Before Brock Purdy‘s elbow injury, he was ticketed to be the 49ers’ clear-cut starter heading into the offseason program. Purdy’s UCL tear injected some uncertainty into this situation, but John Lynch still views last year’s Mr. Irrelevant as being ahead of the two former top-five picks on San Francisco’s roster.
Purdy’s stretch-run showing earned him the right to be the frontrunner for the 2023 starting job, Lynch said at the league meetings. The team has its 2022 Week 1 starter, Trey Lance, coming off ankle surgery and just signed Sam Darnold. But if all three are healthy at training camp, it will be Purdy opening with the 1s.
“I think Brock has earned the right with the way he played that he’s probably the leader in the clubhouse at that,” Lynch said, via the San Francisco Chronicle’s Eric Branch. “I’ll let Kyle [Shanahan] make those kinds of decisions. But I know when we talk, Brock has probably earned that right to be the guy. If we were to line up, he’d probably take that first snap.”
Lance and Darnold will be healthy going into OTAs, though the former is coming off two surgeries to repair a fractured ankle. Purdy may not receive full clearance until September, which helped lead Darnold to San Francisco. Purdy, however, avoided Tommy John surgery and is expected to be ready to throw in early June, Branch adds. The second-year QB will undoubtedly be sidelined for San Francisco’s offseason program, but Lynch said the hope is he will be ready to go by training camp. That might be on the ambitious side, and if Purdy does return by the start of camp, all eyes will be on his form.
Lynch was careful to mention Lance is not out of the competition. The former No. 3 overall pick is slated to count $9.3MM against the 49ers’ cap this season. He has made four career starts and has finished just three games, submitting uneven work. The one-year North Dakota State starter may come up in trade rumors this offseason, with Darnold’s presence not guaranteeing Lance the 49ers’ backup job. How this offseason program unfolds may help determine Lance’s future.
“We like Trey on our team right now,” Lynch said when asked about Lance trade possibilities. “We always joke, Kyle and I, that we’d trade each other if someone would give us a good enough deal. So we listen to anything, but we like Trey on our team. We’re very excited about the way he’s progressing, about his opportunity. I think he’s chomping at the bit to get out there, get back under center and be healthy again.”
The 49ers, who sent the Dolphins two future first-round picks to move up to No. 3 for Lance in 2021, would be hit with just more than $5MM in dead money if they traded the third-year passer after June 1. They would obviously not receive close to the value they paid to draft the dual-threat talent; a sell-low trade here would close the book on a massive organizational draft blunder. But the team is still moving forward with its Purdy-Lance setup, with Darnold now in the mix as a much cheaper option compared to Jimmy Garoppolo.
The only NFL team who’s able to be competitive with a mediocre QB. Lance is clearly a monster bust..tho most sane people saw it coming. This team would be unstoppable if they could add a good QB. Which I don’t believe Purdy is. He’s just mediocre enough to thrive in this system. I expect Jimmy G to totally flop in his new situation. Again, he’s just mediocre enough for Shanahan to make him look good
He’s played like 3 games, ever. Hardly a bust, yet. Could be, but not yet.
He’s certainly a bust already. He’s barely played in the NFL, and he only played in 1 of his 3 FCS football seasons, he should’ve been drafted later with the intent to sit and learn. But in todays NFL you don’t give up the draft capital to pick the heir apparent at QB and then have him sit a couple years.
Worked ok for Cam Newton playing 1 year in college. Like I stated, he could be a bust still but you’re calling it really early.
Played parts of 3 seasons in the SEC, not against FCS schools. Other FBS schools wanted him as QB, not 1 FBS school thought Lance could play that position.
Cam Newton spent two years at Florida, 1 year in JuCo, and senior year at Auburn…
The kid tossed 12 passes before he played a full year. Let’s not pretend he was a 3 year starter at the top level.
Competing for playing time at a power (at that time) like Florida, shouldn’t be underestimated. And don’t forget he spent a year at JUCO leading that team to a national title. He was the top QB recruit in the country, high school or JUCO, before heading to Auburn and running the table en route to another National Championship. The few games at Florida, a season in
JUCO and then that season with Auburn playing SEC football prepared him far more than Lance.
Shanahan is overrated. Sure he’s got a good system in place but it’s not like he’s winning superbowls with it.
He can put any QB in and win. That’s a good system Shannahan created. He only ran out of gas when his last qb literally couldn’t throw the ball. I would say this is the opposite of overrated. Where belichick is overrated because of Tom Brady, he’s now exposed as not a great coach
Shanahan even had Kirk Cousins playing reasonable ball. Shanahan knows how to get the most out of his quarterbacks. That’s a significant talent.
Don’t forget the work Bill B did with the Giants. And yes, any coach is as good as the players he’s surrounded by, however he seems to get the most out of the least and the last drops before the talent dries out.
So many idiots like to post crap. Call Lance a bust if he actually plays games and then fails. Call Shanahan overrated if the Niners stop making the playoffs. A dropped pass by Jaquiski Tartt kept them out of one Super Bowl, and the early injury to Purdy may have kept them out of another.
Agreed
Speaking of idiots posing crap, because he hasn’t been good enough to see the field means he’s not a bust? OK. Again, you don’t give up the draft capital to pick the heir apparent at QB at 3rd overall and then have him sit a couple years.
Is Greg Oden not a bust? It’s similar. Injuries, barely playing, and a high draft pick… that’s a bust dude. Woulda coulda shoulda doesn’t matter. Lance is a bust until proven otherwise.
Sad what happened to Odom, but if not for the injuries he could play at that level.outside of his injury the jury is out on that for Trey.
They went through Trey lance, Jimmy g, Brock Purdy, Josh Johnson back to Purdy who tore something in his throwing arm and couldn’t throw. 49ers literally won until they didn’t have a quarterback at all.
Josh Johnson was great in NFC Championship.
He wasn’t terrible led a td drive and I believe he only had two drives or three before being knocked out of the game
Trey Lance’s college experience is success against B squad speed and skills. Same reason that Wentz has taken a crap.
I disagree, they played decent competition. Lance’s problem is that he face enough competition. He wasn’t recruited to play QB at any FBS school so he headed to an FCS school and wasn’t good enough to start that first year so he sat. Year 2 he was phenomenal, then year three he played one poor game and declared for the draft. So one season of competition after high school and the 49ers went all in at 3rd overall? Even without the injury he was still scuffling and not ready for prime time. You should draft a guy 3rd and then give him 2 redshirt years and still not know if he could take over. It’s going to be hard to not be considered a huge bust.
Not hard to believe there is any question about Trey Lance being a bust – as 2 out of 3 QBs in the draft always end up that way. Unfortunately for Shanahan his own choice – Mac Jones – also turned out to be a zero, thus it didn’t matter that he got out-voted by the owner and the GM – as they ALL blew that pick.
Mac Jones is not a bust (he had a sophomore slump and had to suffer through a year of Matt Patricia as OC). In the Shanahan system, Mac Jones would have shone. Shanahan does very well with QB’s with moderate talent who can learn.
Interesting seeing the prior posts.
I don’t think it’s fair to call Lance a bust. But super questionable that 49ers gave up so much draft capital to get him when they had a guy in Jimmy G who got them to a SB, in a system that doesn’t need extraordinary QB talents, and for a guy not polished enough to be ready to go.
I think the thought was Jimmy G isn’t a game changer. We won’t be drafting this high again. Let’s see if we can get a game changer or decent qb on a rookie deal