NFL odds: 49ers' QB race now a three-man chase

By Jordan Walters
WagerWeb.com Contributing Writer

Sports Betting at WagerWeb Online Sportsbook

When San Francisco 49ers camp opened not even two weeks ago, J.T. O’Sullivan was the odd-man out in the battle for the starting job, apparently leaving Alex Smith and Shaun Hill as the only two participants.

That made sense, as O’Sullivan was partly only signed by the club because he had worked with new offensive coordinator Mike Martz in Detroit last season. And during the first five days of camp, Hill and Smith alternated between the first and second units; O'Sullivan didn't take a single 11-on-11 snap.

As is usually the case, an injury changed things. Hill has been resting his sore shoulder, which gave O’Sullivan the reps he needed to impress the coaching staff. And he has done just that.

"As I said in the spring and I'll continue to say it, it is a battle between three guys," Nolan said. "Again, J.T. O'Sullivan still has less reps, but he had an opportunity to get some, so he got them. But this quarterback position is open. They're competing for it, as I said all along."

O'Sullivan, who also played in NFL Europe, is in his seventh professional season with his eighth NFL organization. He threw the first regular-season passes of his career last year with the Lions.

"I had no expectations about when my reps would come," O'Sullivan said. "I'm strictly about me being ready. If they would have said the first day to jump in there, I would have been ready. If they say a month from now, I'm going to be ready. It's about me doing my job as well as I can. It doesn't change if I'm in the first group or the fifth group."

O’Sullivan’s familiarity with Martz is definitely playing a factor, as Smith and Hill both have struggled thus far to pick up Martz’s offense. O’Sullivan has looked the best of the three.

 

"You can tell he's been in the offense before," wide receiver Arnaz Battle said. "He knows what's going on. He does a good job of anticipating routes and where guys are going to be."

Nolan did not object to a characterization that placed O'Sullivan as the starter if the season started today. But, in typical coachspeak, he didn’t say O’Sullivan would be the starter today, either.

“As we're all anxious to get to one, I am, and then again, I'm not. ... I want to know if we do have to get to another, if we get to a second quarterback, or a third, something like that. This is not just trying to find out who's one, this is also trying to find out who gives us a chance, our very best chance to win."

San Francisco’s 2008 odds on WagerWeb.com: Over/under 6.5 wins, +650 to win NFC West, +2500 to win the NFC, +5000 to win Super Bowl XLIII.