Josh Rosen apparently did enough during his brief trial with the 49ers to secure a new deal. The 49ers resumed the old choice of the first round for a one-year contract, the team announced on Monday.
The tenth overall choice in the 2018 draft, Rosen spent most of the 2020 season on the Buccaneers’ training team. He was hired by the 49ers just three days before the team’s victory in Week 16 over the Cardinals – the team that recruited Rosen two years earlier. Rosen spent the rest of the year on the active 49ers list, but saw no action in the game. He supported CJ Beathard, who played well during his only two matches in the 2020 season.
Beathard, who will be an unrestricted free agent this off-season, was one of three defenders who started for the 49ers in 2020. Holder Jimmy Garoppolo made six appearances before an ankle injury left him out in the second half of the season. Garoppolo went 3-3 as a 49ers starter, while Nick Mullens, a four-year veteran who is a restricted free agent, has won just two of his eight games as a center. Beathard shared his two games after replacing Mullens, who suffered an elbow injury at the end of the season during San Francisco’s week 15 defeat to the Cowboys.
Despite the quarterback carousel, the 49ers finished 12th in the NFL with passes in 2020. They were also eighth in the league in red zone efficiency. However, the third casualties were a problem, as the 49ers were 24th in the league in that department. Injuries to the quarterback, along with several other positions, contributed largely to the 49ers’ disappointing 6-10 record a year after representing the NFC in the Super Bowl.
Although he has not yet realized his potential when leaving the draft, the former UCLA star will be only 24 when the 2021 season begins. Rosen was also unprepared to succeed during the first two seasons of his career. In Arizona, Rosen was pushed into the starting lineup as a rookie, where he played behind one of the NFL’s worst offensive lines. After being traded to Miami in 2019, Rosen again played behind a below average offensive line, which allowed him to be fired 16 times during his three games that season. In his first 16 matches, Rosen has been fired 61 times.
Josh Rosen
SF • QB •
Rosen has launched at least one touchdown pass in nine of his 16 career matches.
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Keeping Rosen adds security to the 49ers who hope to avoid another season marked by injuries in 2021. It also gives Rosen another season to work with Kyle Shanahan, who has had a notable success working with several established defenders. Along with his success with Garoppolo, Shanahan made it to the Super Bowl with Matt Ryan during his time as the Falcons’ offensive coordinator. Prior to that, Shanahan served as Washington’s offensive coordinator when Robert Griffin III won the Offensive Rookie of the Year, leading the football team to a division title. As Houston’s offensive coordinator in 2009, Shanahan helped Matt Schaub win a passing title en route to his first Pro Bowl selection.
The jury is deciding how 49ers will use overall choice No. 12 in this year’s draft. In his most recent draft, CBS Sports NFL analyst Ryan Wilson makes the 49ers select North Dakota’s Trey Lance. Chris Trapasso, however, makes San Francisco find a complementary piece for George Kittle with the selection of Florida tight end Kyle Pitts. CBS analyst Josh Edwards believes the 49ers will use the 12th overall choice to bolster their secondary. He has the 49ers taking Alabama’s former cornerback Patrick Surtain II, the second cornerback in the CBS Sports ranking.