Josh Rosen Could See the Field for the 49ers in Season Finale
The San Francisco 49ers will take the field for the last time in 2020 when they matchup with the Seattle Seahawks.
Since it is the last game of the season, everything is on the table for the 49ers to experiment with. That means that quarterback Josh Rosen could see the field for the 49ers in their season finale.
Kyle Shanahan mentioned at his presser on Friday that he wants to get all three quarterbacks up for the game on Sunday. Josh Johnson will backup C.J. Beathard with Rosen as the third string. On the surface, it looks like there is no chance at all that Rosen will get to see the field.
However, I would not rule out that possibility.
Shanahan surely is interested to see how much Rosen has learned within the two weeks of being with the team. I would even argue that he has to see a little bit of Rosen. The 49ers have nothing to lose in this game, so all three quarterbacks could even be rolled out there.
Shanahan should treat his quarterbacks like a manager does with his pitchers. Let the starter play half of the game, then give the relief pitchers (backup quarterbacks) an inning (quarter) each. If Shanahan was comfortable enough, then I would just give Rosen the second half and not play Johnson who is a career backup. There is nothing to learn with Johnson.
Expectations surely would not be high for Rosen since that is a ton of information to absorb. It is why the idea of Rosen starting against the Seahawks was a delusional idea on so many levels.
I would surmise that Rosen sees the field in the fourth quarter, especially if the game is already out of reach. Shanahan has done that before with Jimmy Garoppolo. That is how Garoppolo got his first game action ever with the 49ers. Rosen could be in for a similar situation. The Seahawks will certainly look to win this game for playoff seeding implications, so they cannot afford to overlook the 49ers.
The season finale for the 49ers is basically a free for all for them. This is where plenty of players should see action so that the coaching staff can take note of where they are at in the offseason. Not that one game is going to influence any of the staff's minds heavily, but they just have to see what some of their questionable players.
Play Rosen for a quarter, maybe even more if he has made significant headway in the playbook, and see if he is a player worth investing in for 2021.
