49ers vs. Saints: 4 Realistic Expectations for Colin Kaepernick's 49ers Debut

When the San Francisco 49ers take on the New Orleans Saints in New Orleans on Friday night, most 49ers fans will be watching for Colin Kaepernick.

The former Nevada Wolf Pack star will be making his professional debut after being selected in the second round of the 2011 NFL Draft.

He won't steal the starting job from Alex Smith this week, but there are still some thing fans should watch for from him.

Here are four realistic expectations of Kaepernick in Friday night's preseason opener.

4. Some Missed Reads

Let's get the bad stuff out of the way first.

This is his first live professional action, so there are going to be some mistakes.

Expect a couple of his passes to be nowhere near his receivers.

Heck, he might even throw an interception or two.

Don't worry about the mistakes though. He's young, mistakes are going to happen. Alex Smith is a veteran QB and he still makes too many mistakes.

It's not reasonable to assume Kaepernick will be perfect.

But, that doesn't mean there won't be some good signs from the young QB...

3. Turning Negatives into Positives

One good thing about being fast is that Kaepernick can turn would-be sacks into positive gains by using his feet.

The 49ers offensive line is young too, so they will make some mistakes.

Kaepernick is going to have to scramble a little bit.

But, on a least a couple of plays where he's forced out of the pocket, he'll gain a couple yards.

Having a QB who can do that for your team is a huge boost. A third-and-7 is much better than a third-and-13.

2. A Cannon Arm

Kaepernick was so successful in college because he could make any throw on the football field.

He has one of the strongest arms in this year's rookie class, possibly second to Ryan Mallett.

It'll be interesting to see how the 49ers plan to use his strong arm on Friday night, whether it's on out patterns or deep routes. Or both.

1. A Couple Designed QB Runs

When you have a QB who is as talented running the ball as Kaepernick, you need to use him.

Therefore, the 49ers would be stupid not to design a couple plays to get Kaepernick running in the open field.

I expect head coach Jim Harbaugh to draw up a couple draw plays that will let Kaepernick showcase his rushing talent.

And who knows, maybe he'll break one for a long gain.