The Final Piece of the QB Puzzle - and a Ticket Sales Update

Well played, 49ers. Fail to sign Matt Hasselbeck, Vince Young, Donovan McNabb, Daunte Culpepper or any other former NFL quarterback with a pulse in order to lock down the talents of Josh McCown. So the big question now is whether this will vault the 49ers from 2-14 to 3-13 in 2011.

Normally, the third-string quarterback isn't much of a big deal. But on the 49ers' roster during the Alex Smith era, it usually is. Consider some of the third (and fourth) stringers that have been called into action since 2005: Cody Pickett, Chris Weinke, Troy Smith, JT O'Sullivan, Ken Dorsey and Shaun Hill. All six of these guys were listed at third or lower on the depth chart at one point and ended up starting a game that same season.

So, it's probably a safe assumption that the 49ers will rely on Josh McCown at some point in the season, especially considering Colin Kaepernick's rookie status.

And, it's probably a safe assumption that most of us wouldn't like their team's chances with McCown under center on gameday.

It doesn't take Nostradamus to see where this season's headed.

UPDATE: Wonder how those ticket sales are going? I just received an email announcing that the Niners are offering an "exclusive" 24-hour sale through Ticketmaster for up to 40% off tickets for this Saturday's preseason "game" against the Raiders. Sounds like there is plenty of inventory left. Two things immediately come to mind:

1) 40% off any preseason game is still a rip-off
2) When I was a season ticket holder, this was the kind of stuff that used to drive me crazy - I'd purchase an entire season's worth of tickets at full price while random folks could purchase deeply discounted tickets the week prior to a game. Once again, the Niners fail to respect - and properly reward - fan loyalty.