San Francisco 49ers: Breaking down the quarterback depth chart for 2018
By Peter Panacy
QB No. 3: Nick Mullens
Most teams either keep three quarterbacks on their 53-man roster, with one inactive on game days, or have another stashed on the practice squad.
Such was the case with former Southern Miss quarterback Nick Mullens, who joined the 49ers as an undrafted free agent in 2017 and subsequently landed on the practice squad for the entirety of the season. San Francisco then signed him to a reserve/futures contract shortly after the 2017 season came to a close.
Mullens’ collegiate numbers bear some note:
| Passing | ||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | School | Conf | Class | Pos | G | Cmp | Att | Pct | Yds | Y/A | AY/A | TD | Int | Rate |
| 2013 | Southern Mississippi | CUSA | FR | QB | 9 | 136 | 276 | 49.3 | 1776 | 6.4 | 5.1 | 13 | 14 | 108.7 |
| 2014 | Southern Mississippi | CUSA | SO | QB | 10 | 218 | 365 | 59.7 | 2470 | 6.8 | 6.3 | 12 | 9 | 122.5 |
| *2015 | Southern Mississippi | CUSA | JR | QB | 14 | 331 | 521 | 63.5 | 4476 | 8.6 | 9.0 | 38 | 12 | 155.2 |
| *2016 | Southern Mississippi | CUSA | SR | QB | 11 | 243 | 384 | 63.3 | 3272 | 8.5 | 8.5 | 24 | 11 | 149.8 |
| Career | Southern Mississippi | 928 | 1546 | 60.0 | 11994 | 7.8 | 7.5 | 87 | 46 | 137.8 |
Provided by CFB at Sports Reference: View Original Table
Generated 3/29/2018.
Finishing 2015 as Conference USA’s Offensive Player of the Year, Mullens is exactly the kind of depth-chart QB teams like to have to add a little competition during training camp and the preseason.
With Jimmy Garoppolo and C.J. Beathard already cemented as the Nos. 1 and 2 quarterbacks on the depth chart already, Mullens will at least have the chance to showcase some skills with the hopes of, perhaps, landing on a 53-man roster after final roster cuts take place before the regular season.
That’s his best shot, so we’ll see if he winds up sticking around on San Francisco’s practice squad again this season.