ST. LOUIS, MO - NOVEMBER 1: Colin Kaepernick #7 of the San Francisco 49ers warms up prior to a game against the St. Louis Rams at the Edward Jones Dome on November 1, 2015 in St. Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Michael B. Thomas/Getty Images)

These surprising photos show how much weight Kaepernick has lost, and it's a real problem

He went from a beef cake to a string bean. He'd better hope a linebacker doesn't catch hold of him.

Before Colin Kaepernick became a lightning rod for controversy, he was projected to be one of the best quarterbacks the NFL had to offer.

RELATED: Rodney Harrison rips Colin Kaepernick by insulting his heritage "He's not black"

Something drastically changed in Kaepernick's diet that caused him to go from beefcake to string bean.

To be fair, Kaepernick was never built like Tim Tebow, but he was definitely one of the more "put together" players in the NFL.

Kaepernick reported lost the weight due to inactivity following surgery on his shoulder, knee, and thumb. Fox Sports' Jay Glazer made note of the weight loss and that Kaepernick had an "uphill battle" to stay with the team.

From Business Insider:

"He lost a ton of weight this offseason, had three surgeries, couldn't work out, lost that double threat, that size-speed ratio. No political views, he just hasn't been effective."

Kaepernick has admitted to not knowing just how thin he was because he didn't "want to know."

Going from this:

To this:

I wouldn't want to know how much I weighed either.

[h/t Business Insider]