October 15th, 2017 at 4:34pm CST by Dallas Robinson
C.J. Beathard will remain the 49ers’ starting quarterback after taking over for veteran Brian Hoyer in today’s game, head coach Kyle Shanahan told reporters, including Matt Barrows of the Sacramento Bee (Twitter link).
San Francisco made the decision to replace Hoyer with Beathard in the second quarter, and while the Niners still came up short to the Redskins, Beathard made the game competitive, leading San Francisco on a comeback attempt before the club ultimately fell 26-24. Beathard, whom the 49ers selected in the third round of this year’s draft, completed 19 of 36 passes for 245 yards, one touchdown, and one interception.
Hoyer, meanwhile, had completed 59% of his passes for four touchdowns and four interceptions heading into today’s contest, but was four of eleven for only 34 yards before getting yanked today. The 32-year-old Hoyer is signed through the 2018 season, and a has a base salary guarantee of $2.9MM next year.
Chiefs starting guard Laurent Duvernay-Tardif exited Monday night’s game in the first quarter with an apparent knee injury. Tests on Tuesday morning will determine the extent of the injury and the team is hopeful that it is an MCL injury and not an ACL tear, Terez Paylor of the Kansas City Star tweets.
The Chiefs and Duvernay-Tardif agreed to a five-year, $41.25MM extension in the offseason, making him one of the league’s highest-paid interior linemen. Losing him for a lengthy period of time would be a setback for KC.
Here’s more from the West divisions:
49ers coach Kyle Shanahan says he not given any consideration to a quarterback change, as Matt Barrows of The Sacramento Bee writes. For now, the Niners are sticking with Brian Hoyer, but it sounds like Shanahan will not hesitate to yank him if he feels it would benefit the team. “I think he needs to play better,” Shanahan said of Hoyer. “And I think we can play better around him. … When you have the time and you have guys open, you need to hit them. I thought he struggled with that at times (Sunday). I know he can do better. But I also know when he did make throws, guys weren’t great at catching them for him, either.” If Hoyer gets the hook, rookie C.J. Beathard will get a chance to show what he can do.
The Rams will add Mike Thomas to the roster and go to seven wide receivers when he returns from suspension this week, coach Sean McVay said (Twitter link via Alden Gonzalez of ESPN.com). Thomas was hit with the ban in July for PED use.
Cardinals tackle D.J. Humphries is still out with an MCL injury and coach Bruce Arians doesn’t expect to see him back until two weeks from now, Josh Weinfuss of ESPN.com tweets.
The Steelersannounced that they have signed third-round cornerback Cameron Sutton. The former Tennessee standout was a starter throughout his four-year collegiate career, setting a school-record in passes defended along the way. Sutton was one of two cornerbacks taken by Pittsburgh during this past year’s draft, as the team also selected Brian Allen in the fifth round.First-round linebacker T.J. Watt is now the lone Steelers rookie without a contract.
The 49ers announced (via Twitter) that they have signed quarterback C.J. Beathard. The organization invested a third-round pick in the Iowa product, although he figures to start the season behind Brian Hoyer and Matt Barkley on the depth chart. During his senior season, Beathard completed 56.5-percent of his passes for 1,929 yards, 17 touchdowns, and 10 interceptions.
Of the 15 quarterbacks selected in last year’s draft, seven ended up starting at least one regular-season game in 2016. The Rams’ Jared Goff and the Eagles’ Carson Wentz comprised the top two picks of the draft, but it was Cowboys fourth-round signal-caller Dak Prescott, the 135th overall choice, who ultimately emerged as the NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year and the face of a 13-3 team.
When the Cowboys drafted Prescott, there was little expectation he’d garner significant playing time right away, let alone thrive from the get-go, with Tony Romo on the roster. But debilitating summer injuries to Romo and backup Kellen Moore opened the door for Prescott, who’s now firmly entrenched under center in Dallas. Romo, realizing he wasn’t going to start again for the Cowboys, is now working for CBS.
While it’s hard to imagine any rookie quarterback from this year’s 10-man class bursting on the scene in Prescott-like fashion, it stands to reason at least some will get opportunities to do so. Like last year, three passers went in the first round of the 2017 draft, though immediate playing time isn’t a guarantee for any. For now, Mitch Trubisky (No. 2 overall, Bears), Patrick Mahomes (No. 10, Chiefs) and Deshaun Watson (No. 12, Texans) are in understudy roles.
Trubisky, a one-year starter at North Carolina for whom Chicago somewhat controversially traded up a spot to select, reportedly won’t see the field as a rookie unless free agent investment Mike Glennon flops. Considering Glennon previously held a starting job in Tampa Bay but didn’t do enough to keep it, he very well could struggle enough for Trubisky to grab the reins in 2017.
