7 things you might not know about Colin Kaepernick

After more than a month of breaking-news reports, unsubstantiated rumors and social-media commentary, it sounds like the Colin Kaepernick-to-the-Denver-Broncos trade is at hand.

And to get Broncos Country better acquainted with their likely soon-to-be signal-caller, here are seven things you might not know about the quarterback. We’re going with seven, Kaepernick’s 49ers jersey number, which is sort of unavailable in Denver. And unlike the Peyton Manning–Frank Tripucka situation with the No. 18, we don’t see the No. 7 being unretired if (and when) the QB does don the Orange & Blue.

In any case, here goes …

1. A 2011 second-round draft pick out of Nevada, Kaepernick was a two-time All-Western Athletic Conference Player of the Year and is one of six players in NCAA history to throw for 2,000 yards and rush for 1,000 in a season. He is the only one of the six to accomplish the feat three straight years (2008-10).
2. Kaepernick is one of 12 former Nevada players currently listed on NFL rosters, and three (tight end Virgil Green, linebacker Brandon Marshall and offensive tackle Kyle Roberts) of the other 11 play for the Broncos. Green and Marshall – along with Titans wide receiver Rishard Matthews, Browns guard Joe Bitonio and Bills safety Duke Williams – were teammates of Kaepernick on the Wolf Pack’s best-ever team, the 13-1 squad in 2010 which beat Luke Kuechly and Boston College in the Fight Hunger Bowl and finished 11^th in the Associated Press postseason poll.
3. In Week 2 of the 2014 season, Kaepernick became the fifth-winningest QB (18-7, .720) among current quarterbacks through their first 25 career regular-season starts. Kaepernick, though, is only 17-14-1 in his 32 regular-season starts since, including a 3-10 mark in his last 13 contests – a record which may be more indicative of the 49ers’ overall fall from grace than anything during that span.
4. Kaepernick is 4-2 in six postseason starts and owns the NFL QB record (regular season or postseason) and the 49ers’ playoff mark with his 16-carry, 181-yard rushing game against the Packers in the 2012 divisional round. And in only six career postseason starts, he already ranks second in QB postseason rushing yards with 507 on 51 carries. Only Steve Young (96 rushes-594 yards in 20 games) has more in NFL history, with some guy named Elway (94-461 in 22 contests) ranking third.
5. As a passer, though, Kaepernick owns a career 59.88 career regular-season completion percentage, which ranks 23rd among the 38 active passers with at least 1,000 attempts and his 10,030 yards rank 31^st among those 38 QBs. Speaking of yards, Kaepernick only has six 300-yard passing games in 63 career regular-season and playoff contests. He threw for a career-best 412 yards in the 2013 season opener against the Packers.
6. Kaepernick, meanwhile, has been rather proficient at taking care of the ball with only 26 career interceptions in 1,361 regular-season attempts. That 1.91 interception percentage is bettered only by Aaron Rodgers’ 1.61 percent rate among those just-mentioned 38 active QBs with 1,000 or more attempts.
7. Overall, though, several of Kaepernick’s key aerial numbers are trending in the wrong direction in his four years as a starter. His yards per attempt has dropped from 8.3 to 7.7 to 7.0 and 6.6 from 2012 through last season while his passer rating has gone from 98.3 to 91.6 to 86.4 to 78.5 over that same span and his QBR has dipped from 68.96 to 65.93 and 60.16 to 47.14.