49ers quarterback search: 3 backups who can help Jimmy Garoppolo

No. 2: Matt Barkley, Bills

There’s something to be said about journeymen quarterbacks who hang around the league for a while despite them never having found much-elongated success at the pro level.

Former USC quarterback Matt Barkley fits that mold. Serving as the backup for Buffalo Bills star quarterback Josh Allen, the 31-year-old Barkley has rarely seen time as a regular starter, generally being asked to only fill in at times of injury.

That said, he does have some history with Kyle Shanahan, albeit small, back in 2017 when the 49ers were going through the initial stages of their complete team rebuild under the first-year head coach and newly minted general manager John Lynch.

Honestly, Barkley looked more poised and able than the quarterback who eventually won the starting job that year, Brian Hoyer, yet the Niners elected to go with the latter instead. Barkley subsequently failed to make the 53-man roster, and the tandem of Hoyer and C.J. Beathard inadequately held the line until Jimmy Garoppolo was acquired just before that year’s trade deadline.

Granted, Barkley is nothing more than a veteran presence. But those are important. Garoppolo didn’t exactly have a mentor in New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, at least according to reports, and there wasn’t anyone on San Francisco’s roster who could guide and advise him either.

Perhaps that’s what a player like Barkley could do, either to help Jimmy G or potentially some other young signal-caller the 49ers end up grabbing in the NFL Draft.