Colin Kaepernick had a public session in Michigan. What’s next?

Former NFL and San Francisco star Colin Kaepernick has been showcasing his talent of late, could it be that he has a way back into the league after his most recent public display of skill?

Colin Kaepernick shows off arm in Michigan

This past weekend in Michigan was something to behold. Free agent quarterback Colin Kaepernick made an appearance at Michigan University over the weekend, as the honorary captain and actually hosted an open throwing session at the “Big House” during halftime of Michigan’s spring game. The Wolverines’ head coach Jim Harbaugh was involved in the organization of the event and of course it should be noted that he was head coach of the San Francisco 49ers when they went to Super Bowl XLVII in 2013 with Kaepernick as quarterback.

How long has Colin Kaepernick been out and how did he look?

In case you were wondering, Kaepernick’s last snap of the ball in the NFL was back on January 1st 2017, which is to say its been quite a while since he’s had game time, but that’s not to say he hasn’t been maintaining form in the hope of another chance. Where the session itself was concerned, Kaepernick began with short routes to the flats and even evaded a boom mic from his own camera crew at one point in order to complete a pass on one of his first reps. There were also a number of slants and outs that were timing routes. Overall the former 49er looked very accurate although he was of course throwing to receivers that he’s not familiar with. Coach Harbaugh himself could be seen on hand and more over impressed as he directed routes.

Across the session, Kaepernick ran a bootleg left, while also completing a 20-yard comeback route. There was then some shotgun work followed by deep passes on flag routes and straight go routes. Some may argue that his accuracy dwindled as the session wore on, but the reality is Kaepernick showcased a full game’s worth of passes within a 10 minute period. Impressive to say the least. If there is one conclusion that can be drawn after watching him, its that Kaepernick still has fire in his arm. Indeed, there is no shortage of power as he distributes the ball quickly on short routes.

What next for Colin Kaepernick?

Of course with the amount of attention paid to Kaepernick’s sessions of late - this one was broadcasted live on the Big Ten Network - the natural question is ‘what next?’ Where the man himself is concerned, he maintains that he’s simply hoping for another chance. “A shot,” Kaepernick responded. “Just a chance, an opportunity. You know, a lot of what we’ve heard is, ‘Oh you haven’t played in five years, can you still play?’ Well, I had to come out, it’s part of the reason we’ve been doing all of the workouts publicly, releasing them publicly. (I’m) grateful that this is an opportunity that can lead to a next step and hopefully crack that door open so I can run through it.”

What door that is remains to be seen as the former NFL star continues to wait for his chance. According to sources close to the player, Kaepernick is more than willing to take on a backup role in the NFL if that will see him back on a roster. Indeed, where recent reports are concerned, there are no less than five teams in the league who have expressed an interest in the out of work quarterback.

Could Colin Kaepernick play for the Seattle Seahawks?

Speculation aside, there is at least one team that jumped to the front of the queue in recent weeks and that’s the Seattle Seahawks. It was just a few weeks ago in fact when Kaepernick and Seahawks wide receiver Tyler Lockett got together for a publicly televised throw around. Further to that it was also understood that the QB reached out to Seattle’s head coach Pete Carroll and even provided him with videos from the same session. Will Kaepernick be a Seahawks player come next season? That remains to be seen, but when taking a look at the movement we have seen during this NFL offseason, stranger things have happened. Watch this space!