Written by Sean Wagner-McGough at CBSSports.com
When Falcons offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan eventually joins John Lynch in San Francisco to rebuild a struggling 49ers franchise, he might try to bring a quarterback with him.
Don’t worry Atlanta, he’s not going to steal Matt Ryan. Instead, Shanahan will reportedly target Matt Schaub.
According to ESPN’s Adam Schefter, Shanahan is interested in Schaub as the 49ers’ bridge quarterback:
Schaub could be the 49ers’ bridge quarterback, as the starter or the backup, but whatever role he takes he would be valuable as he knows Shanahan’s system.
According to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, Shanahan is interested in Kirk Cousins, Jimmy Garoppolo and, yes, Schaub too.
#49ers starting QB could be in the building today. If Kyle Shanahan doesn’t get Kirk Cousins, his targets: Jimmy Garoppolo, then Matt Schaub
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) February 5, 2017
Just cancel the 49ers season if they plan on starting Schaub. In his prime, Schaub was a fine quarterback. From 2009-12, Schaub went 34-24 and threw 90 touchdowns and 45 interceptions for a 94.3 passer rating. But those days are long gone.
Since 2013, Schaub has started 10 games, posting a 3-7 record. He’s thrown 13 touchdowns and 20 interceptions for a 71.4 passer rating.
As a backup, Schaub, 35, would bring experience to the table. He also already understands Shanahan’s system, which by the way, did take Ryan some time to learn. Remember how much Ryan struggled a year ago in his first season with Shanahan?
But as a starter, that experience and knowledge can only get Schaub so far. There’s a reason why he’s not starting in a league that doesn’t feature enough starting-caliber quarterbacks for all 32 teams.
So, hopefully for the 49ers’ sake, they land either Cousins (the Redskins quarterback who shoved a referee during a flag football game) or Garoppolo (the Patriots backup quarterback who has thrown 94 passes in his career).
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