Nobody really knows these days exactly where Nick Mullens is going with the 49ers, but now he’s at least receiving another chance to get there. Where the third-year veteran takes his latest opportunity behind center during the remainder of this season could have a heavy say in where San Francisco ultimately is going at the quarterback position.
As they close out a forgettable November and prepare for a consequential December stretch run, the 49ers are going with Mullens.
And maybe even for longer than that, depending on how Mullens performs and how the rest of this tumultuous season plays out for the defending NFC champions.
Mullens, of course, knows better than to look ahead.
“You just take it one step at a time, one game at a time, one week at a time,” Mullens said in early November after taking over as the starter from an injured Jimmy Garoppolo for the second time this season.
That’s a lesson Mullens has been learning since his apprenticeship days with the 49ers when, as an undrafted rookie free agent languishing on the practice squad in 2017, you could find him playing safety on San Francisco’s scout team during 11-on-11 team drills.
Mullens is not that guy anymore. He’s certainly not that bottom-of-the-depth-chart quarterback anymore.
He’s a legitimate NFL quarterback now, a guy who could start for several NFL teams, a guy who — despite his backup status in San Francisco — already has compiled 12 career starts with the 49ers as the team returns to action from its Nov. 22 bye week.
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة December 2020 من Niner Report.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك ? تسجيل الدخول
هذه القصة مأخوذة من طبعة December 2020 من Niner Report.
ابدأ النسخة التجريبية المجانية من Magzter GOLD لمدة 7 أيام للوصول إلى آلاف القصص المتميزة المنسقة وأكثر من 9,000 مجلة وصحيفة.
بالفعل مشترك? تسجيل الدخول
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In the weeks that follow after you read this — and perhaps sometime even sooner than that — Kyle Shanahan and the rest of the 49ers organization will make a titanic decision that will have present, future and perhaps even everlasting implications for the franchise. It will chart the course for the team’s pivotal 2021 season while determining whether San Francisco really does have the juice to return to powerhouse status and again be considered a legitimate contender to get back to the Super Bowl.
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Fred Warner vaulted to stardom with a spectacular 2020 season — and the 49ers rewarded him this summer with a $95.225 million deal that makes him the highest-paid inside linebacker in NFL history. By today’s standards, Warner’s performance last year was worth the money as he posted an Approximate Value of 19 — matching the highest score ever recorded by a San Francisco defender according to a Pro Football Reference formula that puts a single number on each player-season across all positions since 1960. Patrick Willis and NaVorro Bowman (twice) also had seasons with an AV of 19 as they dominate this list of the greatest individual seasons by a linebacker in 49ers history.
