An inescapable aspect of the 49ers’ offseason has been the endless supply of question marks and hypotheticals surrounding the quarterback position. While the discussion is fun and entertaining make believe scenarios is a key solution to filling the football void left behind after the draft and OTAs, there’s an important element to San Francisco’s situation that still remains.
The 49ers’ entire QB conundrum comes down to three key questions. Searching for solutions is all guesswork since time and training camp are the only two things that will give us any real clarity on what’s going on under center.
Let’s run through the three important questions that define where San Francisco sits at quarterback going into training camp:
Is Brock Purdy healthy?
This is the No. 1 question on the board and there likely won’t be a substantive answer until late in training camp. For now Purdy is progressing in his rehab from offseason surgery to repair a torn UCL in his throwing elbow. The team is hopeful he’ll be ready for the season opener, but until he’s fully cleared to play and capable of lining up under center in an NFL game, his health is a question mark.
Trey Lance or Sam Darnold?
The Lance-Darnold dynamic in the offseason discourse has been fascinating. Ultimately whoever takes the first snap of training camp won’t really matter since there figures to be a real battle between the two players for a higher spot on the depth chart. Whether that means starting the season opener will depend on Purdy’s health.
Nothing has been decided between Lance and Darnold though. The team didn’t make determinations based off OTAs or minicamps. If one player takes the first snap of training camp, that doesn’t mean he’s a shoo-in to win the job. It’ll come down to how each player performs in camp and the preseason. There’s a long way to go before the club determines who wins out in the race between these two players.
Who starts Week 1?
The previous two questions underscore this much larger one.
If and when Purdy is healthy, all signs point to him starting. Every indication from the 49ers have been that he did enough last year in his stint as the starter to earn the job for this season. Even if he can’t go the first game or two, it appears he’ll be inserted into the lineup once he is ready.
If Purdy isn’t available to begin the year, the starter for the opener will be whoever wins the Lance-Darnold battle (which has yet to take place, FYI).
It’s an important question the team needs to find an answer to, to be sure. Trying to find the answer in early July won’t help since we won’t know until training camp and Purdy’s recovery have run their respective courses. For now, all we have are the questions.
