Even that is a stretch. The reality is that Kaepernick had one good game -- one -- and this led to all the overheated hype.
I remember the game very well. The 49ers were playing the Green Bay Packers and Kaepernick scrambled all over the field. The Packers clearly were not prepared for this and Kaepernick torched the Packers on that day due to his effective scramble running.
The 49ers used the same tactic for a few games afterward to much more limit success, but all have come to understand, from Kaepernick to scrambling quarterbacks, is that any NFL quarterback who has to rely on his college-based scramble ability is almost always a sign that that quarterback is not really very talented and has gotten by during his pre-NFL days relying on his feet rather than his arm.
So outside of that one game, televised nationally, Kaepernick really never was much more than an average player at best. Once NFL teams got wise to the scrambling, Kaepernick got totally shut down and thus revealed his lack of appreciable talent.
“Once NFL teams got wise to the scrambling, Kaepernick got totally shut down and thus revealed his lack of appreciable talent.”
exact same thing was true with Tim Tebow: he only had early success because of his unexpected scrambling ability ... unfortunately, Tebow was a TERRIBLE passer and even worse, never got any better ... he never could read a defense, could never check off multiple receivers and his terrible inaccuracy never improved ...