The San Francisco 49ers are heading into the season as the Super Bowl favorite for many teams and while there are a number of positional battles going on the roster, one of the most interesting is for the backup to Colin Kaepernick, as B.J. Daniels has looked strong over Colt McCoy abd Scott Tolzien during the preseason.
According to ESPN.com, Daniel made his debut with the team in the second preseason game against the Kansas City Chiefs on Friday night and was impressive in the 15-13 win, helping the team to get its only touchdown so far in the preseason. Head coach Jim Harbaugh said that Daniels proved himself worthy and that all four players will get even reps in practice this week as the team heads into the third preseason game.
McCoy and Tolzien were looked at as the primary backups, especially since McCoy was traded for from the Browns and Daniels comes in as a seventh round draft pick. Daniels previously played at South Florida and in training camp he even got some looks at receiver and other positions since he is so athletic after finishing his career with 10,501 yards of total offense and over 2,000 yards on the ground.
The quarterbacks have not played well behind Kaepernick and Harbaugh knows that he needs a solid backup since Kaep is a mobile guy that could get knocked around. Tolzien has the most snaps in the preseason but is completing just over 50 percent and Harbaugh liked what he saw against the Chiefs in Daniels, as he threw for 72 yards and also added 13 on the ground. He had a nice scoring drive, completing all six of his passes and getting the touchdown at the end.
"Going into what he did the other night, it was very positive," Harbaugh said Sunday after the 49ers returned to practice. "It was an encouraging performance, and he's done some encouraging things in practice as well. So, he continues on his process and he competed well and made plays. And when somebody does a good job, you give them a little more."
