SF 49ers: Post-2021 draft bubble watch for 53-man roster

SF 49ers bubble watch: Quarterback

Lock: Jimmy Garoppolo, Trey Lance*

Strong bubble: Nate Sudfeld

Weak bubble: Josh Rosen

Long shot: Josh Johnson

Understandably, the talk of San Francisco’s upcoming training camp will be how its No. 3 overall draft choice, NDSU quarterback Trey Lance, is coming along and whether or not he’s realistically closing the gap with the SF 49ers’ starter, Jimmy Garoppolo.

That’ll certainly be a fun camp battle to watch. Yet Lance’s relatively raw abilities and the fact he’s played just one game since 2019 is essentially a guarantee Jimmy G won’t be moved anytime soon, perhaps not even until after the upcoming season is over.

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The real quarterbacking depth-chart questions take place after those two, where Nate Sudfeld, Josh Rosen and Josh Johnson are all jockeying for likely one spot on the three-man signal-caller position list.

Rosen, a former first-round pick, is intriguing, yes. But he was only added to the Niners roster off the Tampa Bay Buccaneers practice squad late in 2020 after yet another swarm of injuries, and neither Rosen nor Johnson carry anything in guaranteed money.

In contrast, Sudfeld’s contract has over $250,000 in guaranteed money for 2021, and one also has to point out the veteran worked under San Francisco’s current quarterbacks coach, Rich Scangarello, last year with the Philadelphia Eagles.

Those factors likely give Sudfeld the edge over both Rosen and Johnson, meaning the latter two likely wind up continuing their seemingly endless quest to find a forever home on an NFL roster.