If C.J. Beathard is healthy, 49ers have good backup situation

The San Francisco 49ers are going with Jimmy Garoppolo against the Chicago Bears in Week 13, just in case you’ve been living under a rock. That means rookie third-round pick C.J. Beathard will serve as the primary backup quarterback, provided he’s healthy.

He certainly won’t be 100 percent healthy, and given the terrible play of San Francisco’s offensive line, it probably wouldn’t hurt for the team to add another quarterback to the roster. If Garoppolo goes down and an already ailing Beathard is pushed back into the starting lineup, the 49ers could be in trouble.

Then again, it’s easy to feel good about the backup situation after how Beathard played in his time as a starter. Since taking over for Brian Hoyer, Beathard has thrown some bad interceptions, but has mostly completed a good percentage of his passes while not making any egregiously bad mistakes.

On top of that, Sunday’s game against the Seattle Seahawks was the first time he had to exit with an injury, despite taking an absolute pounding every single week. Beathard may not be at his healthiest, but as I discussed previously, he’s showcased some of the best traits one would want out of a backup.

Once again, I’ll note that I don’t think Beathard is completely done as a starter in the NFL and he certainly has shown enough that he deserves more consideration in the future. But his abilities and skillset make him a good backup, one that the 49ers should be confident in.

When Hoyer was starting at the beginning of the season, Beathard was just a rookie who wasn’t likely to play much at all this year, too raw. Many thought he was a reach for John Lynch, but I think Beathard has already illustrated his value. And on Sunday, provided he’s healthy, he should illustrate it again. I feel extremely comfortable with Beathard as the primary backup for Garoppolo.