San Francisco 49ers Quarterback Competition Just Started

The San Francisco 49ers don’t have a starting quarterback yet!

Right now, it looks like the 49ers don’t have one with Chip Kelly making it an open competition. Both Blaine Gabbert and Colin Kaepernick have split the reps in training camp down the middle. Then Kaepernick needed to rest his tired shoulder for the team’s first preseason game.

So Gabbert had the chance on Sunday to make the 49ers’ starting job his to lose. But instead, he left the quarterback job just as open as it was the day Kelly announced it was open. Gabbert he hit tight end Vance McDonald a 43-yard TD, but outside of that, he didn’t perform well.

He had a hard time completing screen passes and passes to wide-open running backs in the flats. On the day, Gabbert completed 5 of his 11 passes for 66 yards and the score. If not for the TD, which was a short passed turned big, Gabbert’s stat-line would have been worse.

Gabbert showed the toughness and mobility it will take to succeed in Kelly’s system. But there’s no way Kelly is happy with the way Gabbert threw the ball so the quarterback competition is still on. Many thought Kelly secretly knew he would start Gabbert at quarterback.

Kaepernick’s unsuccessful attempt to get a trade out of San Francisco was the catalyst for most of that. But now, it looks more like Kelly wants to see how his body holds up before he names him the starter. Either way, Gabbert did nothing to inspire any kind of confidence in him.

So sit back and watch it unfold because the competition for the quarterback job started.