There’s an old saying in football: If you’ve got two quarterbacks, you’ve got none. So, what if you have three?
That’s the situation Kyle Shanahan and the 49ers find themselves in heading into 2023. The 49ers head coach recently sat down with NFL Media’s Steve Wyche to preview the squad going into training camp and said, “We've got three guys who can play, and there's only one spot, and we have a good team. So I see it as a cool situation. And last year, we had some unknowns."
On the latest episode of “The 415ers” podcast from Audacy Sports, hosts Evan Giddings and Marc Grandi discussed the current state of the 49ers QB situation with Trey Lance, Sam Darnold and Brock Purdy.
For now, Lance and Darnold will be fighting for QB1 reps until Purdy returns from his elbow injury, which is expected to happen in the first few weeks of the regular season in September.
“It’s not so much that he’s trying to keep people on their toes or opposing defenses on their toes – because he can do that no matter what,” Giddings said. “But it’s the confidence exuding from him. I feel like the message is – it does not matter who is going to be under center. … Kyle Shanahan is going to get the best out of the quarterback and he’s going to win. That’s kind of what I heard about the ‘cool situation.’ Because, honestly, I don't think Shanahan really sees anything as far as franchise material yet, from any of these guys."
Purdy had an incredible rise from Mr. Irrelevant to leading the Niners to eight straight wins, including two in the playoffs before getting injured in the NFC Championship. The franchise is still intrigued by the 2021 No. 3 overall pick, Lance, who has had his first two seasons derailed by injuries. We still don’t know what to expect from Darnold in Shanahan’s system after he struggled to take care of the ball during his first five seasons with the New York Jets and Carolina Panthers.
We’ll have to see how it all plays out, but it seems like Shanahan is confident in his QB room heading into the new season.
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