Recently signed 49ers quarterback Josh Johnson spoke with the media Wednesday and seems to have a good idea where he stands in the early pecking order. You can check out a transcript of Johnson's comments courtesy of Cam Inman.
Johnson understood that this was Alex Smith's job at this point and that he (Johnson) was likely starting at the bottom of the depth chart given that he is the new guy. I would imagine he is at the bottom in terms of learning, but I would not imagine he stays there too long.
This follows Scott Tolzien's comments a week ago, chronicled by Eric Branch. At this point Tolzien would seem to be the odd man out in this quarterback rotation. He had a chance to digest the playbook throughout 2011 and will look to show how much has stuck over the course of the coming weeks and heading into training camp. However, given the various relationships in place, it would be a fairly sizable upset of Tolzien made the 53-man roster this coming season. Anything is possible, but I'm not really holding my breath.
Tolzien still has practice squad eligibility, but he would need to clear waivers and elect to sign with the 49ers practice squad. He did not clear waivers last year following the 49ers interest, but it remains to be seen if any other teams placed waiver claims on Tolzien as well.
Whatever the case, it should make for an interesting battle for the backup and third string quarterback position. Alex Smith is just about locked in as the starter, but the addition of Josh Johnson will hopefully help a solid backup emerge.