Speaking of Steve Young!


Steve Young Envious of Kap’s Read Option Offense

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“Yes!” said Steve Young. “Where was this when I was playing the Washington Redskins?”

“This” is the read-option, run out of the pistol or some other formation. It wasn’t a tool that Young had available to him, not when he came into the league with Tampa Bay and not when he made his playoff debut as the 49ers’ starter against the Redskins in January of 1993.

Back in Young’s day, you were either a running quarterback or a throwing quarterback. He was one of the very few who eventually made the transition to the point of being extremely dangerous on both fronts.

But Young is seeing a difference in the new generation of mobile quarterbacks: the ability to be two things at once.

“They’re better trained,” he said. “Everyone knows they’re athletic, but now they’re being trained as quarterbacks, as both a runner and a thrower. They’re starting younger and they’re not thinking, ‘Hey, these are two really hard things that I’m doing.’”

Young had to learn to stay in the pocket and not rely on his mobility. He has often said that it wasn’t until he made that transition that he truly reached his potential. But he sees the read-option system as a huge benefit for young players, who can use their athleticism while they’re learning what it takes to be an NFL quarterback.

“What a tremendous bridge to get started and put down a foundation,” Young said. “On the field you can be confident, because you always have that weapon in your back pocket.”

Young thinks that what we witnessed Saturday night is part of a bigger transition in NFL offenses. Of course, he thought he was seeing it before, when he was exiting the game and Michael Vick was coming in.

“I thought Vick might be the prototype,” Young said. “And then Brady and Manning broke every record and didn’t move an inch.”

But Young thinks this change might be more lasting. He’s sure that defenses will eventually catch up, but described them as, for the moment, “baffled.”

“There are guys today doing things that have never been contemplated, that Randall Cunningham never thought about,” Young said. “The athleticism of defenses will catch up, but at what cost? You can’t stop one thing.”

Kaepernick is too young to have viewed Young, who rushed for 4,239 yards in his Hall of Fame career, as a role model. But he watched Vick, Vince Young and Donovan McNabb, plus old tape of Cunningham – all quarterbacks who challenged defenses with their mobility.

Young’s athleticism and scrambling ability was often a game changer. But in his early years, defenses knew that if they kept him in the pocket, they could force him into a mistake.

With that memory in hand, Young warned before Kaepernick’s first start against Chicago that the inexperienced quarterback needed to be cautious. Working that Monday night game as a broadcaster, Young advised Kaepernick to rely on his defense and not do anything to lose the game. As we know, Kaepernick did anything but play it safe, opening it up against the Bears.

Last week, Young again wondered how Kaepernick would respond in his playoff debut.

“He did what I kind of expected, made the big blunder,” Young said. “And then steeled up. … I can’t be more impressed. He’s something really special.”

Young, once the inexperienced backup who replaced a starter, has also been impressed with how all parties have handled what could be an awkward, even damaging transition from Alex Smith to Kaepernick.

“I’m proud of how Alex handled it, how the team handled it, how Colin handled it,” he said. “It could have been a real problem. It was a big deal. That should not be underestimated. And it went as well as it could go.”

Young’s transition to starter came in the early 1990s, and was fraught with more emotion and anxiety because of all Joe Montana had accomplished and what he meant to the 49ers. Young’s first postseason start was against defending champion Washington in the NFC divisional playoff game. He completed 20 of 30 passes for 227 yards, two touchdowns and an interception. He also ran for 73 yards on eight carries in the 49ers’ 20-13 win (they lost to Dallas in the NFC Championship game the next week).

He wasn’t quite the cool customer that Kaepernick seemed to be on Saturday.

“I was nervous, of course I was,” Young remembered. “But that’s how I did it. Everyone does it differently.”

“And if you recall, Joe was on the sideline.”

And there wasn’t a read-option in place to give Young confidence. No wonder he’s just the tiniest bit envious.


Gore Warms up to Pistol

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"I felt that's not real football, at first," Gore said Thursday. "But it's helping us to get where we want to go, and win it all."

It was when he was in college at Miami that Gore first saw the "pistol" formation, an alignment that features Kaepernick a few steps back from center, not quite as far back as the shotgun formation.

"I come from Miami, it was like pro-style offense," Gore said. "I didn't think really big of it. But now, I love it."

Of course, part of why Gore adores the pistol formation is the fact Kaepernick runs the read-option from there, which forces the defense to pay particular attention to Kaepernick and can't key on Gore as much as usual.

Former 49ers quarterback Trent Dilfer called Kaepernick's 44-yard pass to tight end Vernon Davis the most impressive pass of the divisional playoff games. Davis called it a much-needed confidence booster.

"It made me feel I'm unstoppable," Davis said.

Linebackers Aldon Smith and Tavares Gooden, cornerback Tarell Brown and fullback Bruce Miller practiced in black, no-contact jerseys because of sore shoulders.

Left offensive tackle Joe Staley made it through practice without a setback for the second straight day on the heels of suffering a bruised right forearm against the Packers.


Falcons Moore looks to “Blow Up” Kap.

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So how do the Falcons make Kaepernick less eager to run the ball against them?

"That's one of those things where if you get the opportunity to blow somebody up and make a statement," Moore said, "that's what you want to do."

Atlanta safety William Moore was asked earlier this week about the lone time he faced Colin Kaepernick in college, when Moore was at Missouri and Kaepernick at Nevada. And by Moore's exhale and reaction, you would have thought Kaepernick and the Wolf Pack had run wild over the Tigers.

"The option," Moore said, "was a problem. That dude, yeah, he's pretty good, man."

Yeah, Kaepernick ran for 71 yards on eight carries on Sept. 13, 2008, including a 35-yard burst. But Mizzou blew out UNR that day, 69-17. No doubt, then, that Kaepernick made a big impression on Moore, one that lasts to this day.

"I like where he's at right now and what type of player he's grown to be," Moore said. "I look forward to playing him this week. He went in there and made a statement in San Fran. It's our job to contain him.

"Players like that, you can't stop; you just contain them…he's going to show up. And it's our job to show up with him."


Culliver rates Falcon Receivers

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