San Francisco 49ers must stick with C.J. Beathard at quarterback

The 49ers made a switch at the quarterback position on Sunday and rookie quarterback C.J. Beathard looked pretty good.

After their 26-24 loss to the Washington Redskins, the San Francisco 49ers fell to 0-6 on the season. Kyle Shanahan and company are working hard to rebuild this franchise, but they undoubtedly have a long way to go.

Despite the loss, the 49ers may have found something that works at the quarterback position. Late in the first half, Shanahan made a move, bringing in rookie quarterback C.J. Beathard to replace veteran Brian Hoyer.

On his first drive, Beathard moved the ball down the field a bit, but the 49ers eventually had to punt. However, on his second drive, Beathard led the 49ers down the field for a 75-yard touchdown drive just before halftime. Carlos Hyde capped that drive with a one-yard touchdown, but Beathard slung the ball around the field on the touchdown drive. Like this strike to tight end George Kittle:

Like this strike to tight end George Kittle:

With the score 17-7 at halftime, Beathard and the 49ers continued to play well in the second half. They ended up losing 26-24, but when Beathard came in, the score was 14-0. Simply put, Beathard was the reason that the San Francisco 49ers were in the game at all.

On the day, Beathard was 19-of-36 for 245 yards. He had one touchdown pass (a 45-yard strike to Aldrick Robinson you can watch below) and one interception.

Beathard was not perfect on Sunday afternoon. His accuracy was spotty and his inexperience showed at times. That being said, he showed a pretty strong arm and impressive moxie for a rookie quarterback making his first real appearance. Beathard is an incredibly tough quarterback who moves in and out of the pocket extremely well. He may not be a future star, but Beathard undoubtedly has more long-term upside than Hoyer.

Next: Ranking the best quarterbacks in the NFL

Hoyer has been downright awful this season. He seemed like a decent stop-gap option for the 49ers going into the season, but it just hasn’t worked out. At 0-6, San Francisco should already be looking ahead to next season. They should be making decisions based on what helps the future of their franchise the most.

When it comes to the quarterback position, the decision is obvious. C.J. Beathard needs to be the starting quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers for the rest of the year. He may not be good enough to be the long-term franchise quarterback, but what does it hurt to find out?