Another shot at the NFL is a long time coming for Colin Kaepernick. It apparently has taken an ideal situation for him to get that shot. And that situation couldn’t be more ideal than in Las Vegas.
Kaepernick’s naysayers will point to everything they can to say he shouldn’t play in the NFL, while also saying he could be playing in the NFL if he wanted to and then saying he isn’t good enough. And now that he’s been kept out of the league for five full years, the narrative has turned to his absence from organized football as the reason he doesn’t deserve a shot.
Translation: We don’t like that he kneeled in protest during the national anthem and never want him to have another shot at a playing career.
Well, he is finally getting a shot and if he shows the Raiders he is in shape and ready to go, there is every reason for the team to sign him and let him compete for a job.
According to reports, the workout went well.
On Colin Kaepernick’s workout with the #Raiders: Sounds like it went well and he impressed. The door is open…
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) May 26, 2022
Was told two things stood out in Colin Kaepernick’s workout with Raiders: Arm strength and good overall conditioning. Workout was largely considered a positive. Let’s see where it goes from here.
— Jeremy Fowler (@JFowlerESPN) May 26, 2022
A lot has happened in the NFL in the five years Kap was blacklisted. And much of it has only strengthened the argument that he has a place in this league.
The University of Nevada product and Turlock California native took the league by storm back in 2012; leading the 49ers to two NFC Championships and a Super Bowl berth. At that time there weren’t a lot of starting quarterbacks like him. He had a big arm and was equally proficient as a runner.
Since then, the qualities Kaepernick possesses have become far more commonplace. That being that of a dual threat quarterback. For instance, take Patrick Mahomes and Lamar Jackson who have both won league MVP awards in recent years.
The past couple years the Raiders had a quarterback on the roster with those abilities in Marcus Mariota, who was a former number two overall pick by the Titans and is now competing for a starting job in Atlanta.
When healthy, Mariota was the unquestioned primary backup to Derek Carr in Las Vegas. The Raiders had packages for him that yielded some positive results as wrinkles in the offense. Usually it involved some form of a read-option, but with Mariota possessing plenty of arm talent to keep the defense honest.
At very least Kaepernick could offer the same thing to the Raiders’ current offense.
Some would suggest that at 34 years of age, he isn’t the running threat he once was. Perhaps, but in today’s NFL, QB’s often play well into their 30s, including mobile quarterbacks like Russell Wilson (33) and Ryan Tannehill (33).
Other than that, the ideas that Kaepernick would be a ‘distraction’ are laughable. This team made the playoffs last year with some of the worst distractions one can imagine. From Gruden’s forced resignation, to Henry Ruggs’s tragic drunk driving crash, to Damon Arnette’s antics.
I think they can handle Colin Kaepernick, so maybe save the copouts, k?
Mark Davis has no problem with it. In fact, he is all for it. And while Davis’s blessing wasn’t enough to convince Jon Gruden, new head coach Josh McDaniels responded by logically giving Kaepernick a look.
The bottom line is; McDaniels is not going to sign a player for any other reason than he thinks that player can compete for a roster spot. And if Kaepernick is in shape — and by all accounts he is — and he could still pose a threat as an offensive weapon, he would be a valuable addition to the QB room in Las Vegas.