Colin Kaepernick’s strength is his ability to take off and gobble up yards once he gets a full head of steam, something he did to the tune of 639 yards last season but mostly on broken, not designed, plays.
One of themes of the 49ers’ head-coaching interviews with NFC West defensive coordinators Dan Quinn and Todd Bowles was puzzlement about why the 49ers in 2014 mostly abandoned the read-option plays that were so effective in previous seasons.
A significant change in 2015 figures to be a return to the read-option. The degree to which it will be used is unknown, but coach Jim Tomsula and CEO Jed York have mentioned in recent interviews that the 49ers will take better advantage of Kaepernick’s legs.
Kaepernick ran the ball 12 more times in 2014 than he did in 2013 for an additional 115 yards, so it's not like he abandoned the scramble. It sounds like it's more about utilizing the read-option as a larger part of the offense. If that's the case, it could be a boon to Kaepernick's fantasy value. He was the #14 QB in 2014 after finishing #9 the season before, though his overall production only dipped by 11 fantasy points. He's a bounce-back candidate provided new OC Geep Chryst can design an offense that can move the ball. Chryst previously served as the OC for the Chargers in 1999 and 2000, but his offenses ranked 26th and 28th overall in that span.
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