Anquan Boldin Comments on Blaine Gabbert's Performance as QB for 49ers

San Francisco 49ers quarterback Blaine Gabbert was an afterthought earlier this season with Colin Kaepernick the clear starter.

However, Kaepernick and the 49ers struggled out of the gate at 2-6, so the team turned to the former Jacksonville Jaguar.

Gabbert has gone 2-2 in his four starts and earned the respect of veteran wide receiver Anquan Boldin.

While speaking Thursday on NFL Network's Around the NFL (via Gregg Rosenthal of NFL.com), Boldin shot high praise Gabbert's way: "His body of work the last couple of weeks speaks for itself. You don't play the way that he's been playing just by luck."       

Gabbert has completed 63 percent of his passes in the four games, throwing for 963 yards, five touchdowns and three interceptions.

Here is how he compares to Kaepernick this season:

Player	GP	Comp. %	Avg. Pass Yards	Avg. TD	Avg. INT
Blaine Gabbert	9	63.0	241	1.3	0.75
Colin Kaepernick	4	59.0	179	0.7	0.67

Gabbert has clearly outplayed Kaepernick, but Boldin has a personal reason to be happy with Gabbert as well. 

The 35-year-old has just 18 receptions for 223 yards and no touchdowns in three games played with Gabbert, but his 31 targets are the most of any three-game stretch he's had this season.

The receiver also said Gabbert has "wheels" and "can throw the ball with the best of them." He answered, "I think so" when asked if Gabbert could be the future at quarterback for San Francisco.

If so, it could cause a problem, according to Paul Gutierrez of ESPN.com, but maybe not as big of one as it seems on the surface.

Kaepernick signed a $126 million contract extension in the summer of 2014, but as Gutierrez wrote, it was a "team-friendly" one:

"

The guarantees in Kaepernick's contract do not vest until April 1, which is another sign San Francisco gave itself time to think things through. Many other players' contracts vest in February and March, so the 49ers could part ways with him before April 1, 2016 and save $9.36 million in salary cap, per OverTheCap.com, as well as the remainder of his salary.

Truly, the only guarantee in Kaepernick's contract is the $61 million in injury protection. And in terms of real money, cutting Kaepernick before April 1 means the 49ers will responsible for only the rest of the prorated signing bonus -- $7,397,259 -- according to ESPN Stats and Information.

"

While Gabbert's hot play could cost the 49ers a high draft pick if he keeps winning, it won't cost them much to cut ties with Kaepernick.

Boldin apparently will be just fine with that.