4 biggest questions 49ers have after 2021 OTAs
By Peter Panacy
The 49ers gained some valuable knowledge during their 2021 OTA sessions, yet these four questions remain unanswered for now.
San Francisco 49ers offseason workouts are now complete, cut short by head coach Kyle Shanahan in the wake of two injuries: an ACL tear for offensive lineman Justin Skule and an Achilles tear for defensive back Tarvarius Moore.
While those two injuries are setbacks, Shanahan and the Niners gained a lot of positives during the two-plus week sessions where practices still didn’t feature pads but allowed players to develop some of the on-field rapport they didn’t get to enjoy a season ago because of the pandemic.
That said, not everything San Francisco needed to solve was addressed.
The 49ers won’t meet again until training camp in late July. And while there were plenty of solid takeaways from these OTA sessions, there were some cases where more questions remain than answers.
Here are the four biggest questions now facing Shanahan in the wake of offseason programs.
No. 4: Who’s winning 49ers’ third-string quarterback job?
It shouldn’t be a big question. But considering the Niners have used three different quarterbacks in two of the last three seasons, it has to be.
Quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo remains entrenched as the starter, even though rookie QB Trey Lance did an adequate job to close the gap. Considering Garoppolo’s injury history, though, having a halfway decent third-tier option should be something Shanahan strongly looks at.
San Francisco bid farewell to journeyman-backup quarterback Josh Johnson already, leaving the other two backups, Nate Sudfeld and Josh Rosen, to compete for the handful of third-string snaps during practices.
Neither saw field action during the first week’s session open to the media, while Rosen managed to get a handful of reps during a practice open to the media in Week 2.
On paper, Sudfeld seems to have the advantage, given he has guaranteed money on his one-year contract and has prior experience working with quarterbacks coach Rich Scangarello. Rosen, meanwhile, is looking to somehow resurrect his career after being a top-10 pick in the 2018 NFL Draft.
As of now, there’s no clear-cut answer as to who is winning this under-the-radar competition.