Top 5 takeaways from 49ers’ NFL preseason victory over Chiefs

Nick Mullens won the 49ers’ backup QB “competition”

The 49ers’ melodramatic quarterback competition that never should have happened — and perhaps never really did — came to an uneventful end on Saturday. QB Nick Mullens took the field to begin the second half, and stayed under center for San Francisco until the game was decided.

Rookie quarterback Wilton Speight then entered the contest to run out the clock, while QB C.J. Beathard remained on the 49ers’ bench. Despite claiming on Wednesday he had yet to decide which quarterback would succeed Garoppolo in Kansas City, 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan made his decision prior to Saturday — and well ahead of his stated schedule:

"“One of those guys is going to win the job, and we will make that decision. I do not see myself making that decision until I absolutely have to, and that probably won’t be until the final 53.” -Kyle Shanahan"

The decision should have been a simple one for the team, since Mullens outplayed Beathard this season after outplaying him last preseason before heading back to San Francisco’s practice squad. Luckily for Mullens, Garoppolo’s injury combined with Beathard’s consistent poor play gave the former undrafted free agent a shot at the Niners’ starting job for the remainder of the 2018 regular season, which the youngster won with ease.

However, after Saturday’s game, Shanahan announced the team would likely keep three quarterbacks on the roster this season. Since Beathard, who has managed just one victory in ten starts and two additional second-half comeback attempts has little to hang his hat on aside from his third-round draft status, releasing a position player to keep a third quarterback on the roster makes little sense.

Look for Shanahan and general manager John Lynch to deal one of their backup quarterbacks to a QB-needy team, like the Denver Broncos or the Indianapolis Colts, who are quite light at the position after Andrew Luck‘s recent retirement announcement.