SANTA CLARA - Montana. Young. O'Sullivan?
He's not in that rarefied company just yet, but J.T. O'Sullivan will have the same role as the former 49ers greats after coach Mike Nolan named him the team's starting quarterback Friday.
Though the announcement has a bit of a fairy tale quality considering O'Sullivan's vagabond past, it should come as no surprise.
Throughout the summer, the former Jesuit High School and UC Davis star simply has been more accurate, moved the offense more efficiently and showed better command than competitors Alex Smith and Shaun Hill.
Through three exhibition games, O'Sullivan has completed 60.6 percent of his passes, compared to 42.1 percent for Smith and 56.3 percent for Hill.
Smith, who has been the presumed starter ever since he was drafted No. 1 overall in 2005, will begin the season as O'Sullivan's backup. Hill, who was last season's Cinderella, will return to his former role as the team's No. 3 quarterback.
Nolan has said he doesn't want to play "musical chairs" with his quarterbacks and told all three as much when he met with them Friday afternoon.
"J.T. O'Sullivan is our quarterback," he said. "I'm expecting him to succeed."
When the quarterback competition officially got underway in May, it was a two-man battle between Smith and Hill. O'Sullivan didn't enter the mix until July 30 but immediately showed a mastery of Mike Martz's offense the other two passers lacked.
Upon being hired, Martz said that accuracy was paramount for his quarterbacks. O'Sullivan not only has been on-target, but his 17.6 yards-per-completion average shows he can make the big plays for which Martz's offenses are famous.
O'Sullivan, who turns 29 Monday, has led the competition for most of August and made the final decision an easy one with his performance in Chicago on Thursday night.
He completed 7 of 8 throws against the Bears, with his only incompletion a dropped shovel pass by Frank Gore. O'Sullivan led the team to scores on all three of his drives, the last of them a scrambling 37-yard touchdown pass to Jason Hill to start the second quarter.
With that play, the months-long drama over who would play quarterback in San Francisco was over. O'Sullivan was pulled from the game, and Smith was sent in to replace him.
For Smith, 24, it's another disappointment.
His 2007 season ended with surgery to reattach his throwing shoulder. He is on his fourth offensive coordinator in as many years. And there's a sense that Martz's system is particularly challenging for someone with Smith's long windup and methodical style.
"My responsibility is to get better every day," Smith said after the Bears game. "And to go out here and learn this offense and get better and better. And I don't think that changes no matter what they decide."
Nolan, meanwhile, disputed the notion that he and general manager Scot McCloughan had missed the mark in drafting Smith out of Utah.
"If that's the perception, that would be wrong," said Nolan. "Because I think he's getting better and better right now. He needs consistency and continuity, which we all do, and he's getting that right now. He's getting a very detailed offense from a very detail-oriented coach, and I think he performs well in that environment."
Read Matthew Barrows' 49ers blog at www.sacbee.com/ninersblog.
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