Watson might also take the helm sooner than later, as the ex-Clemson national championship winner whom the Texans traded up 13 spots to draft is behind a veteran, Tom Savage, who’s almost completely untested. Given that the Texans have sullied quality rosters with subpar quarterbacks in recent seasons, it could behoove them to plug in Watson if Savage, he of two career starts and zero touchdown passes, looks like another Brock Osweiler this year.
An early path to playing time appears less clear for Mahomes, even though Kansas City paid a high price to go up 17 places to secure him. At the moment, the ex-Texas Tech gunslinger looks like a good bet to red shirt 2017 behind Alex Smith as the Chiefs take at least one more kick at the Super Bowl can with the steady (albeit non-elite) veteran at the helm.
Perhaps more than any other QB in this year’s class, Browns second-rounder DeShone Kizer stands out as someone who looks destined to amass playing time as a rookie. The 52nd pick and former Notre Dame dual threat has impressed in the very early going in Cleveland. Moreover, his main competitors for the Browns’ open starting job, Osweiler and Cody Kessler, aren’t exactly Otto Graham and Bernie Kosar.
As Prescott and 2012 third-rounder Russell Wilson have shown in the past half-decade, a quarterback doesn’t necessarily have to come off the board at the top of the draft to star right away. That’s surely heartening to the Giants’ Davis Webb (third round, No. 87), the 49ers’ C.J. Beathard (third round, No. 104), the Steelers’ Joshua Dobbs(fourth round, No. 135), the Bills’ Nathan Peterman (fifth round, No. 171), the Lions’ Brad Kaaya (sixth round, No. 215) and the Broncos’ Chad Kelly (seventh round, No. 253). Barring injuries, though, Webb, Dobbs and Kaaya have virtually no chance to earn starting roles at any point in 2017, as each is behind an established veteran. On the other hand, there’s no Eli Manning, Ben Roethlisberger or Matthew Stafford on any of the rosters of the 49ers, Bills and Broncos, which could give Beathard, Peterman and Kelly a glimmer of hope. Still, for various reasons, all three look like major long shots to break out as rookies. Then again, the same could’ve been said about Prescott 12 months ago.
Of all the quarterbacks in this year’s draft, Iowa’s C.J. Beathard was the only one 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan had interest in selecting, details Peter King of The MMQB. Shanahan ultimately got his man toward the end of the third round, pick No. 104, after the 49ers sent the 109th and 219th choices to Minnesota to trade up. “We’d all sleep a little better if we got him instead of waiting ’til tomorrow,” CEO Jed York told other members of the 49ers’ draft room before they moved up for Beathard. Shanahan compares Beathard to a former pupil, Redskins quarterback Kirk Cousins, noting that Beathard “processes the game so well” and is “tough as sh–.”
More from around the game:
Cowboys cornerback Orlando Scandrick is “miffed” that he was the subject of trade rumors during the draft, reports Clarence Hill of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram (on Twitter). Nevertheless, Scandrick, who was on hand Monday for the second phase of Cowboys workouts, is “being professional,” Hill adds.
Rookie general manager Chris Ballard‘s restructuring of the Colts’ scouting department has led to the ouster of Jimmy Raye III. The Colts parted with Raye, their former vice president of football operations, on Monday, tweets Albert Breer of The MMQB. The two sides split on “amicable” terms, per Breer. At one point this past winter, Raye looked like the favorite to succeed the fired Ryan Grigson as the Colts’ GM. Now, he’ll presumably look to catch on with another team’s front office.
The belief is that the Seahawks and Vikings had interest in Tennessee quarterback Joshua Dobbs on the third day of the draft, according to Jeremy Fowler of ESPN.com (Twitter link). Dobbs ended up with the Steelers in the fourth round, pick No. 135. The Seahawks used their fourth-rounder, No. 111, on Colorado safety Tedric Thompson. Minnesota selected Michigan linebacker Ben Gedeon 120th.
Chattanooga defensive end Keionta Davis is a “name to watch” as the undrafted free agent process continues, notes Ian Rapoport of NFL.com (onTwitter). The Senior Bowl invitee was a third- to fifth-round possibility before a bulging disc scared teams away on draft weekend. Davis’ specialist expects his neck to heal, though, according to Rapoport.
Reports emerged last night that Bears head coach John Fox was unaware of his club’s intention to draft North Carolina quarterback Mitch Trubisky until a “couple hours” before the draft. GM RyanPace subsequently denied those reports, saying his head coach is involved in all of the team’s decisions.
“That stuff is so false,” Pace said (via Mike Florio of ProFootballTalk.com). “There’s consistency in everything we do, so we all work arm-in-arm and that’s the way it is and that’s the way it should be.
