Late last season, not only had Blaine Gabbert emerged as San Francisco's best quarterback, but it didn't even seem like Colin Kaepernick would be on the roster this year. In March you'll recall rumors that had him likely being traded to the Denver Broncos.
But it's August, and both quarterbacks are still on the roster, competing to start for a new coaching staff. And although we expect Gabbert to win the battle, local media says it's too close to call right now. "Really, the big determination with those guys," Kelly said, "is that the preseason games will be huge."
Whoever wins the job shouldn't be overlooked in fantasy leagues. Ideally, Kelly's offense will have a lot of rushing production from the quarterback. That wasn't the case a year ago, mostly because Sam Bradford wasn't capable of it. But Kaepernick is one of the league's best running quarterbacks (he averaged 582 rushing yards in the 2013-2014 seasons), and Gabbert was pretty solid in that regard a year ago (23 yards per game as a starter).
That much running, of course, increases the likelihood that one of these players will get hurt. Most likely both will end up starting some games this season.
But for now it's a close battle to be the Week 1 starter, and a situation that might end up having more fantasy value than you'd think. If Nick Foles can throw for close to 3,000 yards and 27 TDs in 13 games in this offense (while running for 221 yards and 3 TDs), then average 270 passing yards with 13 TDs in eight games a year later, whoever wins the starting job in 2016 could be similarly productive.
Even leaving out quarterback rushing, Kelly's quarterbacks will likely wind up among the NFL leaders in pass attempts. The last two seasons, Eagles passers ranked 6th and 5th in total passes. The Saints, Colts and Falcons; those are the teams with more pass attempts than Philadelphia. Only six teams had fewer pass attempts than San Francisco over that span.
| TOTAL PASS ATTEMPTS, 2014-2015 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Team | 2014 | 2015 | Total |
| New Orleans | 659 | 667 | 1326 |
| Indianapolis | 661 | 619 | 1280 |
| Atlanta | 632 | 621 | 1253 |
| Philadelphia | 621 | 623 | 1244 |
| San Diego | 574 | 667 | 1241 |
| New England | 609 | 629 | 1238 |
| Detroit | 604 | 632 | 1236 |
| Oakland | 629 | 605 | 1234 |
| NY Giants | 607 | 623 | 1230 |
| Baltimore | 554 | 676 | 1230 |
| Denver | 607 | 606 | 1213 |
| Pittsburgh | 612 | 590 | 1202 |
| Miami | 595 | 588 | 1183 |
| Jacksonville | 557 | 607 | 1164 |
| Chicago | 609 | 523 | 1132 |
| Arizona | 568 | 562 | 1130 |
| Cleveland | 502 | 609 | 1111 |
| Green Bay | 536 | 573 | 1109 |
| Houston | 485 | 619 | 1104 |
| Washington | 547 | 555 | 1102 |
| NY Jets | 498 | 604 | 1102 |
| Tampa Bay | 531 | 535 | 1066 |
| Tennessee | 513 | 551 | 1064 |
| Carolina | 545 | 501 | 1046 |
| Buffalo | 579 | 465 | 1044 |
| San Francisco | 487 | 526 | 1013 |
| Cincinnati | 503 | 505 | 1008 |
| Dallas | 476 | 528 | 1004 |
| St. Louis | 515 | 473 | 988 |
| Minnesota | 517 | 454 | 971 |
| Kansas City | 493 | 473 | 966 |
| Seattle | 454 | 489 | 943 |
--Andy Richardson
