Get ready for an intense offseason battle ... for the San Francisco 49ers' backup quarterback job. Nick Mullens and C.J. Beathard will compete for the right to be Jimmy Garoppolo's backup for the upcoming season.
Beathard appeared in six games with five starts for the 49ers when Garoppolo went down with a season-ending injury. The former third-round draft pick and then-second-year player completed 60.4 percent of his passes for 1,252 yards with eight touchdowns and seven interceptions before a hand injury opened the door for Mullens, who was also in his second year but signed as an undrafted free agent.
Beathard did not start again.
Mullens passed for 2,277 yards with 13 touchdowns, 10 interceptions, and a passer rating of 90.8 through his eight starts last season. You would think since he finished the season as the starter even after Beathard was healthy, that he would be the favorite to enter the offseason as the backup quarterback. He may be the favorite, but that doesn't mean he won't have to compete with Beathard for the job.
Head coach Kyle Shanahan doesn't even know which quarterbacks will get first reps when the 49ers kick off their offseason program next month. Garoppolo will still be rehabbing his ACL, so Mullens and Beathard are the candidates for the first reps during 11-on-11 drills.
How will Shanahan decide?
"We'll flip a coin the first day," he told the Sacramento Bee on Tuesday.
Kyle Shanahan on how he'll divvy up starters reps between QBs C.J. Beathard and Nick Mullens while Jimmy Garoppolo rehabs: 'We'll flip a coin the first day.'
— Chris Biderman (@ChrisBiderman) March 26, 2019
The quarterback battle between Mullens and Beathard will be worth watching as Garoppolo works his way back onto the practice field. The starting quarterback is expected to begin throwing during practice and doing some light non-contact work in late-May. The team hopes to have him completely back sometime during training camp.