Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
Nick Mullens was efficient during 49ers vs. Raiders and took advantage of his opportunities, says Greg Cosell
Nov 10, 2018 at 10:38 AM
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Executive producer and analyst Greg Cosell, whose breakdowns can be seen weekly on ESPN's NFL Matchup, has had ample time to study the film from second-year quarterback Nick Mullens' NFL debut in the San Francisco 49ers 34-3 victory over the Oakland Raiders. What he saw was an efficient passer who took advantage of the opportunities that head coach Kyle Shanahan created for him.
Cosell
joined KNBR on Friday afternoon and discussed Mullens' debut performance as he prepares for his second start, a Monday night matchup against the New York Giants. Cosell has just one game worth of film to base his evaluation because Mullens was not among the prospects he studied last year coming out of Southern Miss.
"I thought he showed a quick, compact delivery (against the Raiders)," Cosell said on the "Gary & Larry" show. "I thought he was consistently accurate. I thought he was decisive with his reads and his throws, which I think Kyle Shanahan helped tremendously. It was the result of play design.
"There were a couple of throws that really stood out to me. I thought the 25-yarder to [Pierre Garçon] on the second TD drive was an outstanding throw by Mullens. He threw the deep dig, and it's one of those sort of firm-touch throws. It's not a strike, and it's not an arm throw. It's a firm-touch throw, and the ball placement was precise.
"I thought he did a really nice job on the [
George Kittle] 71-yarder where he sort of had to move away from pressure. The pocket was caving in on him, and he was able to create enough space to make the throw.
"There were particular plays where I thought he was really, really good. He was obviously efficient running an offense that presented clean opportunities."
Cosell went on to say that Shanahan's offense is difficult for an opponent to prepare for because of how different it is from others around the NFL.
How is it different?
"The fact that Kyle uses a fullback more than any team in the league," Cosell said. "When I talk to defensive coaches around the league, one of the first things they say when they are looking to prepare for an offense is they start with personnel. It's personnel. It's formations. It's tempo. It's schemes. It's concepts.
"So when you play the 49ers, your personnel on your defense, you're going to end up more than likely playing more out of your base. Although, the Giants may not do that. They play a lot of what we call Big Nickel with three safeties, and they may take that approach."
You can listen to the entire conversation with Cosell below.
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