Mullens thriving, but still needs to prove himself
Poor Nick Mullens: His huge accomplishments have not erased doubts about his frame and arm strength.
At Spain Park High School, the 49ers’ quarterback was named the Gatorade State Player of the Year in talent-rich Alabama. The reaction: yawns. He was a two-star recruit who chose Southern Miss over offers from Jacksonville State, Murray State and AlabamaBirmingham.
At Southern Miss, Mullens was the Conference USA Player of the Year and set school records for passing yards and touchdowns. The reaction: shrugs. He wasn’t invited to the NFL combine and went undrafted.
Now, five starts into his NFL career, is it happening again? This season, Mullens has outplayed fellow backup C.J. Beathard since Jimmy Garoppolo’s knee injury, but his head coach isn’t outwardly smitten: Kyle Shanahan hasn’t proclaimed his current No. 1 QB will be his No. 2 next season when Garoppolo is back.
Instead, Shanahan has said Mullens and Beathard will start dead even in the offseason. This, despite Mullens having the better completion percentage (63.8 to 60.4), passer rating (93.5 to 81.8) and passing yards per game (295.8 to 250.4). Both he and Beathard have made five starts in 2018. Mullens’ quicker decision-making also helps account for why he has had fewer turnovers (6 to 10) and taken fewer sacks (10 to 18) than Beathard.
On Wednesday, Shanahan was asked why Mullens wouldn’t have the offseason edge. Shanahan answered by saying Beathard (6-foot-2, 215 pounds), who has a bigger frame and more powerful arm than Mullens (6-1, 210), could still be the better QB.
Sound familiar? Yes, poor Nick Mullens.
“It starts coming out of how they were in college, the ceiling and who you think has the most ability,” Shanahan said. “Then, it goes to practice each day. Some of the throws and the plays that people make. That’s where C.J. was ahead of him and beat him out. Nick got his opportunity because of injury.”
And Mullens has kept it because there might a mild locker-room revolt if he were benched. Consider this statistic: Mullens has a 2-3 record and Beathard is 0-5 this season.
Shanahan indirectly has acknowledged Mullens has surprised him.
Consider what Shanahan said after a 39-10 loss to the Rams on Oct. 21 when he was asked what was “stopping” him from replacing Beathard with Mullens.
“Because,” Shanahan said, “C.J. is the best quarterback in our building.”
Less than two months later, however, Mullens enters Sunday’s meeting against Seattle with 746 passing yards in his past two games, the most by a 49ers quarterback since Steve Young (761) in 1995. On Sunday, Mullens could become the first San Francisco QB to throw for at least 300 yards in three straight games since Jeff Garcia in 2000.
In his first start, which he made because Beathard had a wrist injury, Mullens joined Hall of Famers Frank Tarkenton and Jim Kelly as the only players to have 250 passing yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions in their NFL debut.
In other words, there is now at least a debate about the best QB on the current 53-man roster.
“He’s played very well, and that’s why he hasn’t lost” the starting job, Shanahan said. “I’m glad that he’s made this hard on us. That’s the goal. C.J. made it a little bit easier throughout the process of competing in practice and making some of the plays that he did. That’s why he got all those opportunities.
“Now that Nick’s gotten it, he has shown that. He’s gotten better each game. He’s played very consistent and I’m very excited that it’s not an easy decision anymore.”
Shanahan was pressed a little on his excitement level. Beathard, after all, was Shanahan’s handpicked draft choice and the 49ers traded up five spots to ensure they grabbed him at the end of the third round last year. Meanwhile, the 49ers wouldn’t have signed Mullens if he hadn’t been championed by quarterbacks coach Rich Scangarello.
Will the 49ers’ larger investment in Beathard mean he will receive preferential treatment when determining Garoppolo’s backup in 2019? Shanahan pointed to their recent past.
The 49ers chose running back Matt Breida, a 2017 undrafted free agent, over sincereleased Joe Williams, a 2017 fourth-round pick they traded up to select. Shanahan also noted defensive lineman Sheldon Day, who was claimed off waivers last year, occasionally has taken snaps from Solomon Thomas, the No. 3 pick in last year’s draft.
At this point, Mullens’ track record, in which he plays well but fails to silence skeptics, has been established. Despite his college success, he said Wednesday that he didn’t expect to get drafted. Why? He understood his limitations wouldn’t be ignored by NFL teams, one of which still isn’t completely sold on him after his first five starts.
“If I showed up at the combine,” Mullens said, “I wouldn’t be the biggest, fastest or the strongest. I guess evaluators put a lot of thought into that. It’s just part of the deal. I’ve always just kind of thought, ‘This is what I’ve got and it’s my job to maximize it.’ ”
Eric Branch is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: ebranch@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @Eric_Branch