Take a deep look at Colin Kaepernick's Week 1 performance for the San Francisco 49ers. Study it. Absorb it. Understand it. And then tell me what looked different.

The answer isn't that difficult. We're keeping it easy around here at the start of the season.

Kaepernick took only one sack in the 49ers' 20-3 victory against the Minnesota Vikings, and even that came when he stepped out of bounds at the line of scrimmage rather than take a hit with a two-touchdown lead late in the third quarter. A deep dive into ESPN's trove of QBR data suggests tangible evidence, despite the small sample size, of an offseason-long narrative touting his pocket development.

First, let's recall where Kaepernick finished the 49ers' Jim Harbaugh era last season. Most notably, he took 52 sacks -- the second-highest total in the NFL -- and at least four in eight of their games. His corresponding minus-23.0 sack EPA (expected points average, explained here) meant that his sacks cost the 49ers more points than those of any other quarterback but the Jacksonville Jaguars' Blake Bortles.

As one of the NFL's most mobile quarterbacks, there was no reason to accept this trend as permanent. So Kaepernick dedicated a portion of his offseason to developing his pocket presence with help from former NFL quarterback Kurt Warner. It's dangerous to draw any conclusions off a Week 1 game, but his results were encouraging when you consider they came against a team that recorded the league's ninth-most sacks in 2014 and presented a set of challenges similar to what he faced in 2014.

Colin Kaepernick 2014 vs. 2015 Week 1 2014 2015 Pressure/dropback 31.5 % 29 % Comp. vs. pressure 43.4 % 40 % Time before pass 2.68 seconds 2.46 seconds Source: ESPN Stats & Information

The details are in the chart. The Vikings pressured Kaepernick at about the same rate, and his passes produced about the same efficiency against pressure, as last season. There was one significant difference: Kaepernick shaved 0.22 seconds off his average time before releasing the ball, a notable reduction that should have a direct correlation to sack totals.

Knowledgeable observers also noted a series of plays that characterized advanced pocket play. Former NFL player Matt Bowen, now an ESPN Insider, thought Kaepernick looked more comfortable within a system that lent itself to quicker reads.

"You saw a lot of inside breaking routes and shallow crossing routes," Bowen said. "Those are higher percentage plays. Instead of waiting for a 17-yard out or trying to hit the deep corner versus Cover 2, it looks like they're telling him, 'Hey, your read is in the middle of the field. Trust your protection. If you have to step up, step up.' It's not really anything ultra-complicated. It's pretty simple and there's nothing wrong with that."

Kaepernick spent an average of 2.31 seconds in the pocket on his 31 dropbacks, which when compared to his average of 2.46 seconds before the pass demonstrates that he wasn't merely dropping and throwing. Kaepernick moved within and sometimes outside the pocket when necessary, but Bowen -- and ESPN game analyst Trent Dilfer, if you were watching the broadcast -- thought he did it more efficiently.

"You saw him stepping up and not retreating or trying to escape immediately," Bowen said. "You don't have to do that, not if you step up or make a quick slide in the pocket. It's a small sample size, but you could see there has been a progression. You'd be crazy not to believe that."

Another step in the judgment of Kaepernick will come when a team unleashes the full brunt of its blitz packages against him, something all high-level passers invite. Quarterbacks who know what they're doing understand matchups will be favorable if they can find the right read fast enough.

The Vikings blitzed him on only eight of 31 dropbacks Monday night. It's fair to expect someone -- perhaps the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 2 -- to elevate that ratio. If Kaepernick can pass that test, then we would really be talking.

Jacob Nitzberg of ESPN Stats & Information contributed to this report.