The situation is bleak for the defending NFC champion 49ers. Sure, they are enjoying a lovely week in West Virginia at The Greenbrier, a lovely resort and National Historic Landmark that has been a fixture in American life since the 1770s. Located on over 11,000 acres, the resort has a laundry list of amenities that would make anyone look into reserving a room. Yet the trip to the East Coast has come at a cost: The list of names currently injured reads like a Madden Ultimate Team. Nick Bosa. Raheem Mostert. Solomon Thomas. Tevin Coleman. George Kittle. Richard Sherman.
And quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo.
Head coach Kyle Shanahan did indicate to the media this week that Garoppolo’s high ankle sprain is not as severe as initially feared, but the signal-caller has yet to practice this week, making his status for Sunday against the New York Giants a question mark. Looming behind him on the depth chart? Nick Mullens.
If the backup is pressed into action Sunday, what can fans expect? Well, perhaps another quarterback in the Shanahan mold: Accurate, quick with his decisions and with the ability to manipulate defenders.
Back in 2018, Mullens made three starts for the 49ers in the wake of Garoppolo’s knee injury. San Francisco went 3-5 in those eight games, but Mullens comported himself well to the position, and Shanahan’s offense. Those traits are must-haves in this system, and this connection with Kittle from his first NFL start is a prime example. This is the pre-snap look at the play:
The route Mullens throws is that slant route to Kittle, who aligns as the inside trips receiver. The defender Mullens has to worry about the most is that linebacker, shaded in black. The linebacker facing this empty formation is taught first to open towards the three-receiver side and help to where the offense has numbers. So if Mullens is going to throw the slant, he has to do something about that defender:
Did you see his feet there? Mullens takes the shotgun snap and opens up to his right, looking at the two receiver side of the formation. The linebacker in response stays square, trying to gauge where the QB is going with the football. By doing this, Mullens occupies the linebacker and prevents him from cutting under Kittle’s route. That is all the space the QB needs to then flip his feet, hit the tight end in stride, and let him do the rest.
Mullens entered the second half of San Francisco’s game last week with the 49ers enjoying a 21-3 lead over the New York Jets. He still managed to complete 8 of 11 passes for 71 yards, and while he did throw an interception, his ability to manipulate defenders and anticipate throws was on display at MetLife Stadium.
On this completion, Mullens throws a dig route working from left to right. He opens to that side of the field, gets the hook defender to widen a bit, and then throws the dig route behind him for a big gain:
This play begins with play-action, which gets the hook defender – shaded in black – spinning a bit. After coming out of the fake Mullens flashes his eyes towards the left side of the formation. This further complicates life for that linebacker, who is in the process of recovering after biting down on the run fake. He sees Mullen’s eyes and as such bails out towards the sideline. That creates the window for the dig route, and Mullens then throws behind that linebacker, with anticipation, for the completion.
Then there is this completion, which serves as another example of Mullens manipulating an underneath defender with his eyes and then making an anticipation throw. Mullens freezes the linebacker in the middle of the field, and then throws this curl route away from that linebacker with anticipation, putting his receiver in position to pick up additional yardage after the reception:
Mullens holds that linebacker with his eyes, preventing him from getting an early break on the throw. Then he delivers the pass with anticipation, so when the receiver turns the football is on him. As argued earlier this week, YAC is a quarterback stat, and this play is another bit of evidence for that proposition.
Doug Pederson may be right when he says that there are no “layups” in the NFL. However, with his ability to move defenders with his eyes and make anticipation throws, Mullens is getting into the layup range with some of his passes. That could be critical to whether the 49ers can weather their current injury storm.