DCs scared of Collin Kaepernick-Chip Kelly combo

October 4, 2015; Santa Clara, CA, USA; San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick (7) runs with the football during the fourth quarter against the Green Bay Packers at Levi /

San Francisco 49ers head coach Chip Kelly is just what quarterback Colin Kaepernick needs to get his career back on track. Former 49ers head coach Jim Harbaugh is a quarterback whisperer that got him to play well enough to get the 49ers to the Super Bowl in 2012. Some of what Harbaugh did was let Kaepernick be himself and mix in the Spread Option at times.

But Harbaugh is at Michigan now and the magic Kaepernick had seems to have left him altogether. So just a year after former head coach Jim Tomisula was hired, he was fired and Kelly was brought in to see if he could save Kaepernick. And at the same time, he gets a chance to save his brand of football in the NFL.

His offense is based on a quarterback’s ability to run the football and he’s never had one. That’s what Demarco Murray didn’t work out so well with the Philadelphia Eagles last year and Kelly was fired. But now, Kelly has Kaepernick and will have him be himself while running back Carlos Hyde ran the Spread Offense at Ohio State.

And apparently, there are a few defensive coordinators in the NFL the are already afraid of Kaepernick. NFL Media’s Albert Breer talked to and quoted three defensive coordinators that hate the idea of Kaepernick as a dual-threat quarterback in Kelly’s read-option offense.

One of them said, “I think [Kaepernick] is a good enough passer, but obviously what’ll be a nightmare is his ability to run,” on defensive coordinator said. “That offense is straight ‘Freddy Krueger’ when you have a quarterback that can pull the ball and run at any given time.”

Another defensive coordinator said, “The fact that Kap can make guys miss and get in the open field, they didn’t have that last year at all in Philly,” We treated [Sam] Bradford like he was under center. There was zero threat of him running the ball. We told our guys, ‘Don’t treat him like he’s in the shotgun, he’s never gonna pull the ball.’ ”

Then there was one that told Breer the combination Kaepernick and Hyde “could be scary.” If he’s still on the roster by April 1, Kapernick will count $15.9 million against the 49ers’ salary cap. And if he’s anything close to what the defensive coaches fear he may be, Kaepernick will be worth every penny.