The San Francisco 49ers surprised pretty much everybody on Friday when they made a move into the back end of the third round to select Iowa quarterback C.J. Beathard. I won’t pretend to know more about quarterbacks than Kyle Shanahan, or even anywhere near as much. But it was a head-scratcher.
It turns out, Beathard was the only guy he wanted, according to MMQB’s Peter King. King was embedded with the 49ers, and got to hear the thought process on the Iowa QB. We heard from Shanahan on Friday night about how he likes his accuracy, thinks he’s incredibly tough, and thinks he would be better with more talent around him.
Shanahan said on Friday that they think he’s a guy who could develop, and in King’s piece, he said that Beathard reminds him, “a lot of Kirk Cousins.” Given the 49ers regular connection to Cousins this offseason, and Shanahan’s past compliments of the Washington QB, I suppose this all makes more sense.
King did decide to put some 49ers history spin on it.
Of course, there is an almost mythological quality to this trade. Think of it. In 1979, Bill Walsh, with only veteran journeyman Steve DeBerg to give him a chance to win that season, waited until the end of round three to take a lightly regarded Midwestern quarterback, Joe Montana. In 2017, John Lynch, with only veteran journeyman Brian Hoyer to give him a chance to win this season, waited until the end of round three to take a lightly regarded Midwestern quarterback, C.J. Beathard.
“Oh my God,” Beathard said upon learning his link to Montana. “That is crazy. Wow. Joe Montana. Wow.”
I don’t think anybody will think Beathard is going to be the next Joe Montana, but hey, why not drop some pressure on him early?