49ers excited to add Kurtis Rourke’s toughness, ability to QB room

IU football coach Curt Cignetti: ‘We’ve got a chance to be as good as we want to be’

Indiana football coach Curt Cignetti shares his overall impressions of the team’s performance during spring practice.

Former Indiana quarterback Kurtis Rourke was drafted by the San Francisco 49ers in the seventh round of the 2025 NFL Draft.49ers coaches and staff praised Rourke’s talent, passing ability, and leadership.Rourke led Indiana to its first College Football Playoff appearance and set a team record for passing touchdowns.

BLOOMINGTON — Former Indiana football quarterback Kurtis Rourke’s long wait on Saturday was worth it. The San Francisco 49ers selected Rourke with the No. 227 overall pick in the seventh round of the 2025 NFL Draft.

After the event wrapped up, his new coach Kyle Shanahan told reporters that Rourke probably wouldn’t have been available at that spot — he was to second to last to go of the 13 quarterbacks who were drafted — if he wasn’t currently rehabbing from a torn ACL.

“I think he would have gone a lot higher if he was healthy,” Shanahan said.

Rourke was cleared to play for Indiana after suffering a partial tear over the summer in the same knee that he injured in 2022. During a postseason physical, he learned that he suffered a full tear at some point during the year while leading the Hoosiers to their first ever College Football Playoff appearance.

He wasn’t able to do much during the pre-draft process, but the 49ers’ felt comfortable with what they saw of him on film.

“We took him with the understanding he likely won’t be cleared until training camp, but we just felt like there was a lot of talent and ability,” 49ers general manager John Lynch said. “He plays the game the right way. You can’t have enough good quarterbacks, we wanted to add him to the mix and we were able to do it in the seventh round and were excited to do so.”

Shanahan, who also calls plays on offense, felt the same way about Rourke.

“Loved his size, loved how he throws, loved how he played the position,” Shanahan said. “Watching them this year, I don’t think it was a coincidence how good a year they had with the type of quarterback they had.”

Rourke was just the fifth player in program history to throw for 3,000-plus yards (3,042) and set a new team record with 29 passing touchdowns. He also led the nation in passing efficiency (181.4 rating) while completing 69.4% of his passes.

San Francisco’s director of player personnel Tariq Ahmad told reporters that Rourke has been the team’s radar going back to his time at Ohio and echoed Shanahan’s praise of Rourke’s passing acumen.

“Love his vision, love the way he plays the game, he plays quarterback at a high level,” Ahmad said. “He throws on time, he throws with vision, he’s got all the ability to make every single throw in the pocket. There’s a lot to like about him.”

Josh Williams, 49ers’ director of scouting and football operations, chimed in before Ahmad was done answering.

“And he’s a winner,” Williams said with a smile.

Rourke led Ohio to double-digit wins in back-to-back seasons for the first time in program history — he was the MAC’s Offensive Player of the Year in 2022 — and won 10 games again in Bloomington.

Michael Niziolek is the Indiana beat reporter for The Bloomington Herald-Times. You can follow him on X @michaelniziolek and read all his coverage by clicking here.