The San Francisco 49ers are working on extending the contract of quarterback Brock Purdy and they have already signed Mac Jones as their backup. Could they reunite with a familiar face to round out their quarterback room?
Niners fans will remember quarterback C.J. Beathard from his time in San Francisco from 2017 to 2020. The third-round draft pick is a free agent and he could be an interesting depth option for San Francisco.
There was a time when some considered Beathard the future franchise quarterback of the 49ers. He was drafted by the team in 2017, which was head coach Kyle Shanahan's first season in charge, and there was some symmetry to the fact that head coach Bill Walsh drafted Joe Montana in the third round of the 1979 NFL Draft, which was his first year as coach.
Shockingly, Beathard did not turn out to be the second coming of Montana. Instead, he is largely remembered for being a human tackle dummy for the team in his rookie season as he was forced to play behind a porous offensive line, which combined with his tendency to hang onto the ball for too long, led to him taking a lot of big hits. He certainly earned the respect of his teammates with his toughness and with how he would keep on getting back up after taking big hits.
In his rookie season, he threw for 1,490 passing yards and had four touchdown passes compared to six interceptions. He was really just keeping the quarterback seat warm for Jimmy Garoppolo, though, whom San Francisco traded for in 2017.
Beathard saw more playing tim in 2018 after Garoppolo went down with an injury early in the season, and the Iowa product did not fare much better than his rookie campaign, throwing for 1,252 yards and eight touchdown passes with seven interceptions.
2020 seemed like a year when the Niners could have moved on from Beathard, but they held on to him, which proved wise given all of the team's injuries that season. He had a solid year, throwing for 787 yards and six touchdowns with no interceptions, but that was his final season in San Francisco.
The fact San Francisco traded up to get him and he did not pan out left a complicated legacy, but he went on to be a respectable backup for the Jacksonville Jaguars. He had limited playing time each of the last few years, but he did start a game for Jacksonville last season and won it.
As of right now, the 49ers have Purdy, Jones, and Tanner Mordecai in their quarterback room. It would not be surprising if those were the three signal-callers they enter the 2025 season with, but it may not be the worst idea for San Francisco to bring Beathard back to add a little more competition to the quarterback room.
He is obviously familiar with Shanahan's offense, so at the very least maybe he can help Jones get up to speed on some of the intricacies of Shanahan's offense.
Many fans would probably roll their eyes if the team brought Beathard back because they associate him with the Niners being bad, but it would not be a terrible idea.
Read more from Niner Noise
feed