NFL Opening-Day Starting Quarterbacks 2017

He is much, much better than some of these players. Irrespective of whether you agree with his protest or not, it is hard to argue with a straight face that he isn't being blackballed. Kaepernick was middling-to-subpar the last few years, but he could make plays. He has a rocket arm and can run. Some of these guys -- Tom Savage, Scott Tolzien, Blake Bortles, Mike Glennon, and Brian Hoyer, to name a few -- are absolutely dreadful. In terms of talent, I'd place Kaepernick alongside players like Sam Bradford, Josh McCown, Trevor Siemian, and Tyrod Taylor. Not very good necessarily, but good enough to start, to manage the game, and to surprise with you a very good performance one week...and probably a very bad performance the next. My point is that although he isn't exceptional, he is certainly good enough to have a place in the league, if not for his protest.

@jmellor13, I will absolutely argue with a straight face that Kaepernick isn't being black balled. It's simple risk vs reward - Is the reward of having a "middling-to-subpar" quarterback who can make a play once in a while worth the risk of alienating fans, bringing negative publicity, and dividing the locker room? So far every owner in the league has answered that question the exact same way I would - absolutely not.

Savage and Tolzien are junk which is why they didn't last a week. Bortles is pretty bad too, but that team is built around a strong running game and defense. Why bring in Kaepernick to just hand the ball to Fournette. Glennon has played pretty well for the Bears. They should have beat the falcons and they DID beat the Steelers. Hoyer is a decent QB as well. He protects the ball and occasionally shines like he did on TNF. He's really similar to Alex Smith. Of 32 teams, there is maybe 1 that could actually benefit from Kaepernick and that's the Jets. And even McCown has looked decent at times. And now, with players, ownership, and coaches all linked in arms as a show of unity, while others kneel, Kaepernick is no longer the solo locker room distraction that he was when this thing was gaining steam.