Kurtis Rourke isn’t quite Mr. Irrelevant, but he’s pretty close.
The San Francisco 49ers took Rourke with the 227th overall pick in the 2025 NFL Draft, several selections ahead of the infamous label that’s attached to San Francisco’s current starting quarterback Brock Purdy, who the team chose with the final pick in 2022.
Rourke is coming off a 2024 campaign in which he ranked second in the NCAA in passing efficiency (176.1) just behind Jaxson Dart (180.7), who was taken in the first round (25th overall) by the New York Giants.
Rourke didn’t compete against SEC-level competition for much of his career, but he does have some intangibles that made the team take notice. Let’s take a closer look at what the 49ers’ newest QB brings to the table.
A Look Back at New 49ers QB Kurtis Rourke’s Collegiate Career
Beginning at Ohio University, Rourke redshirted in 2019 before sharing quarterback duties in 2020 and 2021. His breakout came in 2022 when he threw for 3,257 yards and 25 touchdowns, earning MAC Offensive Player of the Year honors. Unfortunately, his season was cut short due to a torn ACL. He returned in 2023 and finished with 2,207 passing yards and 11 TDs. He received second-team All-MAC recognition that year.
Rourke transferred to Indiana University in 2024, where he played for one season. Under head coach Curt Cignetti, he led the Hoosiers to an 11-win campaign and their first College Football Playoff appearance. Rourke set a school record with 29 passing TDs, including six in a single game (against Purdue). He did this while playing the entire season on a torn ACL, which was a remarkable display of toughness.
With Purdy as the established starter and Mac Jones a seasoned backup option, Rourke will be competing with Tanner Mordecai, who signed with the Niners as an UDFA in 2024, for the QB3 spot.
At 24, Rourke is older than some other rookie prospects, be he also brings maturity and a wealth of experience with him. While recovering from ACL surgery, Rourke is still a player both GM John Lynch and head coach Kyle Shanahan are excited to work with.
What John Lynch & Kyle Shanahan Are Saying
“We took him with the understanding that he’s not going to likely be cleared until training camp,” Lynch said about Rourke, via 49ers Webzone. “But we just felt like there was a lot of talent, a lot of ability. The guy plays the game the right way. You can’t have enough good quarterbacks and wanted to add him to the mix and we were able to do it in the seventh round and excited to do so.”
Shanahan was equally impressed with his newest signal-caller.
“Just loved his size, loved how he throws, loved how he plays the position,” the 49ers coach said after the draft. “Especially watching him this year, I don’t think it was a coincidence how good of a year they had with the type of quarterback they had. Know he did it the whole year with a, he had a broken finger, a torn ACL and still was really, really impressive.”
Shanahan also noted the Niners don’t expect Rourke to be ready to go right away.
“He probably won’t be cleared by training camp, but it’ll be close. It’s not an issue for us right now,” Shanahan said, adding:
“I thought it was just a very good valuable pick for us, for a guy who might not be ready for another year, because I think he’s about seven-months out because he got it done after the season. But we’re in a situation where we could take him and I think he would’ve gone a lot higher if he was healthy.”
Depending on the length of his recovery, the 49ers may want to keep Rourke on the practice squad during his first year. Regardless, it’ll be interesting to see if he can carve out a role for himself.
