The veteran journeyman’s…well, the journey continues. Josh Johnson, coming off a stellar performance in the XFL has gotten himself a tryout with the San Francisco 49ers. The 34-year old quarterback flashed in the spotlight this spring, throwing for 1,072 yards, 11 scores and just 2 picks in 4 games.
It’s little surprise that he’s garnered NFL interest, as he’s been on 13 teams, has played in San Fran previously, and had offers from the Detroit Lions last winter after signing with the XFL. Johnson is clearly well regarded in football circles as a veteran quarterback, and the fact that Kyle Shanahan has taken an interest is very telling.
Behind Jimmy Garoppolo, the Niners have two experienced backups in Nick Mullens and CJ Beathard. Mullens has shown great promise as a young passer out of Southern Miss, and Beathard has played respectably in relief duty, so they clearly value Johnson quite highly.
It’s very unlikely the team carries 4 QB’s, so the fact that they’re bringing in a veteran passer at all given their quarterback room speaks to Johnson’s talent. In his time in the XFL, we saw him transform the Wildcats offense and he displayed great arm talent, steady decision making and vision, and good mobility out of the pocket.
Bringing in an experienced QB like him would upgrade the 49ers QB room, and give Jimmy G an example to learn with.
Many XFL players have been getting NFL workouts this past week, most notably Cam Phillips and Jeff Badet, and we’ve also received word that DC Defenders DT Jay Bromley worked out with Detroit on Monday.