“John is involved in every decision deeply. The respect I have for John is enormous, especially his experience and all of the players that he’s been with. I think if you look back — and we talked about this — I think a lot of it was kept secret I thought we did a good job keeping this thing pretty under wraps, it’s so sensitive. But if you go back to the private workouts that we had, I mean John and I — it’s pretty hard to hide him — but we’re traveling to Chapel Hill and having dinners and workouts with Mitch, so he’s been deeply involved from the very beginning.”
Let’s check out some other draft notes from around the NFC…
The Vikings reportedly approached the 49ers about trading for the 104th pick, according to Matt Maiocco of NBC Sports Bay Area (via Twitter). However, San Francisco wanted to guarantee that they’d get Iowa quarterback C.J. Beathard, so they rebuffed Minnesota’s advances. Ironically, Minnesota was previously in possession of that pick.
The Saints were fans of Texas Tech quarterback Patrick Mahomes, general manager MickeyLoomis told Larry Holder of NOLA.com (Twitter link). However, with Ohio State cornerback Marshon Lattimorestill being on the board, New Orleans wasn’t too interested in moving up for the signal-caller. Mahomes was ultimately reelected 10th overall by the Chiefs.
UCLA cornerback Fabian Moreau‘s pectoral muscle is “looking great,” tweets NFL.com’s Ian Rapoport. This reassurance probably convinced the Redskins to take the defensive back with the 81st-overall pick.
The Lions selected cornerback Teez Tabor with the 53rd pick, despite the fact he suffered a hamstring injury during his workout with the team. Rapoport tweets that the Florida product didn’t end up working out for any other teams.
April 28th, 2017 at 10:31pm CST by Connor J. Byrne
The 49ers have acquired the 104th pick from the Vikings in exchange for the 109th and 219th selections, per Matt Maiocco of NBC Sports Bay Area (Twitter link).
San Francisco is using the pick on a quarterback, Iowa’s C.J. Beathard, who became the Hawkeyes’ full-time starter in 2015. Beathard totaled 17 touchdown passes in each of his two seasons at the helm and combined for 15 interceptions, 10 of which came last year. The 6-foot-2, 215-pounder has a “very good” arm, observes Pro Football Focus, though the outlet only expects him to develop into a third-stringer at the NFL level. That figures to be his immediate role in San Francisco, which features Brian Hoyer and Matt Barkley as its top two QBs.
Ohio State’s Gareon Conley is now being considered the safest cornerback prospect in the draft, according to Jason La Canfora of CBSSports.com. Fellow Buckeye Marshon Lattimore may have chronic hamstring issues that are scaring NFL teams, while Florida’s Teez Tabor posted poor measurables and reportedly isn’t fairing well during the predraft interview process. Conley, however, is viewed as a “super-clean” player, per La Canfora, and could be the top corner off the board later this month.
Here’s more from on the draft, all courtesy of La Canfora:
The Cowboys will likely look into Conley and the rest of the defensive back class after losing their top two corners — and two of their top three safeties — in free agency, writes La Canfora. Dallas has used an ample portion of its predraft visit allotment on cornerbacks, and may look to add a back-end defender at pick No. 28. A trade up to draft an “impact” corner isn’t out the question, says La Canfora.
Jarrad Davis (Florida) is expected to be the second off-ball linebacker selected in the draft, following Alabama’s Reuben Foster, reports La Canfora. Davis’ Pro Day, during which he posted a 4.56 40-yard dash and 38.5 inch vertical jump, impressed pro clubs, per La Canfora, and Davis is viewed as a leader who could immediately step into an NFL defense. Lance Zeirlein of NFL.com compares Davis to the Panthers’ Shaq Thompson, noting Davis’ “plus acceleration” and “closing burst.”
NFL teams have been “turned off” by Oklahoma receiver Dede Westbrook, according to La Canfora, who notes Westrbook’s combine interviews left a negative impression. Westbrook, who has a history of off-field trouble, is reportedly deemed “undraftable” by some clubs, as Tony Pauline of DraftAnalyst.com indicated last month. Based on his on-field production, Westbrook is a projected fourth-round pick, per Dane Brugler of CBSSports.com, who compares Westrbook to Houston’s Will Fuller.
Iowa quarterback C.J. Beathard could be the sixth quarterback off the board following Mitch Trubisky, Deshaun Watson, Patrick Mahomes, DeShone Kizer, and Davis Webb, says La Canfora. NFL teams like Beathard because he comes from a pro-style system, and La Canfora would be surprised if Beathard isn’t drafted by the conclusion of Round 4. In his senior season, Beathard completed 56.5% of his passes for 17 touchdowns and 10 interceptions.
