NFL Cuts: San Francisco 49ers Make Shrewd Move by Picking Up Scott Tolzien

If there is one area on the field in which the San Francisco 49ers are lacking, it's at the quarterback position. They didn't make things any better by releasing Josh McCown on cut day.

It was a move that, in my opinion, could have proved to be disastrous in the long run. It's not so much that the Niners would have missed McCown (they wouldn't have), it's that they would come to regret not having a No. 3 quarterback.

Thankfully, the Niners took care of that by signing Scott Tolzien, an undrafted rookie out of Wisconsin who had a thanks-but-no-thanks stay with the San Diego Chargers.

As a quarterback, Tolzien is nothing special. He's not terrible when it comes to making decisions, but he has very little arm strength and practically no ability to complete passes down the field. He also comes from an offense that leans very heavily on the run, and that, for all intents and purposes, means that Tolzien is more untested than his peers.

But for a No. 3 quarterback, the 49ers certainly could have done worse. Tolzien may not be a star in waiting, but one presumes that he's at least cheap.

More importantly, the 49ers now have a Plan C in case Plan A and Plan B don't work out.

On most other teams, that's not much of a concern. But on the Niners? It just might be.

Plan A would be Alex Smith, and my guess is that we all know his story. Since drafting him with the No. 1 overall pick in 2005, the 49ers have watched Smith struggle to find his place in the NFL. A lot of this is their own fault, as they have not exactly done him the courtesy of consistency, but it's also pretty clear at this point that the Niners overvalued Smith back in '05.

Yet they're willing to tackle the 2011 season with him. This wouldn't have to be an issue, but Smith did not exactly inspire confidence during the preseason.

Neither did Plan B, rookie quarterback Colin Kaepernick. The 49ers traded up to get him in the draft, but he's a true project player who is nowhere near ready for starting duty. Despite that, there he sits as the team's No. 2 quarterback.

The point is that the 49ers' quarterback situation is anything but stable. Smith is not the answer for 2011, and neither is Kaepernick. Neither is Tolzien, for that matter. But with all three of them in the mix, the 49ers should at least be able to make it through the season.

Had it just been Smith and Kaepernick, you wouldn’t have been able to say such a thing with any certainty.