QB questions loom large in NFL West

1 of 4

Much of the focus on the NFC West this Spring has surrounded the quarterbacks. That shouldn’t change once we get into the regular season.

There’s an old adage that in football the quarterback gets too much of the credit for a team’s success and too much of the blame when they fail. Indeed, they also get too much of the attention in most cases.

But in the NFC West, version 2016, the questions surrounding each team’s signal-caller warrant such scrutiny. In fact, the answers to these questions will directly impact who ultimately represents this division in the playoffs.

More from 12th Man Rising

Let’s take a look at each teams biggest off season QB questions:

Jan 3, 2016; Santa Clara, CA, USA; San Francisco 49ers quarterback Blaine Gabbert (2) runs the ball against the St. Louis Rams in the third quarter at Levi /

SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS – Does Chip Kelly have the right QB on his roster?

Trying to figure out exactly what a “Chip Kelly QB” even looks like is a challenge these days. When he came out of Oregon we all assumed it was a dual-threat, Marcus Mariota clone (or… Mariota himself). But then Kelly handed the job to the likes of Nick Foles and Sam Bradford, who you could argue are single-threat or even NO-threat quarterbacks.

In San Fran he inherits a disgruntled and possibly broken Colin Kaepernick, and the limited upside and overall “Meh” potential of Blaine Gabbert. Some saw the 49ers refusal to aggressively seek out a new QB this off season as a vote of confidence in one or both of these guys. Others proclaim it as a major misstep. There is some intriguing upside in UDFA Jeff Driskel (Florida, Lousiana Tech) but it’s doubtful he will be in position to make an impact in 2016.

For all of the questions surrounding the new-look 49ers this year, and there are many, the issue of who is going to play QB, and how well he plays, will determine just how good they’re going to look this year.

Next: Carson Palmer on the down side of career?

Home/Seattle Seahawks News