San Francisco 49ers rookie quarterback C.J. Beathard has put up impressive numbers this preseason. He has thrown 23 passes — three of which have gone for touchdowns and none for interceptions. From a progression standpoint, Beathard and other 49ers quarterbacks have made use of virtual reality.
Similar to the Chicago Bears and a couple other NFL teams, the 49ers are using STRIVR‘s technology to help their quarterbacks improve. The partnerships of the two organizations began back in 2015.
Beathard has taken a liking to the tech as he reportedly reviewed 1,000+ plays using the VR headsets during a single week.
“You only get limited reps in practice, but you’re able to watch through virtual reality, essentially every rep in practice – all of Brian [Hoyer]’s and Matt [Barkley]’s and go back and watch mine, and kind of play things out in your head as you watch practice,” Beathard told NBC Sports Bay Area.
The third-round pick out of Iowa now finds himself amidst a QB battle. Beathard entered the preseason behind veterans Barkley and Hoyer on the depth chart but is now viewed by many as the second-string favorite, ahead of Barkley. Some have even made the case of Beathard being the Week 1 starter.
In deciding who will start, practice reps become an issue, making STRIVR’s tech even more important. Quarterbacks can be exposed to real-time defenses and learn progressions by simply strapping on a headset.
At the GeekWire Sports Tech Summit in June, 49ers president Al Guido spoke to the technology’s importance.
“How do you reduce the hits but yet not reduce the amount of time someone can practice their craft? So knowing someone can put a VR machine on and get real, live, what in football we call ‘reps,’ without taking those hits on was we thought advantageous,” he said.
It seems VR will play a big part in the development of Beathard and many other quarterbacks across the league.