Dec. 05--Information for this report was obtained from NFL scouts.
Blaine Gabbert was drafted 10th overall in 2011 and lasted three seasons with the Jaguars before Jim Harbaugh brought him in as a backup to Colin Kaepernick last season. With Kaepernick struggling, the 6-foot-4, 235-pound Gabbert was promoted Nov. 8 and Kaepernick since has been placed on injured reserve.
Gabbert, who completed only 53.3 percent of his passes for the Jaguars, has posted a passer rating better than 90 in consecutive games for the first time in his career. He's completing 65.3 percent of his throws in three starts and has taken only four sacks in 95 pass attempts. Kaepernick had 28 in 244.
"He played pretty well against the Cardinals last week," a scout said. "He's a lot more accurate than he was in the past, and he's an upgrade for them this year. I don't know what the story was with Kaepernick, but turnovers were a big thing and they're down with Gabbert. He's not making a ton of huge plays, but he's not routinely putting them in terrible situations. They're so deficient talent-wise on offense they're looking for a guy who isn't going to create too many risks.
"Gabbert always has thrown a pretty catchable ball. The difference between him now and in Jacksonville is he is not nearly as aggressive as he was. But this isn't a guy in the two-minute drill you're going to say, 'Let's give him the ball, he's going to go win the game for us.' He's a bridge to something. What is it? I don't know. That something probably isn't on the roster. Better athlete than he probably gets credit for. He can escape the pocket and pick up a first down. I question his toughness. You put this kid back in shorts and a T-shirt at the combine, people will get pretty excited again. But the game isn't played in shorts and a T-shirt."
