Rookie Beathard cements spot as 49ers’ No. 2 quarterback.
Barkley is among the cuts announced along with Hightower
SANTA CLARA » Rookie C.J. Beathard’s impressive exhibition season has clinched him the No. 2 quarterback job behind 49ers starter Brian Hoyer.
Beathard, a third-round draft pick out of Iowa, beat out fifth-year veteran Matt Barkley, who got cut Friday along with 16 others in an initial wave of moves. Barkley did not play in Thursday night’s exhibition — finale win over the Los Angeles Chargers.
Beathard posted a 107.7 passer rating in the exhibition season while throwing four touchdown passes against one interception and completing 57.8 percent of his throws (26 of 45, 401 yards). Barkley was 13 of 21 for 197 yards and a 92.7 rating.
Beathard showed play-making panache by producing a fourth-quarter comeback victory in the exhibition opener at Kansas City, and he opened eyes Thursday night with a 62-yard touchdown run in the 23-13 win over the Chargers.
Beathard said learning the passing-game progressions under Shanahan has been his biggest task.
“First off, I had to learn the offense and think how he thinks as much as possible, because it’s his offense,” Beathard said Thursday night. “He goes through every play in his head just as a quarterback would. You want to try and be on
the same page as he is and think like him, so we’re on the same page as much as possible.”
Hoyer did not play Thursday night and finished the exhibition season 21 of 32 (65.6 percent) for 268 yards with two touchdowns, an interception and a 99.5 rating.
He started Sunday’s exhibition at Minnesota by completing his first nine passes, two of which produced touchdowns.
Hoyer has never played all 16 games in his eight seasons, either through injuries or depth-chart issues.
But he is the undisputed starter for first-year coach Kyle Shanahan, and that quarterback-coach duo thrived in 2014 with the Cleveland Browns when Shanahan was the offensive coordinator.
Barkley took over as the Chicago Bears quarterback last season once Hoyer sustained a broken left arm, and Barkley’s only win in six starts came against the 49ers on Dec. 4. A USC product, Barkley previously played for the Philadelphia Eagles and Arizona Cardinals.
Nick Mullens, the No. 4 quarterback, did not play this exhibition season until Thursday’s finale, when he was 7 of 10 for 58 yards with an interception that got returned for a touchdown.
• Also released with Barkley were running back Tim Hightower, center Tim Barnes, cornerback Will Davis, defensive lineman Leger Douzable, offensive lineman Andrew Gardner, wide receiver Louis Murphy. Waived were running back Kapri Bibbs, offensive lineman Andrew Lauderdale, fullback Tyler McCloskey, wide receiver Tim Patrick, guard Norman Price, kicker Nick Rose, linebacker Shayne Skov, safety Vinnie Sunseri and injured cornerbacks Will Redmond and Prince Charles Iworah.
• If guard Joshua Garnett remains on the 53-man roster through Saturday’s 1 p.m. deadline, he can go on short-term injured reserve. The 49ers had 18 moves to announce to reach that roster limit.