INDIANAPOLIS -- Nevada quarterback Colin Kaepernick helped his draft stock during the Senior Bowl practices and had another chance to up his value at the NFL Scouting Combine.
On Saturday, Kaepernick met with the media and, unlike Ryan Mallett, seemed to do just fine while fielding questions at the podium. Here is a sampling of what he had to say.
Q. What do you bring to the table to the NFL?
A. "I think I bring a lot of things. I bring leadership, confidence, intelligence as well as my physical abilities as my arm strength and mobility. I think there are a lot of things that I can do to help an NFL team out."
Q. Can your runnning ability translate to the NFL game?
A. "I don't think I'll run as much in the NFL as I did in college. Obviously, there are great athletes in the NFL and all of the run 4.4s-4.5s. I think I am going to have the freedom to run, but at the same time my mobility will give the ability to extend plays and convert on some third downs."
Q. When did you start to grow as a passer?
A. "Going into my junior and senior year I really started to develop the idea of throwing the ball so our receivers can make plays after they catch it. If I give them an easier ball to catch they can catch it, get down field and make some plays. Opposed to in the past, throw it as hard as I could and try to put it on the spot where they might have to fight the ball a little bit to catch it and not be able to pick up as many yards after the catch."
Q. What was the setting for Friday night's interviews with different teams?
A. "It's an amazing setting. There are head coaches, quarterback coaches, offensive coordinators, GMs, owners all in the same room and they put you on the spot. How does your offense work? What did you have to do in it? What were your reads, progressions? How'd you check your protections? It's really just a great opportunity for me to show them everything we did in our offense and everything I know about our offense."
Q. How is the running the Pistol going to translate into the pro game?
A. "I don't think our offense will directly translate, but I think we do a bunch of things as progressions, protections that are similar to NFL teams do and we just call them something different. I think picking up on terminology will be a big thing for me, learning what those mean as opposed to what we call things."
Q. What did the Senior Bowl week do for your draft stock?
A. "That week was good for me, to learn the NFL playbook, terminology. I learned how their practice runs and how quickly they expect you to pick things up. For me it was a great experience and a great opportunity, working with some great coaches."
Q, Did it bring up anything you didn't expect?
A. "Not too much. I was comfortable with most things. I think once again for me was picking up on the terminology and actually getting my eyes on an NFL playbook."
