Raiders vs. 49ers: 5 storylines for Week 9 on Thursday Night Football
By Peter Panacy
No. 5: Building the Nick Mullens Hype Train
The past two weeks have essentially revealed C.J. Beathard is a modest backup quarterback and little else. At least at this point in his career. He’s the kind of quarterback capable of keeping a decent team in games, from time to time, but not someone who can help manage an offense to a winning record with consistency.
San Francisco 49ers
So it shouldn’t be a surprise there are grumblings about benching Beathard. Kyle Shanahan indicated earlier Beathard is still the best quarterback on San Francisco’s roster, and he’s right.
But if Beathard isn’t ready to go, it will be Mullens. The recently acquired Tom Savage would serve as a backup.
Mullens, an 2017 undrafted free agent, has never seen a regular-season snap. He turned some heads a bit earlier this preseason, although his final exhibition line over four games wasn’t exactly eye-popping — 31-of-43 for 396 yards, one touchdown against three interceptions for a passer rating of 79.2.
Still, his preseason comeback performance against the Dallas Cowboys in Week 1 of the preseason was pretty entertaining.
It’s important to remember, however, Mullens was going up against opponents’ squads made up almost entirely of third- and fourth-string players, most of whom are not even on NFL rosters right now.
Feel free to jump up and down for a possible Mullens start. Just keep your lofty expectations in check until proven otherwise.