The 49ers’ 90-man roster has taken shape, and camp battles are already developing on paper with organized team activities due to open May 20.
Some positions won’t have a lot of competition. Jimmy Garoppolo is locked in at the top of the depth chart. So are players like George Kittle and Dee Ford. Other spots will have a ton of competition based on the personnel on the roster going into OTAs. This is our seven-part series on the biggest roster battles we’ll have an eye on throughout the offseason.
A year ago the 49ers appeared set at quarterback with Jimmy Garoppolo riding a five-game winning streak to close the 2017 season. A torn ACL for the starting signal caller was the first major domino to fall in the collapse of San Francisco’s season.
Garoppolo should be back for Week 1 of the 2019 campaign, but his injury and the subsequent play of his backups turned the spotlight on the backup quarterback spot up a few notches.
The contenders
CJ Beathard – Year 3
Nick Mullens – Year 3
Wilton Speight – Rookie
The low-down
The backup quarterback won’t matter for the 49ers in an ideal world. Getting a starting quarterback under center for virtually every snap of all 16 games is obviously the goal. On the other hand, Garoppolo’s recovery from an ACL tear in Week 3 last season makes it necessary to ensure the highest-quality backup is available.
Speight won’t land in the conversation unless he has an otherworldly training camp. After that the competition is up in the air between two quarterbacks who’ve been up and down in limited action.
Beathard has 10 starts under his belt with only one win. The former third-round pick is arguably the more physically talented between him and Mullens, but the numbers don’t show it. Beathard has completed 57.3 percent of his throws for 2,682 yards with 12 touchdowns and 13 interceptions in 13 games.
Mullens, an undrafted free agent in 2017, has just eight games of experience but completed 64.2 percent of his passes for 2,277 yards, 13 touchdowns and 10 picks. His 90.8 passer rating dwarfs Beathard’s 74.6.
Despite the dramatic difference in success the two players will enter camp in an even competition with each other. The winner will be Garoppolo’s backup, while the loser either takes a third-string job or winds up off the roster.
The prediction
The biggest flaw with Beathard’s performance last season was his penchant for committing turnovers. With a small margin for error, those turnovers were backbreakers in some close games for San Francisco. It stands to reason though that an improved supporting cast and the controlled environment of a training camp allows Beathard’s physical tools to outshine Mullens.
Mullens was undoubtedly the better quarterback statistically during the last regular season, but the 49ers signed him as an undrafted free agent whereas Beathard was a third-round pick they traded up to get. The competition may be even in the minds of the coaching staff, but Mullens will have to really exceed Beathard’s performance in the preseason to earn the nod.
It stands to reason the 49ers keep both players since waiving one to try and get them to the practice squad could be treacherous. Trimming one player off the roster at a different spot is probably worth keeping both signal callers away from other teams. On the other hand, San Francisco would likely jump on the chance to trade one of them if another team comes with a trade offer.
For now the prediction is the 49ers keeping all three quarterbacks, with Beathard backing up Garoppolo.
