When the 49ers lost quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo to a torn ACL last season, they initially turned to C.J. Beathard as their new starter.
After five straight losses, the 49ers decided to give Nick Mullens a shot. They won his first start and generally looked better offensively while closing out the season with three wins in their final eight games. Mullens outdid Beathard in quarterback rating, completion percentage and yards per game while he was piloting the offense.
That would seem to give Mullens an edge when it comes to being the No. 2 quarterback this year, but head coach Kyle Shanahan called it “dead even” between the two players. Mullen said this week that he’s fine fighting for the job.
“It doesn’t matter what you did in the past,” Mullens said, via the San Francisco Chronicle. “On the door it says, ‘What’s Important Now.’ And that’s what I’ve been focusing on and will continue to do every single day. What’s important now: I want to be best at QB drills we did with the coaches today. I embrace it. Competition brings out the best in people.”
If Beathard and Mullens both do well in the preseason while other teams find their backup situations lacking, the competition could wind up being settled with a trade before Week One but there’s much to play out before reaching that point in the calendar.