Beathard and Nick Mullens will start the offseason program on even ground in a competition for the No. 2 quarterback job, Matt Maiocco of NBC Sports Bay Area reports. "We'll rotate C.J. [Beathard] and Nick [Mullens] with the twos," coach Kyle Shanahan said Tuesday. "[We'll] flip a coin the first day."
A 2017 third-round pick, Beathard has just one victory in 10 NFL starts, with his functional ability to move the ball (6.8 YPA, 4.6 YPC) negated by a plethora of sacks (37), interceptions (13) and fumbles (eight). Mullens lacks the draft pedigree and had the same issues with sloppy mistakes, but he at least went 3-5 as the starter last season while completing 64.2 percent of his passes for 8.3 yards per attempt. With two capable backup quarterbacks on hand, the 49ers would be wise to consider a trade, though that's far from a sure thing with Jimmy Garoppolo working his way back from an ACL tear. Despite what Shanahan said, Mullens should have the upper hand in this competition.