QB Colin Kaepernick doesn’t have many holes in his game, but there is one glaring thing that does stick out with him, and that would be his play in the red zone. Kaepernick’s play in the red zone has been one of his Achilles’ heels as he is developing into one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL.
In the last two seasons, Kaepernick and the San Francisco 49ers year ended on plays in the red zone, and last night in against the Chicago Bears it was the same result. Kaepernick has an arsenal of targets this season, and will need to improve on his red zone production in order for the 49ers to take their game to the next level.
With the threat of Kaepernick taking off to run, you would think that it would nearly impossible to stop him in the red zone. People fail to realize that throwing the football in the red zone is one of toughest things to do in the NFL. The passing windows are smaller, and the margin for error is smaller than usual. The play calling by Greg Roman isn’t the best in that area of the field, but No.7 has to raise his level of play twenty yards and in.
Kaepernick may have to add a little finesse to his game in the red zone. He has one of the strongest arms in the NFL, but he will have to pick and choose when to display the rocket arm.
Top-tier NFL quarterbacks such as Aaron Rodgers, Peyton Manning, and Tom Brady excel in the red zone due to them being able to throw a variety of passes. You rarely see Kaepernick throw the back-shoulder fade in the red zone, and it is something that could help him immensely. With Stevie Johnson, Vernon Davis, Michael Crabtree, and Anquan Boldin as his targets there should be no excuse that the 49ers aren’t one of the better passing teams in the red zone in all of football.
The development of Kaepernick will be crucial to the 49ers’ success, and last night against the Chicago Bears showed that there is still a lot of room for improvement.
Yeah the 9ers need to step it up in the Red Zone.. I think they should use bunch 3 receiver sets inside the 20 it would be impossible with Kaep’s running ability to consistently control them if Roman did that.