Anatomy & physiology of Kap's feat/feet

One of the GB corners post game, mentioned he didn't realize how fast Kap was. Well, we've heard that before. But there was an interesting run, rerun and then rerun again of the dash on rt side with everybody neatly sealed off, where there was a DB (or Corner) seemingly running stride for stride with Kap, who ended up about 8 yds behind him tho they started off even, when they crossed the goal line. Looking at the film, it was true that the DB was matching, virtually in tandem, Kap, stride for stride, but lost the race by 8 yds to the goal line. It was weird to look at, but without any doubt, Kap must have had a full foot and a half to two feet longer stride than the DB, hence covering 2 ft more territory per stride than the defender.

Another comparison, is on the deadly 7 and 9 step drop of Alex. For him that was likely 15 to 19 feet behind LOS. and usually resulted in a sack. When Kap does that, he is some 25 to 31 feet behind LOS. Watch any tape and you will notice Kap is way , way behind LOS on deeper drop backs, hence, he seemingly has more time to survey the field, find a receiver and throw. Alex is not small. But Kap is huge. I have seen 6'4" and 6'6" in print or on talk shows so I am not certain of his height. But look at the legs...yeah, kinda skinny, but they look like they are about 6 feet long....ok, they just look long. Anyway, whether it is in a foot race with a DB or a dropback situation, Kap's stride is ridiculously long, and he gets from point A to B just a lot faster than anyone else.

Without the exceptionally long stride, almost freaky really, Kap would have probably been caught by the DB. Without the long stride, Kap would have been back at 15-19 feet , same as alex, and at great risk of being sacked, on the 7-9 step drops. Instead, Kap is 10 to 15 feet farther back on the 7-9 step drop than alex, thus allowing him time to find receivers and get the ball gone. A lot of his 20 yd passes first have to travel 8 to 10 yds BEFORE they cross the LOS. Hence a 20 yd pass would actually be more like 28 to 30 yds in the air. The gift of extremely long legged anatomy, and the physiologic specimen that Kap is have given him a monster advantage in avoiding sacks, and avoiding tacklers once he takes off. The rest of his anatomy, long arms, big hands makes it possible for him to throw a 94 mph fastball. We all know his passes come out with smoke on them. Kap has the anatomy to physiologically throw the ball thru a wall...well, almost. But the unique anatomy, with the smooth physiologic strides, passes, makes it look like Kap is not really trying...when in fact he is.

Altho, this pick at #2 in second rd, and we had to give up a pick to move up, was unpopular, now it seems that Coach Harbaugh and Baalke obviously knew what they were doing. Sure it was a risk, because Kap played mostly college sets, didn't read Ds well, and just counted on his height, length, and long legs and arms to out physical everybody. I think it bad form to call him a freak, rather preferring a "physical specimen". Whatever, Kap is ours, and if Terry, Howie, Jimmy and Strahan are right, Kap IS the QB of the future, who can outrun anyone, out throw them, and out physical them. Note one other thing. Kap is a big target, and initially I worried about injury, especially a big lick on one of those legs. Sure he has been tackled. But has he ever been tackled really hard? Yeah, maybe once or twice, but if he is running up the gut, you note he goes down just prior to the LBs arriving.

Kap's feats so far, have been mind blowing. I sure don't want to jinx us, but until other teams get a "physical specimen" like Kap, they are going to be playing us at a distinct disadvantage. Yes, the manner in which Kap ascended to #1 was awkward. I said it myself. But the risk/reward to date, anyway, has paid off in spades. Altho alex is very seasoned, can read Ds well, has hi pass completion...had he been playing against GB I am not to sure we would have won. Except for Kap's half a dozen long runs and 2 TDs on foot, GB played us pretty much even. We needed that special physical specimen capable of amazing feats. And that is what ultimately beat the best qB in the league the last # of yrs. Rodgers post game was down, obviously, and said "we just couldn't stop him."

For the ATL game, I suspect they will contain Kap much better. All they have to do is watch SEA game tape with us. SEA had the option read covered, their DEs didn't pass rush, rather just contained. It will be fascinating to see just how we handle this, assuming ATL thinks they know how to stop Kap. I suspect Coach Harbaugh already has his counter strategy laid out. It should be an edge of your seat game, but I think we win, basically on Kap's legs (and feet). But he threw the ball amazingly well against GB, and we probaly will see that again, too.

well written, well thought out. good on ya.

And also tats.

Lookin at NFL Replay right now. Dude has longer legs than Randy Moss. Another long legged athlete is this guy.

There was one other feat. Not obvious, but the way in which kap seamlessly took over Alex's team, impressed me. He was very low key, didn't do on air interviews on how it was to be the new #1 Qb in SF, etc. Initially, there must have been some guys who thot alex should still be Qb, maybe someone like Joe staley, but that discussion was kept out of the public, as well it should have been. Probably more than anything else, Kap's feat of taking over without a lot of fanfare was the best thing for the team. Actually, we all owe a thank you to alex, who made the transition seamless, and didn't argue his case in the papers. As it is now, he will definitely be starting elsewhere this yr, and will almost surely be traded for, rather than chancing the risk of losing him to someone else. That means another pick for us, or upgrade on a pick we already have.

Ultimately, if there were any doubters on the team, Kap's play won them over. Still it was funny last nite on NFL network to see our LBs on the sideline just after the TD run around rt side that everybody had sealed off, when one said to the other , "Gee, I didn't know Kap was so fast.". A lot of guys on GB had said the same thing.

he's older now, but charles woodson couldn't beat kaepernick to the endzone.

Great post! My buddy and I were talking about the same topic over the weekend. One thing about Kaep is he has a MUCH faster drop back than Alex. I'm going back and comparing the two. It's quite a difference. Seems like Alex would set his feet and have very limited time to make his reads. Kaep's speed and long legs help out dramatically.

I'm now starting to think it was Alex that made our OL look bad!!!!!! Kinda hard to hold your blockers for the extra second or two...

Does anybody have stats on the number of sacks surrendered broken out by Alex and Kaep???

Rex Ryan wants a video presentation of Colin's feet

watching him fly and accelerate past Woodson was crazy.

Originally posted by pete98146:
Great post! My buddy and I were talking about the same topic over the weekend. One thing about Kaep is he has a MUCH faster drop back than Alex. I'm going back and comparing the two. It's quite a difference. Seems like Alex would set his feet and have very limited time to make his reads. Kaep's speed and long legs help out dramatically.

I'm now starting to think it was Alex that made our OL look bad!!!!!! Kinda hard to hold your blockers for the extra second or two...

Does anybody have stats on the number of sacks surrendered broken out by Alex and Kaep???

No same OL which is good sometimes, bad others. The difference is Kaep's escapability. Alex got sacked on a lot of short sacks when a defender was running free. When Kaep has a free runner coming at him he usually evades him. But when he doesn't he tends to loss a lot of yards. Kaep actually holds the ball longer than Alex but he can get away with it because defense's are afraid to get burned either deep or with the run.

KAEPERNICKING ALL THE WAY TO. #6!!!!!