San Francisco 49ers: 5 Areas in Which Colin Kaepernick Can Improve in 2015

Andy Benoit of Sports Illustrated recently ranked Colin Kaepernick of the San Francisco 49ers the 21st-best quarterback in the NFL, three spots behind former teammate and current starter for the Kansas City Chiefs, Alex Smith. Ouch.

“Raw tools are starting, but so are a lot of his decisions,” wrote Benoit of Kaepernick. “There are also mechanical flaws.”

Kaepernick’s mechanical flaws mostly involve his feet. When he throws downfield, sometimes he strides too far and his pass sails high above the receiver’s head. Or, when he throws short, sometimes he doesn’t stride far enough and his pass darts down toward the receiver’s ankles.

That’s one area in which Kaepernick can improve. Here are five more areas in which he can improve in 2015.

Anticipation

Ezra Shaw/Getty Images

The best quarterbacks start throwing before their intended receiver is open—before the receiver even makes the break at the top of his route.

That’s called throwing with anticipation. It gives opposing defensive backs less time to break toward the ball and knock it down or pick it off.

Kaepernick does not throw with anticipation. He waits for visual confirmation a receiver is open. Then he throws as hard as he can, trying to make up for lost time.

A quarterback doesn’t have to throw hard if he passes the ball on time. Joe Montana didn’t throw hard. Neither did Super Bowl champion Kurt Warner, Kaepernick’s mentor this offseason at Exos training facility in Phoenix.

Kaepernick needs to stop using his fastball as a crutch.

Pre-Snap Awareness

Brian Bahr/Getty Images

Kaepernick does his best work post-snap, as opposed to his predecessor, Alex Smith, who is a pre-snap master.

The opposing defense almost never fooled Smith. He could crouch under center, identify the coverage and pressure scheme, get the offense into an advantageous play and snap the ball.

That’s how Smith dominated the Green Bay Packers Week 1 of 2012, completing 20 of 26 passes in a 30-22 victory.

Kaepernick still gets fooled when defenses disguise their coverage pre-snap. On the Niners’ final offensive play of Week 2 last season, for example, the Chicago Bears cornerbacks seemed to be lining up to play zone coverage.

After the snap, they did not play zone coverage. They played man. Kaepernick threw over the middle to Michael Crabtree, who was covered, and the pass fell incomplete.

After the game, a reporter asked him what he saw on that play. Kaepernick said, “They had Cover 3; we got the look we wanted.”

Wrong. Cover 3 was the pre-snap disguise. After the snap, the Bears actually played Cover 1—man-to-man across the board with one safety in deep zone coverage. Even at the postgame press conference, Kaepernick didn’t know the defense had fooled him.

Finding the Second Receiver

Ronald Martinez/Getty Images

Kaepernick has a bad habit.

He tends to stare down the first receiver in his progression—stare him down a long time. If the receiver never gets open, Kaepernick’s mechanics fall apart as he starts looking for places to scramble.

He’ll turn his shoulders so they’re parallel to the line of scrimmage, which allows him to run right or left. But he can’t throw from that position, even if he spots a secondary receiver who’s open.

Draft experts often compare 2015 first-round pick Marcus Mariota to Kaepernick because of their similar size and speed. But Mariota goes through progressions quickly and calmly in the pocket.

Kaepernick is still learning to do that consistently.

Making the Short Throws

Ronald Martinez/Getty Images

Former 49ers head coach Jim Harbaugh seemed to fall in love with Kaepernick because he could make the long, difficult throws, not just the short, safe ones Alex Smith could make.

Thing is, Kaepernick actually struggles making short throws, like a pitcher who can’t consistently make the throw to first base. Kaepernick used to pitch, so there might be something to that analogy.

He tends to throw short passes too hard. Instead of floating swing passes out in front of the running back, he fires them and forces the running back to make difficult catches.

This offseason, the Niners signed veteran running back Reggie Bush, who specializes in catching swing passes. Kaepernick must start throwing those with touch to get the most out of Bush next season.

Knowing When and When Not to Run

Wesley Hitt/Getty Images

Sometimes, Kaepernick seems more interested in scrambling than going through progressions.

Sometimes when he rolls out of the pocket on a bootleg, he seems more interested in rushing for five yards than throwing to the receiver who is breaking open downfield.

Other times, he seems more interested in standing still and proving he can throw from the pocket than scrambling to escape a sack.

Last season, Kaepernick got sacked 52 times—a career high. Pro Football Focus blamed him for seven of those sacks, which means either he held the ball too long or ran into pressure.

In 2013, Pro Football Focus blamed him for nine of the 49ers’ 39 sacks—almost one-fourth of them.

Either get rid of the ball or get out of the pocket—Kaepernick must make up his mind quicker.

All quotations obtained firsthand unless otherwise noted.

Follow @grantcohn