One of the defenses Colin Kaepernick supporters used to defend his subpar 2014 was the pressure he was under, having been sacked 52 times.
A report by Pro Football Focus, however, blew that theory out of the water. It conducted a study that showed that the San Francisco 49ers starting quarterback actually performed slightly better when he was under pressure than he did when he faced no pressure in 2014.
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Niners Nation explained the numbers from the Pro Football Focus report.
"What's interesting in PFF's pressure charting though, is that Kap didn't see an outlandish amount of pressure compared to the NFL average. He saw pressure on 34.7 percent of drop backs, and the NFL-average was 33.4 percent. That's an increase of 6 pressures over the course of the season, based on Kap's 577 drop backs.
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"While Kap saw an average amount of pressure, he performed just slightly below average when pressured based on PFF's charting.1 But Kap performed even WORSE when he saw no pressure at all. He ranked 26th out of 37 ranked quarterbacks, putting him firmly in Mark Sanchez/Andy Dalton territory.
"Thus far the initial prognosis one we've heard before: Teams should sit back and make Kap beat them with his eyes and arm. When pressured Kap seems to step his game up, even if slightly."
Kaepernick spent 11 weeks in the offseason training with two-time NFL MVP Kurt Warner and quarterbacks coach Dennis Gile on making him a more proficient pocket passer. The Pro Football Focus report, however, seems to indicate that Kaepernick makes something good happen when he trusts his running instincts in the face of pressure, rather than standing in the pocket.
But it's his decision-making when standing in the pocket with time that will be under the microscope in 2015. If his numbers improve in that aspect of his game, his trend of successive lower quarterback ratings should come to an end.
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