49ers roster: Josh Rosen isn’t viable backup to Jimmy Garoppolo yet

No, the 49ers roster isn’t automatically solved at quarterback with Josh Rosen backing up Jimmy Garoppolo in 2021 and potentially beyond.

For those thinking the San Francisco 49ers roster and depth chart at quarterback is mostly solved with Jimmy Garoppolo being the starter and Josh Rosen being the No. 2 option, think again.

While Garoppolo’s future has been the biggest subject of speculation this offseason, a nearly as-important facet of head coach Kyle Shanahan’s plans entering 2021 is what happens behind Jimmy G. Assuming the quarterback sticks around, of course.

Garoppolo’s 2020 ankle injuries opened the door for the Niners to get elongated looks at their two backups, Nick Mullens and C.J. Beathard, which essentially said additional bodies would be needed in 2021 anyway. Neither Mullens nor Beathard were impressive enough to warrant serious consideration for a re-sign deal as they hit free agency, and Mullens’ own injury late last year prompted San Francisco to pluck Rosen away from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers practice squad and place him on the 49ers roster.

Rosen’s career has been rocky, to say the least. Following an impressive collegiate tenure at UCLA, Rosen found himself selected by the Arizona Cardinals at No. 10 overall in the 2018 NFL Draft. Yet a poor surrounding context and a subsequent regime change led to him being ousted just a year later to the Miami Dolphins, who in turn, parted ways with him after one year, too.

To date, Rosen has a career-54.8 completion percentage with 12 touchdowns thrown against 19 interceptions and a 63.5 passer rating over 16 starts.

Josh Rosen isn’t an automatic No. 2 on 49ers roster

It’s easy to get hung up on the idea Rosen is a former first-round pick. If he wasn’t, there wouldn’t be a need for this conversation, and fans likely wouldn’t have cared if San Francisco simply let him walk in free agency this offseason after signing him to be an emergency option late in 2020.

Essentially, Rosen’s collegiate accolades and first-round status are the only things keeping him in the discussion right now.

True, Rosen is only 24 years old. And he wasn’t exactly graced with the best team situations with both the Cardinals and Dolphins. But just as important an evaluatory tool as the numbers and stats, looking at why three teams — the Cardinals, Dolphins and Buccaneers — didn’t see a need to make the quarterback a key part of their own rosters for the long run is concerning.

Good front offices pay attention to those things, too. In the case of Rosen, wondering this is just as crucial as wondering if he can somehow turn things around with the 49ers.

Granted, Rosen is entering perhaps the best situation he’s had in his pro career. Unlike the Cardinals in 2018 and the Dolphins in 2019, Rosen should have talent surrounding him and has an inside track to secure one of the 49ers roster spots behind Garoppolo, depending largely on the team’s actions under center this offseason. Letting him complete for one of those spots in training camp will be vital, too.

But to assume Rosen can make the 49ers roster based on his former pedigree alone is both premature and irresponsible. At this point, he’s still nothing more than a reclamation project and will need to prove the difficult context of his young NFL career is behind him.