Colin Kaepernick

A Wisconsin native, Kaepernick grew up in Turlock, Calif. as a two-sport star who boasts a 90-plus mph fastball. You can generate plenty of arm speed with a 79 3/8-inch wingspan. Kaepernick was throwing plenty of heaters when he took over for the injured Nick Graziano in the fifth game of his redshirt freshman season. He went on to throw for 2,175 yards with 19 touchdowns and had another 53.9 yards per game on the ground with six touchdowns. Kaepernick admits there was still little finesse or touch on his throws as a sophomore as he became just the fifth quarterback in NCAA Division I-A (FBS) history to throw for more than 2,000 yards (2,849) and rush for more than 1,000 (1,130). He replicated the feat in 2009 while starting to mature more as a passer and working on leading his receivers and setting up more yards after receptions. Kaepernick capped his college career as the WAC Offensive Player of the Year in 2010 while generating 308.8 yards per game in total offense and becoming just the third quarterback in NCAA history to throw and rush for at least 20 touchdowns in a season. To put his athleticism in perspective, Kaepernick is the only quarterback in NCAA history to throw for more than 9,000 yards and rush for more than 4,000 in a career. But the main question scouts have is how well his skill set will translate to the NFL after accumulating those gaudy numbers in Nevada's Pistol offense. "I don't think our offense will directly translate, but I think we do a bunch of things as progressions, protections that are similar to NFL teams do and we just call them something different," Kaepernick said at the combine, where he ran an impressive 4.53-second 40-yard dash. "I think picking up on terminology will be a big thing for me, learning what those mean as opposed to what we call things." That has made the pre-draft process particularly important to Kaepernick. He enjoyed a strong week at the Senior Bowl and was solid again in Indianapolis. Still, many scouts and talent evaluators believe he's a project quarterback who will need two to three years to prove he can start in the NFL. "I don't agree with that," Kaepernick said. "I think the Senior Bowl week I showed how quickly I can pick up on an NFL offense, drop-back, read coverage." Another drawback for scouts is a long windup that includes a hitch and gives defensive linemen more time to disrupt his passes. "I'm definitely trying to quicken it up a little bit, but at the same time a lot of that comes from my wingspan," Kaepernick said. "I have very long arms, so there is only a certain extent that you can compact that to." Kaepernick knows he has plenty of growing to do as a quarterback to succeed at the next level, where the defenders are bigger and faster and his mobility will be more about extending plays rather than picking up big chunks of yards with his legs. But he's confident he has all the tools to make the leap. "I think I bring a lot of things," he said. "I bring leadership, confidence, intelligence as well as my physical abilities and my arm strength and mobility. I think there are a lot of things that I can do to help an NFL team out."