Colin Kaepernick's play did not regress in 2014; the San Francisco 49ers' play did.
First-year Niners offensive coordinator Geep Chryst, who was Kaepernick's quarterback's coach in 2014, says criticism over his signal-caller's regression last season is overblown, according to the San Jose Mercury News.
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"And then last year," Chryst told the Mercury News, "you're playing with some different sets of challenges. There was more change within the offensive line than he had experienced the last couple of years. How does that affect your production as a quarterback? You're behind more often in games. How does that affect your production as a quarterback? I cite the fact that we had six touchdowns nullified by penalty. You plug that back into his formula, he really wasn't ... he didn't regress off his line as much as perceived."
Despite the fact that Kaepernick finished with a career-high 3,369 passing yards in 2014, the 49ers finished 8-8 and failed to reach the playoffs. The franchise had appeared in three consecutive NFC Championship Games prior to that, including an appearance in Super Bowl XLVII.
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"Which is also a great lesson to learn," Chryst said, "that you're only as good as walking off the field in victory."
Along with Kaepernick's career high in passing yards, he also had a career high in rushing yards with 639. But he threw only 19 touchdown passes - compared to 21 in 2013 - and had just one rushing touchdown (four in 2013).
Kaepernick suffered 52 sacks in 2014 - the second most in the NFL. He had 39 the previous season.
"Football is a team sport," Chryst said. "And I can show examples of where Kap was at a disadvantage because his team wasn't playing as well as it was around him in other games. But part of the challenge of playing quarterback is to overcome that."
Chryst admits that Kaepernick isn't the first that comes to mind when thinking about the prototypical quarterback, but that's not because Kaepernick lacks the skills of a prototypical quarterback.
"Now he just needs the experience -- and the optimism that this is his year," the offensive coordinator said. "This could be his greatest year yet. And what a great thing to think about on the doorstep of training camp. He's worked hard. And I think that's exciting for all of us. Because he is motivated to make it his greatest year yet."
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