This QB is getting the most practice reps in 49ers’ backup competition

Brock Purdy says he and head coach Kyle Shanahan haven't had any conversations about who will start Week 1 for the San Francisco 49ers.

"We're not trying to get too far ahead of ourselves," Purdy said this week.

It's probably unnecessary. Purdy probably knows who the starter will be. The rest of the quarterbacks on the roster probably know too. Fans have a good idea. It's not some big secret that everyone is waiting to reveal itself.

It would be a shock if Purdy isn't the starting quarterback when the 49ers take the field against the Pittsburgh Steelers on September 10. It would likely take some kind of setback in Purdy's recovery from offseason surgery for another quarterback to leap past him on the depth chart—even temporarily.

And if you needed any more proof that Purdy is QB1—more than Shanahan and general manager John Lynch declaring him the frontrunner all offseason—just look at the percentage of snap counts for each quarterback.

Since Thursday, Purdy's first time back on the practice field, the second-year quarterback has taken 41.6 percent of the snaps, per Matt Maiocco of NBC Sports Bay Area. And Purdy has taken those snaps with the first-team offense. If that doesn't spell "starter," I don't know what does.

The more interesting percentages belong to those below Purdy on the depth chart who are battling for the QB2 job. The 49ers' first-round pick from two years ago, the guy the team surrendered a haul of draft capital for, Trey Lance, leads the rest of the pack with 21.8 percent of the practice snaps over the past two days.

The third-year quarterback insists he isn't thinking about his place on the depth chart right now.

"I'm very present-mind focused," Lance told reporters on Friday. "Every rep, one rep at a time, one day at a time, one meeting at a time. Whatever it is, I truly believe everything works out exactly how it's supposed to. So as long as I control what I can control, that's all I can worry about."

While Lance is in the lead, it's not a significant gap between him and the next closest quarterback, veteran Sam Darnold, one of two veteran signal-callers acquired this offseason. Darnold has participated in 18.8 percent of the practice snaps in the same timeframe.

The other offseason addition, Brandon Allen, isn't far behind with 17.8 percent of the snaps.

Read into those numbers however you'd like. We'll see how they evolve as training camp progresses. For now, the percentages of those behind Purdy are too close to make any concrete conclusions about the quarterback position.