Former NFL wide receiver Torrey Smith kept it real on Chris Long’s podcast, Green Light, saying Colin Kaepernick could be the solution for teams struggling at quarterback right now.
Long, a former NFL defensive end, asked Smith, a guest on this week’s episode, “Who threw you the best deep ball?”
Smith, who played for the Ravens, 49ers, Eagles and Panthers over a seven-season career, answered instantly, “Flacco.”
The two followed up with a short dialogue discussing the 2018 NFC Championship Game when Smith’s favorite deep ball was thrown by Nick Foles.
Smith also brought up Kaepernick, saying he threw a pretty deep ball. Long asked Smith, “ Who threw the ball if it was cold out, it hurt your hands?”
“Kap throws the hardest ball I ever caught in my life,” Smith responded. “Baseball. 99 miles per hour. So the issues that Peyton Manning and Drew Brees have, Kaepernick right now, who should be playing, would not have those issues.”
Long agreed that Kaepernick should be playing.
Smith was speaking about Brees’ arm strength. It wasn’t pretty on Monday for the now over-40 QB, who saw his QBR rating drop to 69.8, 17th in the league. Early in the game, Brees’ passes under 15 yards were accurate, but as the game progressed his precision got worse. And any attempt at a deep ball during this game was doomed as the Saints got dumped on by the Las Vegas Raiders, 34-24.
Kaepernick, who has been blackballed by NFL team owners for four years, is still a free agent. He’s four years older at 32, but if Smith can openly and honestly attest to the strength of Kaepernick’s deep ball and power in delivering the ball to receivers, shouldn’t teams want to know more?
We’ve learned over the past four years teams are not as invested in winning as they say. How else to explain why teams struggling at QB right now like the Eagles and Broncos (who just signed Blake Bleeping Bortles) haven’t reached out?
Why hasn’t Kap received a phone call even expressing interest in working him out?
Don’t teams want an accurate, trusted passer?
No one knows if his play has dropped in the last four years because no one is attempting to work him out.
Not to discount Manning, Brees, and Tom Brady being in the NFL Hall of Fame, but all three of these guys played longer than their high productivity level.
Unpopular take here: This has become a modern phenomenon and a badge of honor, beginning with Brett Favre playing quarterback at 40 — but it shouldn’t be a thing.
The league should be talented enough that this shouldn’t happen.
As Smith said, if Brees can play like this, why can’t a 32-year-old Kap?
Last year, the NFL’s hastily scheduled workout for Kap — one he declined and held one of his own instead— had nothing to do with evaluating his arm strength of his deep ball. It was all about the NFL appearing to be interested in his viability. If it had been on the level, the league would have worked with his team and been amenable to their wants. It wasn’t. What they really wanted, more than likely, was to get Kap to sign a very broad liability release that could have been used against him if he ever decided to sue the league for collusion again.
Smith is right, Kap should be playing in the league. He would have played better for the Saints Monday than Brees.
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