In case there was any clarity lacking in what’s happening with the 49ers’ QB room, head coach Kyle Shanahan is making things obvious in the early portion of San Francisco’s training camp.
Brock Purdy is the starter. He’s taken every first-team rep in the two days he’s been on the field. Beyond that everything is up in the air, and that was illustrated Friday with how the remaining quarterback reps were divvied up between Trey Lance, Sam Darnold and Brandon Allen.
NBC Sports Bay Area’s Matt Maiocco tracked the snaps for each QB during Friday’s session. He had Purdy with all 21 first-team reps. Lance took 11 snaps, Darnold took 10 and Allen took nine.
This is particularly notable because it appears Allen has worked his way into the QB2 competition.
Shanahan has issued some praise for Allen, noting that his performance in OTAs forced the coach to rethink how he’d doll out the practice reps under center. That he received just two fewer opportunities than Lance is notable as the team gears up to begin padded practices.
Perhaps the 49ers wind up keeping four quarterbacks. It wouldn’t be insane given their injury woes at the position in virtually all of the last six seasons. They could also wind up trading one of the four later in camp.
For now there’s a pretty sizable battle happening for San Francisco at QB between the Lance-Darnold-Allen trio. What was once thought to be a competition for the backup job might wind up becoming a competition for a roster spot.
Buckle up.
