The San Francisco 49ers surprised some folks in April when they moved up into the back end of the third round to draft Iowa quarterback C.J. Beathard. We actually had some readers project the 49ers to draft him, but for the most part, I don’t think Beathard was on the radar for most of us.
General manager John Lynch and head coach Kyle Shanahan have had numerous opportunities to discuss the new QB, and on Friday, we got a little more. Lynch made an appearance on PFT Live with Mike Florio, and he got a chance to discuss the 49ers rookie QB. Florio specifically asked him what they see in Beathard.
“Aside from the talent, in tight spaces and in tight windows, he can really rip the ball. But I think his toughness speaks to me and Kyle. This is a guy that will get hit, stand up, and that seems to be a quality all the great ones have.
“And then, kind of fearless. I talked about letting that ball go. There's just no hesitation and that's what the great ones in this league — I think they anticipate and they let the ball go and they trust that their guys are going to be and they demand that their guys are going to be where they're supposed to be, when they're supposed to be there. He's got a lot of fire to him.
“He's played in a pro-style offense. Now, at Iowa, they didn't throw it as much as a lot of people so I think that's one reason he wasn't as coveted throughout the league. But I think people that studied him liked a lot of the same qualities we had. And those are, he's a very accurate thrower as well. Those are the qualities that stand out to me.”
Those have been the consistent talking points thus far. They like his accuracy, they think he’s tough, and they like that he’s worked extensively in a pro style offense. That about sums it up thus far, and he’ll continue to work at it in OTAs, minicamp, and training camp.
Matt Barkley remains Brian Hoyer’s backup, and I don’t expect to see Beathard unseat him for the time being. But it will be fun to see what training camp practice and preseason action brings when he’s out there in the third and fourth quarter of games. The 49ers have Nick Mullens as well, bit with four quarterbacks on the roster, it provides some quality time for Beathard. The 49ers need those preseason games to continue building in this offensive scheme, but we’ll get plenty of Beathard to see how these traits the 49ers like stand up under NFL pressure.