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San Francisco 49ers Quarterback Colin Kaepernick Adjusting to Revised Offense System

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Colin Kaepernick San Francisco 49ers Detroit Lions 2015 NFL Season

Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

On Tuesday, the San Francisco 49ers completed their first day of mandatory minicamp and quarterback Colin Kaepernick is feeling confident about the newly revamped offensive system.

Under the direction of OC Geep Chryst, the 49ers’ new offense is continuing to develop into a more streamlined version of its former 2014 self. “We’ve cleaned a lot of things up,” said Kaepernick “and made it more comfortable and friendly for players to be able to go out and make plays”.

The sense of optimism coming from the 27-year-old quarterback comes as a reprieve from last week’s bombshell announcement regarding right tackle Anthony Davis‘ retirement after just four years in the NFL. Davis’ departure is only the latest in a series of bad news coming out of San Francisco, and its resulting turmoil is leaving many to question if the 49ers’ offense can pick up the slack left behind by those key departures.

San Francisco’s offense was ranked 20th in total yards and 25th in points per game last year under former offensive coordinator Greg Roman.

Some of the major issues the 49ers are hoping to address with the new offensive scheme are delay of game penalties (16 total in 2014), precision with the run game, and route running.

The 49ers are also hoping to exploit more of Kaepernick’s tremendous arm by incorporating extra deep down-field routes into the reworked scheme. The deep ball was nearly nonexistent when field-stretching tight end Vernon Davis disappeared last year due to contract strife, which led to the worst season of his career.

Fortunately for the 49ers, Davis has been a full participant in offseason workout programs this year and he is looking better than ever.

San Francisco also added a few speedsters to take the top off the defenses this fall. Free agents Torrey Smith and Jerome Simpson are the most notable wideouts to be picked up this offseason. Both flashed big-play making ability during OTAs this spring and are quickly forming a rapport with Kaepernick.

“They’ve been huge so far,” Kaepernick said. “They bring a lot of speed to the field and a deep vertical threat. That’s something I’m looking forward to this coming season is having the opportunity to take shots (downfield).”

Of course, running a newly-installed offensive scheme in the offseason cannot compare to facing an NFL opponent. The 49ers have three months to transition their offseason successes into big plays during the regular season.

 

James Forsythe is a 49ers Beat Writer at www.RantSports.com. You can Follow him on Twitter @9erJim or add him to your network on Google.

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