Steve Young believes the days of talented teams getting to the Super Bowl without an elite quarterback are over. You're not going to see a team like the Denver Broncos get there with "Peyton Manning with one arm" anymore, the Hall of Fame quarterback said.
So where does that leave the San Francisco 49ers? They have as talented a roster as anyone in the league. Their biggest offseason uncertainty is at quarterback, though.
"Do we have a quarterback that can match those four or five guys that can go light it up with their arms and go get those yards with their legs in a big, huge moment?" Young asked on the "49ers Talk" podcast with Matt Maiocco.
Brock Purdy suffered a torn ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) in his right elbow in the NFC Championship Game in January, undergoing surgery in March. The 49ers hope he can return sometime later during training camp, in time to be the Week 1 starter. However, nothing is a certainty when it comes to such an injury.
While Purdy had an impressive rookie campaign, eight starts isn't large enough a sample size to draw a conclusion.
Trey Lance has started just four games since the 49ers made him the No. 3 overall pick in 2021. He played through a finger injury in the first two, monsoon-like conditions in the third, and suffered a season-ending ankle injury in the fourth.
Then you have Sam Darnold. Young is fond of the veteran quarterback, who he believes has talent but hasn't been surrounded by the types of playmakers he now has in Santa Clara.
Is one of those guys someone who can match up with an elite quarterback in the biggest games?
"I don't think that, but it's going to have to play itself out," Young said. "But right now, the facts on the ground are if you don't have one, you can't get there because you can't win the championship game and the Super Bowl against those guys. It's not going to happen."
Young does not doubt the rest of the team's talent level. The 49ers are stacked heading into the 2023 season. Paired with how the NFL has changed over the years and head coach Kyle Shanahan's ability to take advantage of rules that now favor the offense, Young believes the 49ers are in a win-now situation.
"So then you add [WR] Deebo [Samuel] and [WR] Brandon [Aiyuk] and [TE] George [Kittle] and the best left tackle in the history of the game (Trent Williams), [RB] Christian McCaffrey," Young said. "Okay, on top of all that I just told you about, we have something that is one of one in the league. It's just a fact."
You can listen to the entire conversation with Young below. It begins at about the 21-minute mark.