [Jeff] Driskel, Blaine and Kap, they’re all 6-4 plus, and all can run. All of them are at 4.6 (seconds in the 40-yard dash) or under 4.6, which is kind of rare to have three guys that can kind of do the same thing. But it’s beneficial to you.

The one thing that jumped out right away was how athletic Blaine is. I didn’t see, we did not play against him while I was in Philly, so this is really my first exposure to him. His athleticism is the first thing that jumped out at me.

"

Kelly also praised Kaepernick's intelligence and ability to prepare for games behind the scenes. That was when Kaepernick was still rehabbing after suffering multiple injuries and had not taken the field. 

Andy Benoit of The MMQB noted Gabbert's style of play seemed to be a better fit in Kelly's system:

The 49ers are paying Kaepernick a lot of money—he's due $11.9 million this season with a $15.9 million cap hit, per Spotrac—but they didn't let that impact their decision. 

Gabbert, who carries a base salary of $1.8 million, may not be the franchise savior the 49ers need. However, he looked like a more stable presence under center and showed more dynamic traits last year than in the previous four seasons. 

If Gabbert can avoid making the mistakes that plagued Kaepernick last season, the 49ers have skilled playmakers such as running back Carlos Hyde and wide receiver Torrey Smith who can help the offense improve after it finished last in the NFL in scoring and 31st in total yards last year.