Miles ahead of the pack

Sometimes, being the last man standing has its advantages. For instance, Colin Kaepernick of the San Francisco 49ers is the last first year starting QB still left leading a team in the NFL playoffs. Though he wasn’t the only QB in his first year starting to lead his team into the post season, he is the only one playing in a conference championship game, and still with hopeful dreams about playing in the Super Bowl. Kaepernick, though, is no ordinary QB.

To start, let’s talk some stats. Kaepernick has three 50+ yard rushes in his past 41 carries. This is an impressive feat. What makes it even more impressive is the fact that Michael Vick, in over 800 career carries, only has three carries over 50 yards. Along with his feet, Kaepernick also has one hell of an arm. In only eight career starts in the NFL, he has an NFL passer rating of 98.7 and a total QBR score of 82.8. While these stats may not mean a lot to mere mortals, what it translates to is that Kaepernick is ranked number one for any player’s first eight starts over the last five seasons. This includes his weekend rival in Matt Ryan, rookies RG3 and Andrew Luck, as well as Aaron Rodgers.

Selected 36^th overall in the 2011 draft, Kaepernick was the sixth quarterback taken overall. He was picked behind Cam Newton, Jake Locker, Blaine Gabber, Christian Ponder and Andy Dalton. Though Newton has shown signs of greatness, none of these quarterbacks have taken their teams as far as Kaepernick into the post season. Before being drafted, he played at the University of Nevada, and was twice named WAC offensive player of the year.

Though already gaining same fame off the field with his infamous body art, Colin Kaepernick seems to be the man in 49er country. You can catch him and the Niners taking on the Atlanta Falcons on January 20 at 3:00 p.m. EST on Fox TV. 

Image courtesy of USA Today