Colin Kaepernick Benched, Blaine Gabbert to Start vs. Falcons

Colin Kaepernick's nightmare 2015 season reached a fever pitch Monday, as the San Francisco 49ers have benched the quarterback and named Blaine Gabbert the starter against the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday.

Head coach Jim Tomsula officially announced the move Wednesday. Sports writer Kyle McLorg was the first to report the news. 

"I decided that now is the time," Tomsula said, per Around the NFL. "Blaine's been here for two years, I've watched him get better every day." 

Tomsula also noted he wanted Kaepernick to "step back and take a look at things," per Around the NFL. 

Kaepernick has 1,615 passing yards on the season, but only six touchdown tosses and five interceptions. Mike Garafolo of Fox Sports suggested this wasn't a sudden move:

Ian Rapoport of NFL.com added that players "were split" on Kaepernick and "the brass stayed with him as long as it could."

Tomsula acknowledged the 49ers' 2-6 record did not fall squarely on Kaepernick, according to team reporter Joe Fann.

Kaepernick has been the Niners' full-time starter since midway through the 2012 season. While he has shown flashes of brilliance, 2015 has been a major struggle for him and the 49ers as a whole.

San Francisco signed the 27-year-old to a six-year, $126 million contract extension in 2014. The move hasn't paid dividends to this point, as Kaepernick has struggled to return to the form he displayed when the Niners excelled in 2012 and 2013.

The team's struggles aren't entirely Kaepernick's fault, though his erratic play hasn't helped matters. The offense and defense have lost a ton of talent over the past couple seasons, and former head coach Jim Harbaugh bolted for Michigan.

Kaepernick's starting job has been on shaky ground for some time. According to Jay Glazer of Fox Sports, support for Kaepernick within the Niners locker room began to wane significantly after a Week 7 loss to the Seattle Seahawks.

"His confidence is completely shot," Glazer said. "It's not that [the players] don't like him. But he's just alone, on an island in that locker room. There's not a lot of people he connects with. Confidence-wise, he's just buried right now."

As reports of locker-room discord continued to pour in, 49ers legend Jerry Rice suggested a temporary benching might serve Kaepernick and the team well, per TMZ.

"I am a true Kaepernick fan. One hundred percent," Rice said. "I'm not saying bench him for the season, but sometimes you gotta shake things up. It could energize the team and provide Colin the spark he needs."

Despite the rumblings, the former University of Nevada star insisted that the possibility of losing the starting job hasn't been on his mind, according to Matt Barrows of the Sacramento Bee.

"I don't play for job security," Kaepernick said. "Whether football's here or not, I will be fine. I go out, I play to win. I'm not worried about job security when I step in this building."

While Kaepernick seemingly had the mentality to maintain his role, he will be watching from the sideline during the Niners' next game.

The Jacksonville Jaguars selected Gabbert with the No. 10 overall pick in the 2011 NFL draft, but his tenure as the team's starting quarterback was disastrous. He threw for 4,357 yards, 22 touchdowns and 24 interceptions in 27 starts.

Most have chalked Gabbert up as a bust, but 49ers quarterbacks coach Steve Logan believes Gabbert's struggles were due to a lack of continuity, per Eric Branch of the San Francisco Chronicle.

"If you [have] ... four different offensive coordinators, that's like learning Spanish, French, German and Russian," Logan said. "Just the language alone is enough to drive you crazy. That's tough stuff now."

Gabbert's NFL track record suggests he isn't the answer at quarterback for the 49ers. But the team needs a shake-up, and he is the best option to make that happen in the short term.

While Gabbert has a chance to seize the starting job on a full-time basis if he excels, the move could be a temporary change to light a fire under Kaepernick.

Tomsula couldn't sit idly by and watch his team flounder without doing something, and while starting Gabbert may be a desperate measure, the 49ers are mired in desperate circumstances.

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