49ers quarterback search: 3 backups who can help Jimmy Garoppolo
By Peter Panacy
No. 3: Josh Rosen, 49ers
It was nothing more than an emergency move once the 49ers lost Nick Mullens to an elbow injury late in 2020.
But plucking the former No. 10 overall pick from the 2018 NFL Draft, quarterback Josh Rosen, off the Tampa Bay Buccaneers practice squad late last season opens up the possibility of the former UCLA standout to resurrect his career under Kyle Shanahan.
Rosen, like Mullens, is a restricted free agent this offseason. Armed with a higher pedigree than Mullens, Rosen wasn’t exactly presented with workable situations with the team that drafted him, the Arizona Cardinals, as they made the crucial coaching switch in 2019 to Kliff Kingsbury and elected to go with quarterback Kyler Murray in that year’s draft instead. Rosen, of course, found himself floundering with the Miami Dolphins the following season amid their own start of a rebuild.
So it’s somewhat understandable Rosen only managed a lowly 54.8 completion percentage and 63.5 passer rating between those two seasons amid some ugly situations.
At 23 years old, it’s awfully safe to say Rosen has come nowhere close to reaching his NFL peak. True, the pro-level results could essentially define who he is. But he’s young enough to remain a workable commodity.
Trying to develop Mullens any further or holding onto the hope C.J. Beathard can turn a proverbial page aren’t routes the Niners should be willing to take.
Rosen, however, at least has the promise of potential left at his disposal.