You can file this one under things that we already assumed. However, just in case you had any doubt, San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan reaffirmed it on Friday. Shanahan joined the "Rich Eisen Show" and stated that Brian Hoyer, who was signed by the 49ers on the first day of free agency, is slated to be the team's starting quarterback in 2017. However, he went into some detail on why he likes Hoyer and why he thinks the quarterback fits into what he wants to accomplish at the position.
"Right now, Brian Hoyer is going to be at the controls," Shanahan told Eisen. "I'm really excited about Brian. Brian looked really good here in phase one and phase two of the offseason. He's putting in a lot of work. I got to work with Brian for one year when we were in Cleveland together. He can execute an entire offense. He can read a defense. He can hang in that pocket. He's a guy that's very tough. He doesn't watch the rush. He distributes the ball to whoever should get the ball based on the coverage and he allows guys to make plays.
"I'd like to run a real similar offense to what we did in Atlanta with Brian and with the rest of our guys but it's never the same. You're always going to adjust to your own players and see how it goes. Right now, we start OTAs this Monday. We're going to put in our base system of what we really do every year and you start to see your players. I should go through 10 OTA practices and then minicamp and then into the offseason.
"As a coaching staff, you're just teaching the basic system but you start to see what your players are good at and then it kind of funnels from there."
Shanahan's comments about Hoyer being tough and able to hang in the pocket are interesting because he had similar things to say about one of their third-round draft picks – quarterback C.J. Beathard from Iowa. You can certainly determine the quarterback traits that are important to Shanahan and why the 49ers have steered clear of other options at the position.
"C.J. is a very good thrower," Shanahan said earlier this month. "I'd consider him a natural thrower. It's not something he's had to work at a ton. He was born to throw, which gives him an advantage. But the main reason you like him is -- I've never seen a guy hang in the pocket and play as tough as he does. Whether the protection is good or not, whether people are getting open or not, he hangs in there all day, takes hits to the face and just keeps his eyes downfield. It allows him to process things during the game, get the ball to the right spots, be able to read coverages because he can hang in there and keep that poise."