SF 49ers grades: Nick Mullens stinks it up vs. Washington in Week 14
By Peter Panacy
Nick Mullens and the SF 49ers offense couldn’t get much of anything going against Washington, and the grades reflect the bad showing.
Remember those fans who thought the SF 49ers would be foolish if they traded away quarterback Nick Mullens back in 2019 for anything less than a second-round pick?
Right now, Mullens’ value might have to include the Niners sending away a draft pick to be rid of him, should that have ever been an available route to take.
Mullens and the San Francisco offense ran into an up-and-coming wall in the Washington Football Team defensive front in Week 14, as edge rushers Chase Young and Montez Sweat made the quarterback’s life hell at State Farm Stadium. Young and Sweat each recorded a sack on Mullens, two of the four he took, and the SF 49ers’ decision to let Young be a massive playmaking difference-maker was quite the shocker.
The Niners lost the game 23-15 with Washington scoring its two touchdowns by the way of the defense.
Those were only some of the miscues head coach Kyle Shanahan and Co. had on offense, which again put more pressure on a beleaguered San Francisco defense to hold the line.
Somewhat lost in the story was veteran quarterback Alex Smith facing off against the team that selected him No. 1 overall back in 2005, only the second time in his career and the first game since suffering his horrendous 2018 leg injury.
Smith was one of a number of players injured during the contest, and the injury bug cast yet another long shadow over both teams.
Especially with the SF 49ers losing two of their top players.
Needless to say, the position grades from the Niners’ vantage point aren’t going to be pretty, especially for Mullens.