On Thursday Night Football, San Francisco 49ers HC Kyle Shanahan had a decision to make at the QB position. Their franchise guy, Jimmy Garoppolo, suffered a torn ACL earlier in the season. Backup QB CJ Beathard suffered a wrist injury that made him a game-time decision for tonight’s game. Shanahan elected to go with the unknown second-year QB Nick Mullens to start in primetime.
Mullens went undrafted in 2017 and spent all of last year on the practice squad and was called up to the active roster when Garoppolo went down. Prior to his NFL experience, he spent four seasons at Southern Mississippi. In his four years, he threw for nearly 12,000 yards and 87 touchdowns, while breaking many school records once held by Hall of Fame QB Brett Favre.
Coming out of college the biggest hits on him were his size and arm strength. Many believed he wouldn’t make an NFL roster.
After he was announced to start on Thursday night, nobody knew what to expect from him, but what we say against a pitiful Oakland Raiders defense brought some happiness to the hearts of fans. The 23-year-old went 16/22, throwing for 262 yards and three touchdowns in a 34-3 romping of Jon Gruden’s Raiders.
Mullens got a little bit of help from key guys like TE George Kittle who returned to top form again this week, consistently making catches like this one:
My TE George Kittle better than yours pic.twitter.com/fls0ErI8bP
— Nick Mullens Fan Account!! (@MrRoscoes) November 2, 2018
Now, we’ve seen quarterbacks compete in a game or two in their career, especially against bad defenses. Where he won me over, however, was after the game during the post-game interview with Erin Andrews.
Nick Mullens post game interview..that's my Quarterback! #49ers #GoNiners @NinersNation @zain49ers pic.twitter.com/P63wNuGTBh
— Jeffrey Walizer Jr (@JWalizerJr) November 2, 2018
What a moment. To see the raw emotion from someone who truly just wanted to play the game at the highest level is amazing. He’s a true feel-good story. Hopefully, with their hopes of a playoff run all but ended, the 49ers will continue to roll with the young QB from Southern Mississippi.