Cody Benjamin of CBS Sports recently ranked each NFL team by its backup quarterback situation heading into the 2023 season. No team knows the importance of having a capable backup quarterback than the San Francisco 49ers.
Trey Lance was the Niners' starter heading into the 2022 season. That ended in Week 2 when the quarterback suffered a season-ending ankle injury, allowing Jimmy Garoppolo to take over. Then, Garoppolo sustained a broken foot during Week 13.
Enter Brock Purdy, the final overall pick in last year's draft and last season's biggest surprise rookie. He kept the 49ers' win streak alive and got the team to the NFC Championship Game before suffering a torn ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) in his right elbow.
Once healthy, Purdy is the front-runner to start the 2023 season. Lance and newcomer Sam Darnold are competing for the QB2 job. Both are former No. 3 overall draft picks. Darnold has experience, having started 55 games over his NFL career. San Francisco saw a lot of potential in Lance before drafting him. However, he hasn't had much chance to prove himself, having started only four games.
The two options have the 49ers holding the top spot in Benjamin's ranking of NFL backup quarterbacks.
"Both these vets are technically in the mix for the Day 1 starting job alongside Brock Purdy, 2022's star rookie," wrote Benjamin. "Purdy is the perceived front-runner if/when he's recovered from elbow surgery, however, leaving either Lance or Darnold to man the backup gig. The former is more of an unknown, making just four starts in two years due to injury, but his floor is relatively high considering his natural athleticism and rushing ability. Darnold, meanwhile, has been spotty in 55 career starts, albeit for rebuilding organizations, and figures to showcase his own arm in a more QB-friendly system."
Purdy isn't expected to return to practice until sometime during the second half of August, and even that might be an optimistic timeline. However, the 49ers believe their second-year quarterback is ahead of schedule in his recovery from March 10 surgery, so there is reason for that optimism.
"There probably isn't a QB room with more simultaneous question marks and collective upside than this one, and yet we trust whomever mans the No. 2 job to make noise in some way," Benjamin added.