49er Gamble?

Many media peeps, NFL Network's Rich Eisen in particular, continually speak of the "risky" move by San Francisco 49ers coach  Jim Harbaugh when he inserted Colin Kaepernick as the starting quarterback in the middle of last season. Was it really such a gamble? The 49ers were cruising along at 6-2. Quarterback Alex Smith was having his best season. He was completing over 70% of his passes. His last full game as the 49ers starting quarterback was nearly perfect. Completing 18 of 19 passes for 232 yards and 3 touchdowns. He was an efficient, even very efficient, NFL quarterback. He had his team a whisper from the Super Bowl the year before. Many felt that the 49ers were heading that way again. His biggest problem? He was a very efficient NFL quarterback. Under Alex Smith, the 49ers were a ball control, strong defensive football team. That's terrific. Many teams strive for that. While the 49ers were efficient on offense, Harbaugh was looking for explosive. The coach got his chance to find explosive when Smith suffered a concussion against the St. Louis Rams in week nine. This allowed Harbaugh the chance to see what he had in the young Colin Kaepernick. Anyone that saw Kaepernick play in college at Nevada knew that the kid had very unique quarterback skills. Personally, I saw him take apart Cal. The Golden Bear defense had no answer to what Kaepernick brought to the football field. When you have a football player with his set of skills and, more importantly, his work ethic, the light bulb is going to come on. He's going to get the NFL game. Harbaugh was given the opportunity to find out if that time was at hand. Smith's concussion gave him the opportunity. It's long been a belief in sports that a player can't lose his job due to an injury. It's a belief that's not true. If the backup that becomes the starter due to injury gives the team a better chance to win, that player will remain the starter. Self-preservation is a natural instinct of coaches. They only survive if they win. They will always play the players that give them the best chance to get those wins. Harbaugh had his chance to audition his young quarterback and Kaepernick didn't disappoint. The often lingering effects of a concussion gave Harbaugh an excuse that was really for the always prying media. It also allowed for a fairly open-ended audition. If Kaepernick showed that he wasn't quite ready, the 49ers could always go back to the steady Smith. Harbaugh was in a win-win. There really was no risk. He had the chance to check out his unique, young quarterback while still having the fall back in Smith without the usual media "shitstorm" that always comes when switching quarterbacks in the middle of the season. We know now that everything worked out the way that Harbaugh likely hoped. He saw the big play capabilities from Kaepernick that he was never going to see from Smith. He wasn't going back to those efficient offensive ways. Everything worked out for Alex Smith as well when he was traded to the Kansas City Chiefs. A team with some very interesting offensive talent. The media called it all a gamble. Some still do. Harbaugh likely called it an opportunity.