Beathard picked by the 49ers
Everyone sort of assumed that Desmond King would be the first Hawkeye picked in the 2017 NFL Draft.
If it wasn’t King, then certainly it would be defensive tackle Jaleel Johnson, who had a standout performance in the Senior Bowl in front of NFL scouts.
If it wasn’t either of the first team All Big Ten defensive players, then an NFL team would be scooping up George Kittle after he killed it at the NFL Combine in February, raising the draft stock of the Iowa tight end.
Instead it was a wild card going first as far as Iowa players, with the San Francisco 49ers trading up late in the 3rd round on Friday evening and picking C.J. Beathard.
The Tennessee native and grandson of legendary NFL executive Bobby Beathard was the 104th pick in the NFL Draft. He was only the second signal caller of the Kirk Ferentz era to be drafted with Ricky Stanzi going in the 5th round in the 2011 draft. Last year, Jake Rudock, who Beathard beat out for the starting job following the 2014 Iowa season, was drafted by the Detroit Lions last year in the 6th round, following his graduate transfer to Michigan.
Beathard becomes the highest quarterback draft pick for the Hawkeyes since Mark Vlasic was picked by the San Diego Chargers in the 4th round in 1987.
In his Iowa career, Beathard threw for more than 4,738 yards in his final two years as a starter with the Hawkeyes. He had 40 career touchdown passes and posted a 21-7 record as a starter at Iowa.
Most draft projections this week had Beathard as a likely later round pick on the third day of the NFL Draft, but much like his Iowa career, he exceeded those expectations.
Beathard now joins a 49ers team in the midst of rebuilding their franchise. He will be competing with NFL journeymen Brian Hoyer and Matt Barkley for the starting job in San Francisco.
As far as the three other Hawkeyes who many thought could already be drafted in the first three rounds, they will have to wait until Saturday. Round 4 of the NFL Draft begins on Saturday at 11 am and fans can tune in to see where King, Johnson, and Kittle end up. The expectation is that all three shouldn’t have a long wait once things get going on Saturday morning.
