The competition at quarterback between Blaine Gabbert and Colin Kaepernick will come down to which man can best confront his most glaring weakness. Their quarterback dual will be the highlight of Sunday afternoon’s exhibition opener against the visiting Texans.

For Gabbert, it’s accuracy. During Thursday’s practice, inaccuracy surfaced again as Gabbert struggled to find small windows in the red zone, a consistent theme throughout training camp. In a non-padded practice, Gabbert air-mailed a throw intended for wide receiver Bruce Ellington from 10 yards away. Gabbert did eventually find tight end Blake Bell for a 10-yard score during the quick hour-long practice.

Meanwhile, Kaepernick practiced sparingly in the team period, which was later explained by a team spokesman as a rest day for him. Kaepernick was constantly shaking his arm during individual drills over the last three days.

But potential arm trouble can’t account for a lack of seeing the field, which was behind Kaepernick’s mid-season benching last year. This summer, when not under the duress of a pass rush, Kaepernick appears far more accurate than Gabbert. But once team drills begin, Kaepernick lapses back to being largely ineffective.

Neither quarterback looks particularly good, and that might be due to each still learning a complex yet fast offense. Also, the one position that looks most improved is the defensive line with Arik Armstead, Eli Harold and rookies DeForest Buckner and Ronald Blair looking effective. And no one has yet to emerge at wide receiver either.

Nevertheless, if the competition continues to bump along, expect Gabbert to be the starter, with Kaepernick possibly spot playing as a change of pace. This offense, with it’s quick throws and split-second decision making is better suited for Gabbert’s quick release and more rapid decision making.

Meanwhile Kaepernick excels at making the right read of when to keep the ball and when to hand-off on read-option plays.

Of course, either quarterback could disrupt this plan, if they can overcome their on-field demons. We will see how menacing those demons can be on Sunday.