Colin Kaepernick: Predicting QB's Fantasy Football Draft Position Next Season

If you're like me, you're already thinking about who you're going to select in next year's fantasy football draft.

Whether you had the glory of winning your league's Shiva or you're the loser trying to hide the Sacko, chances are you eat, sleep and dream fantasy football.

Following Colin Kaepernick's record-setting divisional-round performance against the Green Bay Packers, I started thinking about the San Francisco 49ers QB's draft stock in terms of fantasy.

Kap threw for 263 yards and two touchdowns and ran for another 181 yards and two touchdowns against the Pack to advance the 'Niners to the NFC Championship Game on Saturday night, all while setting an NFL record, as ESPN Stats & Info tells us:

"

FROM ELIAS: Colin Kaepernick sets the NFL postseason record for single-game Rush Yds by a QB with 163 (Michael Vick - 119 on Jan 15, 2005)

— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) January 13, 2013"

As a whole this season, the 25-year-old QB threw 10 TDs and rushed for five while combining for 2,229 yards, highlighted by four TD passes against the New England Patriots in Week 15.

So where do you think fantasy footballers will draft Kaepernick next season?

Well, my hopes would be that players aren't foolish enough to draft Kap as a top-10 fantasy quarterback.

He does some special things on the field, but as long as the 49ers have Frank Gore in the backfield, 49er QBs shouldn't be taken very high.

Here are my early fantasy QB rankings for 2013:

Rank	Player
1.	Aaron Rodgers
2.	Drew Brees
3.	Tom Brady
4.	Peyton Manning
5.	Robert Griffin III
6.	Cam Newton
7.	Matt Ryan
8.	Ben Roethlisberger
9.	Tony Romo
10.	Andrew Luck

Depending on how Kaepernick finishes this season, I can see him being one of the top 15 drafted QBs, but that's not a definite.

After Andrew Luck in my rankings, there are still guys like Eli Manning, Russell Wilson, Matthew Stafford, Joe Flacco and Philip Rivers, all of whom probably deserve to be drafted before Kap.

While Manning, Stafford and Rivers all had down seasons in 2012, we've seen them put up big fantasy numbers in the past and know they're capable of sustaining a successful season in the NFL.

I'm going to say that Kap's average draft position next season is somewhere in the 16-18 range because of guys like Andy Dalton and Josh Freeman, who could still be better options than the 49ers QB.

Kaepernick has all the tools to lead your team to a fantasy championship, but if you have your heart set on drafting the elusive QB, I'd recommend taking an elite RB and dynamic WR before drafting Kaepernick in 2013.

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