49ers updated roster bubble watch after 2021 OTAs

49ers Bubble Watch: Quarterback

Lock: Jimmy Garoppolo, Trey Lance

Strong Bubble: Josh Rosen

Weak Bubble: Nate Sudfeld

Long Shot: None

Ah, yes. The competition every San Francisco fan wants to hear about: the No. 3 quarterback spot on the 53-man roster.

Quarterbacks Jimmy Garoppolo and Trey Lance are locked into the regular-season roster. There’s no doubting that whatsoever, and the only question there is whether or not Lance can close the gap with Jimmy G towards the road of starting.

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That’ll be a training camp storyline to watch for sure, but the far more open-ended battle here is who winds up securing the third spot on the depth chart.

Early on, the favorite appeared to be former Philadelphia Eagles backup quarterback Nate Sudfeld, who had the advantage of carrying guaranteed money in his free-agent contract and also worked with now-49ers quarterbacks coach Rich Scangarello.

But Josh Rosen, the emergency quarterback the Niners signed off the Tampa Bay Buccaneers practice squad late last year, received more reps during OTAs in sessions available to the media, so it seems as if the Niners are favoring him to earn the third-tier spot over Sudfeld right now.

Normally, this shouldn’t matter. But considering San Francisco has used three different quarterbacks during two of the last three seasons, it has to.

And perhaps that’s a way for Rosen to resurrect his otherwise disappointing career in the wake of being a first-round NFL Draft pick.