And while some of you are sick of talking about the San Francisco 49ers quarterback position yet again (ohhh, it’s awhile until September), I have a question: do you find this quarterback “controversy” between Brock Purdy, Trey Lance, and Sam Darnold overblown? NFL.com ‘s Eric Edholm thinks so.
Ranking the most overblown storylines in the NFL, Edholm put QB battles in the league at-large at No. 1, and singled out the 49ers’ own particular version of the story at No. 4. That’s right, the 49ers quarterback situation is now it’s own thing outside of all other QB battles.
Admittedly, the 49ers are in an unusual spot at quarterback. Then again, it always seems to be that way for Kyle Shanahan’s teams.
Brock Purdy deserves a shot to start. That’s what going 5-0 down the stretch and leading the Niners to the NFC Championship Game should earn him, no matter his draft provenance. Still, Purdy’s elbow injury has slowed him this offseason and triggered a smidge of long-term doubt.
There’s also the Trey Lance matter. He struggled in the only full game he played in 2022 before sustaining a season-ending right ankle injury that required a second in-season surgery to fix. Don’t forget that the franchise traded a massive tranche of draft picks to land Lance in the 2021 draft. The other quarterback in the mix to start is former first-round pick Sam Darnold , which is somehow fitting after his strange, wayward career to this point.
Edholm has a point. I mean if you look at this objectively, it’s just another version of the story fans have been subjected to for the last three years. Would you call it overblown though? At it’s core it’s just a guy they traded up to No. 3 for not working out and a guy with the last pick in the draft a year later showing he may be the guy. And then there’s this other guy who was a high draft pick that signed a one year deal in the swing of things. We’ve seen this story before. Here is a guy.
I think it lies in the details. On the surface it’s just another QB battle the world has seen, but if you look at the cast of characters, it makes it all the more fascinating. The 49ers hand picked Trey Lance (no, not Mac Jones) to be the quarterback of the future and made a big swing. For what it’s worth, Lance was always going to be a project and raw his first couple seasons. Then Brock Purdy walked in and stole the show. If it was one or the other (last pick in the draft showing up the anointed future or a guy two firsts were traded for now competing for their job) it wouldn’t be as huge. The fact it’s got both of these guys, both of which managed to get major injuries last year, is what makes it a story. The closest we have is Tom Brady and Drew Bledsoe, but Bledsoe proved he could play and made good on that first overall pick New England invested in him. Lance has shown flashes, but not near the resume Bledsoe has.
It’s fascinating because the 49ers did all of this to get their star, who could still maybe be as good as they thought, and then his understudy just walked in and gave the performance of a lifetime. And then he got his elbow injured. It’s not just another quarterback battle in the Bay Area, this is a quarterback battle with some serious players and storylines coming into said battle.
Sure, I’m sick of talking about it, but it doesn’t make it any less fascinating to see what happens with Trey Lance and Brock Purdy. Who will be the guy based on Lance’s history? Will Purdy be benched because of the Trey Lance mortgage? I wouldn’t say it’s so overblown. Yes, Purdy will probably start and they are optimistic about it, but it doesn’t make this all the more intriguing.
What do you think. Do you think the 49ers QB situation is overblown?
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