Geep Chryst may be the San Francisco 49ers’ new offensive coordinator, but he is no newbie when it comes to dealing with quarterback Colin Kaepernick.
Chryst was promoted to coordinator after four years as the team’s QBs coach so there will be continuity to what the Niners want to do offensively. Still, Chryst was interested to see the changes in Kaepernick’s throwing motion after he worked for six weeks this spring with two-time league MVP Kurt Warner in Arizona.
“He’s worked hard at it and I think he’s continuing to improve,” Chryst said Monday. “I don’t know if he’s tapped out, He’s talked to some older quarterbacks; they very rarely threw in the offseason [because] they wanted to save their arms for the season. Kap’s a different athlete. I mean, he’s champing at the bit the week afterwards, having a plan and then executing the plan.”
Chryst next referenced golf.
“We can work on the practice range all we want on our drive or our chip,” Chryst said. “But let’s get to the games.”
Warner was in attendance at Sunday night’s practice and said Kaepernick was beginning to “understand playing the quarterback position a little more” while working on his capability to “throw with touch, the ability to anticipate things.”
Kaepernick, whose total QBR rating fell from 68.6 in 2013 to 55.9 last season, has undergone workout programs in each of the past three years now, in Atlanta in 2013 and Miami in 2014. This year’s workouts at the EXOS facility in Phoenix, though, were more about his mechanics than conditioning.
“It is a new offense; there’s a lot of things that are different,” Kaepernick said of his old QBs coach taking over. “There are some things that are the same. You’ll see those things when the season comes.”
Chryst said he has seen a growth from year to year based on Kaepernick’s offseason work, but a prime challenge is getting acclimated with new pass catchers such as receiver Torrey Smith and running back Reggie Bush.
“A lot of it is reading the body language and understanding that chemisty that is hard to develop over time,” Chryst said. “Especially when you’re huddled together for the first time.”