49ers work out 7 quarterbacks to find backup
On Monday, when asked how many off-thestreet quarterbacks the 49ers would be hosting for a tryout, Kyle Shanahan responded with gallows humor.
“As many as we can get,” Shanahan said. “No, I’m just joking.”
Shanahan’s half-serious thinking: If the 49ers invite enough unemployed QBs, perhaps one serviceable signal-caller would be found in the scrap heap.
On Tuesday, the 49ers hosted seven QBs in Santa Clara as they moved to address a position that took a devastating hit when Jimmy Garoppolo sustained a torn ACL in Sunday’s
38-27 loss in Kansas City.
The tryout group included Kellen Clemens, 35, T.J. Yates, 31, and Tom Savage, 28. In addition, E.J. Manuel, 28, Landry Jones, 29, and Matt Simms, 29, and undrafted rookie Kyle Allen, 22, also reportedly were in Santa Clara to compete for the roster spot.
The 49ers also invited Matt Moore, 34, but he declined the offer, his agent, Lynn Lashbrook, said. Moore, who would have been the most experienced and accomplished of the tryout QBs, has been evaluating whether to return to the NFL after starting five games for the Dolphins the past two seasons.
Moore, 15-15 as a starter, has an 81.2 passer rating, 45 touchdowns and 36 interceptions in an 11-year career spent with the Panthers and Dolphins. Clemens, Yates, Savage, Manuel, Landry and Simms have a combined record of 23-40 and have thrown 60 touchdowns and 63 interceptions. They have a combined passer rating of 72.9.
It’s clearly a group that has some warts, but the 49ers won’t be relying on one of the tryout QBs to save their season.
Instead, they will be pinning their hopes on C.J. Beathard, who started five games last year as a rookie after he was selected in the third round. Beathard went 1-4 with a 69.2 passer rating, but did have a notable highwater mark late in his baptism by fire.
In his penultimate start, he guided the 49ers, then 0-9, to their first win by completing 19 of 25 passes for 288 yards with two touchdowns and an interception in a 31-21 victory over the Giants. Beathard’s passer rating (123.4) was the highest by a 49ers QB in their past 45 games.
“C.J. is a gamer, a guy who loves to play,” Shanahan said. “I know even though he doesn’t like how it happened, I know he is as excited about his opportunity.”
Given the punishment Beathard endured last year, it’s fair to wonder if his opportunity with a 1-2 team will include 13 starts.
In 2017, Beathard stoically took 17 sacks and absorbed 52 hits in his five starts before he was forced to the sideline with knee and hip injuries late in a loss to the Seahawks. Beathard was hailed for his toughness, but he took a pounding partly because he held on to the ball too long in the pocket.
Shanahan was asked if Beathard’s decision-making process had accelerated in his second season.
“We’ll see as these weeks go,” Shanahan said. “But I think that experience — everything he went through last year when it was good and bad — he learned from it. The stuff he did bad at, I think he’ll do better at this year.”
The absence of Garoppolo explains why the 49ers have been installed as heavy underdogs for their visit to the Chargers (1-2) on Sunday in Carson (Los Angeles County).
The plan for this week is to promote practice-squad QB Nick Mullens to the 53-man roster, which means the 49ers could carry three quarterbacks if, at some point, they sign one of their tryout players.
Given Mullens’ inexperience — he hasn’t taken a regularseason snap — it’s possible the 49ers would turn to a tryout QB if Beathard is sidelined this season.
In that case, they would be turning to Plan C at QB, and would have to hope they found someone serviceable in the scrap heap.