Writing about fantasy football players doesn’t seem fair to the players. Almost always, you’re not writing from the fan’s perspective, so there’s no real good hometown cheer. Many times, the best football player for fantasy football purposes, is not the player carrying his team to victory.
Sometimes, the player is on a losing team. Sometimes, the perspective is not from a football perspective per se either. Indeed, most of the time, far from it. Part of the time, fantasy football is about the numbers. But, that does not mean you can’t be a fan. Indeed, that’s far from the truth. The weekly “Fantasy Football Player of the Week” article is intended to be at the crossroad of all these concepts. It is where numbers meet football, and football meets fan. In this inaugural Pro Player Insiders piece, The Fantasy Greek features: the 49ers Colin Kaepernick.
Colin Kaepernick was the 49ers’ second round draft pick in 2011. That season, Kaepernick touched the ball just five times in regular season play — five times. Kaepernick was the understudy, the back-up quarterback for a storied franchise searching for its next Joe Montana, its next Steve Young, and more importantly, that allusive Lombardi trophy. Yet, it was understood Colin Kaepernick was its quarterback of the future, being groomed by head coach Jim Harbaugh, a former quarterback himself. It was, as they say, “just a matter of time.”
In 2012, that time came in Week 11 when Kaepernick got the nod to start for the 49ers over quarterback incumbent, Alex Smith. That week, Kaepernick didn’t put forth a record-book-shattering performance, but he was solid — 243 yards passing, 2 TDs. And, the 49ers won, and kept winning. Three of their next five games in the regular season. In the seven games he started, Kaepernick had some outstanding quarterback performances, as well as some very poor ones, in both reality and fantasy. Still, given a full season of play, it made sense that Colin would be considered a quarterback capable of 4,000-plus yards passing, as well as 30-plus touchdowns, both passing and rushing the football combined. Think the arrow is pointing up for the future of this young star? You bet! In the playoffs last season, Kaepernick led the 49ers to the franchise’s first Super Bowl appearance since 1994. During the 49ers’ 2012 playoff run (three games), Kaepernick passed for 798 yards and 4 touchdowns, and ran for another 264 yards and 3 touchdowns. While the 49ers ended up losing the Super Bowl, the way Kaepernick took control of the game in the second half of play, and almost marched the 49ers down to victory on a final attempted scoring drive, was legendary. Now, seven months later, Kaepernick gets to do it again for a full season.
In Week 1, Colin Kaepernick plays at home against a Packers team he helped beat in the second round of the 2012 playoffs, 45 to 31. The Packers maintain a potent offense that now has a rushing game. It’s not far-fetched to see that Kapernick should be a top play this week. In that playoff game against the Packers last season in San Francisco, Colin threw for 263 yards passing and 2 touchdowns, and ran for another 181 yards, and 2 rushing touchdowns. While the Packers will almost certainly be better prepared to defend Kaepernick and the 49ers’ pistol offense, Kaepernick still looks poised for a three touchdown game.
When I started writing about fantasy football several years ago, I was like any other football fan, “a fan of the [insert your favorite team's name here].” Over time, being exposed to the different players in the league through something as simple as game called fantasy football, I grew to learn about other teams and appreciate their franchises, their history, their stories, and their players. Today, I am not a fan of just one team or one player, but many and likely to the chagrin of the fans of the team I grew up on. Today, I say to Colin Kaepernick, “I have seen the numbers. I love football. I’m a fan.”
For more Top 5 starts at the quarterback, running back, wide receiver, tight end, kicker, and defense/special team positions, visit TheFantasyGreek.com, “Your Second Opinion For Your Fantasy Football Instinct.”
Written By: Jim Saranteas – @TheFantasyGreek and @JimSaranteas on Twitter
Founder of the fantasy football advice site TheFantasyGreek.com
