Kurtis

Rourke

Rourke missed all of last season recovering from an ACL tear. He’ll battle Adrian Martinez for the third quarterback job. It’s possible that the 49ers trade Mac Jones — who is in the final year of his contract — at some point before the deadline if they’re able to get a big return for him. Rourke is worth monitoring in large superflex leagues given how often Kyle Shanahan has elevated quarterbacks.

Rourke was not activated off the NFI list before the Week 18 game against the Seahawks. The 2025 seventh-round pick will compete for a backup spot in 2026.

Rourke was selected by the 49ers in the seventh round of the 2025 NFL Draft. He played through all of his final college season at Indiana with a torn ACL and was expected to miss time as he recovers for his rookie year. Expected to be placed on the non-football injury list, Rourke is unlikely to be an impactful backup behind Brock Purdy this season. Mac Jones will maintain the No. 2 spot on the quarterback depth chart.

Aiyuk is still rehabbing a torn ACL and MCL he suffered in Week 7 last season. He was not expected to be ready until midseason, so it is not a surprise Shanahan indicated the 27-year-old wideout would start the season on the physically unable to perform list. Safety Malik Mustapha and rookie quarterback Kurtis Rourke are also expected to land on the PUP list. Meanwhile, Jauan Jennings and Ricky Pearsall are expected to be ready for training camp and will see bigger roles without Aiyuk to start the season.

If you’re looking for a guy who is willing to gut it out for his team, look no further than Rourke (6’4/220), who played all of last season through a torn ACL. Despite the injury obviously impeding his play, Rourke threw for 3,042-29-5 last season for the Hoosiers while leading them to an 11-2 record after the team finished with a 3-9 record the previous season. Rourke spent the first five seasons of his college career at Ohio and was named the team’s full-time starter in 2021. In 48 career games, Rourke has 21 interceptions to his name to go along with 22 fumbles – a concerning total that speaks to his need to improve on his ball security at the next level. His accuracy has been spotty at times, as his completion percentage dropped nearly six points from 2022 to 2023, but he rebounded nicely in 2024 with a 69.4 completion percentage – a career best. Rourke has the prototypical size for an NFL quarterback and should have a chance to compete for a spot on a 53-man roster if he’s ready to suit up after undergoing surgery to repair his torn ACL in January. The 49ers do tentatively expect Rourke to be ready for training camp.

This isn’t how Rourke (6'2/211) envisioned his season ending, as he threw for his second-fewest yards on the season, and threw the most interceptions in any game he has this season, nearly doubling the four interceptions he had thrown heading into this game. Rourke led the Bobcats in rushing in this one, carrying the ball nine times for 75 yards, but the lone touchdown on the day came on a one-yard rush by running back Armani Rogers who somehow rushed for -4 yards on three carries. Ohio finishes 2021 with a 3-9 record, while Rourke finishes the year with 1,800 passing yards, 11 touchdowns and seven interceptions.

Rourke (6'3/211) had a few missed opportunities on the day. On their first nine drives, the Bobcats only managed nine points. Rourke struggled to lead the team into the endzone, only amassing nine points with the final of those nine drives resulting in a missed field goal down 28-9. They even had a drive where they converted a fourth and four and a fourth and five only to kick a field goal on fourth and one from the 14-yard line. Once the Rockets got their fifth touchdown, Rourke woke up the offense and rallied them for two late touchdowns. If that would have been there earlier, this game would have been much closer. The Bobcats travel to Bowling Green next Friday in hopes that they can pick up their fourth win.

Rourke (6'3/211) and the Bobcats entered this game as 6.5 point road dogs to Eastern Michigan in this one, and walked away with the outright win in rather dominant fashion. Despite only throwing the ball 17 times, Rourke managed to throw for three touchdowns on the day with two big touchdowns coming in the first quarter on a 33-yard pass to Isiah Cox and a 40-yard touchdown pass to De’Montre Tuggle. Despite the Bobcats’ 3-7 record, Rourke has had a a few solid games as of late as Ohio has won each of its last two games. Over that span, Rourke has thrown for 518 yards, six touchdowns and no interceptions after throwing for just four touchdowns in his first six games of the season. Ohio will look for its third straight win of the season next Tuesday night when they host Toledo.

Rourke (6'3/211) did all he could in trying to lead his team back from a 31-14 second-half deficit, competing 82 percent of his passes in addition to rushing for 49 yards and two touchdowns. While the Bobcats matched Kent State in total yardage, with each team gaining exactly 457 yards on the day, they were too careless in turning the ball over three times which snuffed out two potential scoring drives and gave the Golden Flashes an easy field goal on another. Though Ohio played pretty well, they were simply unable to overcome the costly miscues.

Rourke (6'3/211) was pretty efficient, completing 69 percent of his passes, but he was simply unable to stretch the field to open up running lanes against the Northwestern defense. He rushed eight times for 33 yards, but it was his backup Armani Rogers who accounted for the team’s lone touchdown on a 55-yard rushing score as time expired. With Ohio reeling at 0-4, it’s reasonable to speculate that HC Frank Solich might give Rogers a shot next week at Akron.