SF 49ers: 2 options for team’s backup quarterback needs

Youth with Untapped Potential for SF 49ers

Some backup quarterbacks can be incredibly valuable in the NFL for a specific reason. Heading into the 2018 season, I argued the development of C.J. Beathard would be a critical part of the overall success of the SF 49ers because of this very reason.

This reason? Potential.

The most important position in football is the quarterback. This goes without saying. There are, perhaps, 20 or so quarterbacks who one could say are legitimate starters and have starter capabilities playing as starters. That means, and this is of course a very rough estimation, 12 teams have weak or unstructured quarterback situations and those 12 teams are looking for an answer to the most important question.

For the SF 49ers, they were in this very position. They, in 2017, had no real solution to the quarterback situation, and they ended up trading for someone who they thought could be the answer. The New England Patriots, for their troubles, could have received a higher pick in exchange for Jimmy Garoppolo. But nonetheless, they got back a second-round pick that would end up higher than the one they used to select him. That is a form of surplus value.

San Francisco 49ers

When the Niners had offers for Nick Mullens, they should have pounced immediately. Regardless of how lucrative the trade proposals were, for an undrafted free agent to get back actual capital despite being a backup, that’s a win for the SF 49ers. And the fact Mullens, at some point, was worth actual trade capital despite being a backup who clearly had a fairly low ceiling, speaks volumes as to how valuable the position can be.

For a team with an established starter, whether young or old, using the backup position at quarterback to work with players who have real potential to develop into something is the best way to extract surplus value from teams. The floor of their play may be much lower. But as we saw last year with Mullens and Beathard, that’s going to be a constant for most if not all backups.

The reality is backups are backups for a reason. They can’t be counted upon to win a majority of games, nor should they be. But if a team cannot financially or logistically support having a backup who is “established enough” with a high-enough floor to win games, as most teams who have solid starters do, the best use of these positions is to get players who can help in a variety of ways.

Drafting a player like North Dakota State quarterback Trey Lance who, worst-case, can likely be flipped later at a fractional loss, and best-case, can end up replacing Garoppolo and become a star, is how a team stays viable long-term, especially when the starting quarterback isn’t an unquestioned star.

If using a first-round pick is too rich, using a mid-round pick for the very same thing achieves the same goal. Even signing a player like former first-round quarterback Josh Rosen can help inch towards this, albeit the likelihood of getting positive value decreases. But these players can play at the level a mediocre backup with no potential can provide the allure of surplus value.

Every player on the team should have a positive value. When it comes to a backup quarterback, paying big money for a player to ride pine doesn’t achieve anything. Instead, having players who can become valuable will lead to success in the future. For the SF 49ers, fixing the backup position by spending more doesn’t fix any of the root problems.