On Monday, San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan met with the media following the team's fourth practice of training camp and offered an analysis of rookie quarterback C.J. Beathard. The team selected Beathard in the third round of the draft.
"Just watching C.J., you can tell without even talking to him, watching him on tape, the way he processes things," Shanahan said. "He'll play in that pocket with a lot of people around him, he can get through progression. He's a very quick thinker. He'll react and let it rip. He prepares very hard. He is very intelligent.
"But there's a knack that certain people have in the pocket where they don't sit there and just freeze. Paralysis by analysis. That's one thing we saw in C.J. in college and the more he gets comfortable with the offense and stuff, he's shown it already, but the more reps and stuff he gets, that's one of his huge strengths."
During Monday's practice, Beathard had an opportunity to work with the second-team offense. 49ers.com senior reporter Joe Fann noted that Beathard has looked hot and cold during training camp.
"There's times when he's looked real great and there's times when he looked like a rookie, which is what you expect from a rookie quarterback," Fann said.
Following the draft, Shanahan went as far as to compare Beathard to Washington Redskins quarterback Kirk Cousins. Since drafting him, Shanahan has made it no secret that he loves his quarterbacks to possess a certain amount of toughness while playing the position. That means being able to stand in the pocket and make good decisions when a pass rush is coming for you – even if the protection is not good.
Shanahan prefers pocket passers versus quarterbacks who might be too quick to think of running the football themselves. On Saturday,
Shanahan brought up some of the best passers in the league in recent years,
Tom Brady and Peyton Manning, and shared why he likes that mold of quarterback.
"I think they've always been guys who have to sit in there and look down the field and learn how to get rid of the ball and if you've been doing that since you're seven years old to the NFL, you've had a hell-of-a lot more reps than this guy who's been able to run around and make plays all the time."
During the offseason, the new 49ers regime decided against bringing back any quarterback from the 2016 roster. Instead, it brought in former Chicago Bears quarterbacks Brian Hoyer and Matt Barkley, drafted Beathard, and signed undrafted rookie Nick Mullens.
"I'll say that we run a lot of bootlegs and things like that," Shanahan said on Saturday. "Usually, the most success I've had with quarterbacks who can do that are the ones who aren't mobile, because I only want to run bootlegs and stuff if people aren't playing them and when you have a mobile guy, they're playing them. When you don't, they play the run and then you get slow quarterbacks out on the edge and they can throw all day. Not because they're just super athletes with their legs, but they're good enough to throw on the move and you can use them."
John Lynch and Kyle Shanahan have made it clear that they want WR Brandon Aiyuk to be a part of the San Francisco 49ers for the foreseeable future. It appears Aiyuk also wants to get something done, but all indications are that he isn't willing to take a hometown discount and the likelihood of playing on the last year of his deal without a holdout or trade request is slim.
Simply put: Aiyuk wants to get paid.
It's hard to blame him. A player's time in the NFL can be short and it takes just one hit to end a career. So, whether it's with the Niners or another team, Aiyuk will squeeze every penny out of what will most likely be his most lucrative professional contract. But is spending that much on a receiver a wise move for the franchise?
There are a
San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy threw for a franchise-record 4,280 yards last season, leading the team to the Super Bowl and earning his first Pro Bowl selection. He held onto the football 39 times on the ground, rushing for 144 yards and scoring twice. This marked a significant improvement over his rookie 2022 campaign when he had 22 carries for 13 yards and a score.
Purdy further displayed his athleticism during the 49ers' playoff game against the Detroit Lions last season, helping engineer a comeback victory while rushing for 48 yards on five carries.
On Tuesday morning, Purdy joined the "Pat McAfee Show," acknowledging that he believes he can contribute more rushing yards if called upon. However, that decision rests with head coach Kyle Shanahan,
The San Francisco 49ers announced the signing of wide receiver Trent Taylor to a one-year deal, reuniting with the team's former fifth-round draft pick out of Louisiana Tech.
Matt Maiocco of NBC Sports Bay Area was the first to report that the 49ers were discussing a potential reunion with Taylor. The receiver was part of head coach Kyle Shanahan and general manager John Lynch's first draft class in 2017 and spent his first four NFL seasons with the team.
The #49ers are talking with free-agent slot receiver/return man
The San Francisco 49ers are hosting several draft prospects this week as the deadline for pre-draft visits draws near. According to Aaron Wilson of KPRC2, the team will host former Western Kentucky wide receiver Malachi Corley on Wednesday.
Corley is expected to be a Day 2 pick. San Francisco owns two selections on Day 2—the No. 63 overall pick in the second round and the No. 94 overall pick in the third round. Currently, the receiver is visiting with the Seattle Seahawks.
Western Kentucky @WKUFootball receiver Malachi Worley
