Colin Kaepernick and Blaine Gabbert have each started five games for the San Francisco 49ers this season. Gabbert started the team's first five while Kaepernick has taken over for the last five. Only one quarterback has one a game. That came during Week 1 against the Los Angeles Rams when the 49ers offense was helmed by Gabbert. Since then, the team has lost nine straight.
For comparison, below are the passing statistics for each quarterback through five starts.
| Comp | Att | Pct | Yds | TD | Int | Rate | |
| Colin Kaepernick | 86 | 162 | 53.1 | 1,144 | 7 | 2 | 85.0 |
| Blaine Gabbert | 87 | 150 | 58.0 | 890 | 5 | 6 | 69.6 |
Below are the rushing statistics for each quarterback this season.
| Att | Yds | Avg | TD | |
| Colin Kaepernick | 36 | 260 | 7.2 | 1 |
| Blaine Gabbert | 39 | 172 | 4.4 | 2 |
Below are the grades for each quarterback this season from advanced statistics site Pro Football Focus.
| Grade | Pass | Run | Snaps | QB Rank | |
| Colin Kaepernick | 43.0 | 37.3 | 87.0 | 319 | 31 |
| Blaine Gabbert | 39.1 | 37.3 | 76.9 | 329 | 35 |
Pro Football Focus' ranking is out of 35 total graded quarterbacks, so the two sit at or near the bottom of the list. Please note that these are Pro Football Focus' initial Monday grades and those grades often fluctuate slightly going into Tuesday.
Nearly every week, 49ers head coach Chip Kelly is asked if Kaepernick will remain his starting quarterback for the next game. "Yeah, unless, we're always evaluating every week, but I don't think Colin played poor today," Kelly said following the loss to the Patriots on Sunday.
Kaepernick finished the game against the Patriots 16 of 30 passing for 206 yards, two touchdowns, and a passer rating of 97.4. He was 2 of 8 for 50 yards and had a 53.1 passer rating on attempts of 20 or more yards, per Pro Football Focus. Kaepernick was just 4 of 14 for 52 yards and a 42.6 passer rating when throwing to wide receivers on Sunday.
The 49ers are 1-9 this season and riding a franchise tying nine-game losing streak. The last time the 49ers lost nine straight was in 1978 and Kelly has become the first single coach to do it. In 1978, the nine straight losses were between two coaches. The team has never lost 10 straight in its history.
Neither quarterback may be back in 2017. Gabbert will be an unrestricted free agent in March at the start of the new league year. Kaepernick can void the remainder of his contract and elect to become an unrestricted free agent as well. In fact, there is no quarterback on the roster that is guaranteed to be with the 49ers beyond this season. Both Christian Ponder and Thad Lewis signed one-year deals this past offseason and are also scheduled to become unrestricted free agents.
The 2017 NFL Draft is just five months away.
