San Francisco 49ers

Skip Bayless hopes Colin Kaepernick does to 49ers what Tim Tebow did to Broncos

Published Oct. 12, 2016 2:56 p.m. ET

foxsports

Colin Kaepernick has been the hottest topic of the NFL season, and the saga took a dramatic turn this week when San Francisco 49ers coach Chip Kelly announced that the controversial QB finally will start in Week 6.

Why did the Niners decide to make the change? Skip Bayless and Shannon Sharpe discussed the situation Wednesday on "Undisputed".

"You know what this is starting to feel like to me? Forgive me for bringing up the name, but Tim Tebow 2011 in Denver," Bayless said.

"John Elway, John Fox finally said 'You know, we're feeling a lot of pressure. Everybody says give Tebow a chance. So let's throw him into the fire.' They were 1-4, the 49ers are 1-4. Let's throw him in because I think John Elway thought Tim would pretty quickly fail. And he didn't play very well but they won the first game. He played pretty poorly in the second game, but ehhh, they'll let him have another shot. And then they had to give him another shot and another shot and then they end up winning the division, obviously, and winning a playoff game.

"I'm hoping that Colin Kaepernick — who has proven to be a better quarterback than Tim Tebow, because obviously once upon a time he took this team all the way to within one throw of winning a Super Bowl — I'm hoping he can regain Colin Kaepernick form. ... I am hoping that Colin Kaepernick can do to Chip Kelly what Tim Tebow, for a while, did to John Elway and John Fox: light it up, win games, make them eat their words and make them look like fools."

For his part, Shannon addressed the reports that Kaepernick is restructuring his contract in order to get back on the field and audition for other teams, and giving up the guaranteed millions he'd get if he's hurt. Bad idea, Shannon says.

Kaepernick should retain his injury guarantee, even if that means the Niners keep him on the bench until they cut him loose after the season, and he has to start from scratch with a new team.

"Even if I have to play for a minimum contract that's incentive-based, I'd roll the dice like that. I'm not doing any favors for the 49ers, because you've done me no favors," Sharpe said as the debate continued in the video below.