SANTA CLARA, Calif. — The 49ers quarterback situation is a mess.
A good mess, yes, but a mess nonetheless.
The incumbent starter, Brock Purdy, is coming off a serious elbow injury, while last season’s Week 1 starter, Trey Lance, is coming off a serious ankle injury. The new guy — former No. 3 overall pick Sam Darnold — is coming off stints with the Jets and Panthers, which must have been pretty gruesome, psychologically.
All three have the talent to be the starter in Week 1. All three carry themselves like they will be the starter in Week 1.
And while only two — Darnold and Lance — are practicing at the beginning of the Niners’ off-season training program, the fact that all three spoke at the Levi’s Stadium dais on Tuesday is a clear sign that the period between now and that Week 1 game in Pittsburgh will be all about who will be the starting quarterback.
At the start of every season, Niners coach Kyle Shanahan says there will be a competition for the top quarterback job.
This season, he might not be lying through his teeth.
Shanahan said he’s looking for “Timing, accuracy, where the balls should go, what play they have. Who makes the consistent right play the most? Who plays the most realistically that gives you the chance to win?” in these pad-free practices. Aren’t we all?
As for comparing this quarterback room to past editions: “I don’t want to compare it to other years, but we have two guys who are talented enough to be taken in the top five of the draft, and we have another guy who played like it last year. I like the three guys we got.”
And there’s a lot to like at this consequence-free juncture of the new season.
Lance’s fabled new mechanics are real and spectacular, Darnold can spin it with the best of them and is set to take “first-team” reps as OTAs continue, while Purdy seems to be ahead of schedule with his UCL rehabilitation — he’s poised to start throwing footballs next week.
No player is perfect — otherwise, we wouldn’t be discussing a competition — but their upsides are undeniable.
Lance as a pure thrower isn’t something we’ve seen with the 49ers. That could be a game-changer for the team and his career.
Purdy’s play last season should give him a head start, but his injury might have negated it. That’s life in the NFL.
And the word out of Santa Clara is that Darnold has really impressed the coaching staff. Add in the fact that he’s the kind of reclamation project that Shanahan won’t quit — the Niners coach likes to do things that make him look like a genius — and you have a three-way competition for the top job.
The good news for the Niners is that thanks to the NFL’s new “Purdy” rule, the team can keep all three talented quarterbacks on the roster — every team can now keep a quarterback as an emergency player for games without him counting against the game-day roster.
Apologies to Brandon Allen, who is also a quarterback that’s currently on the 49ers’ roster.
One time, I swear, things will be straightforward going into the season for the Niners at this position.
Since Shanahan took over, the Niners have boasted certainty at quarterback heading into one campaign — 2020, which just so happened that it was the most uncertain year any of us have ever lived. No one knew if there would be a season, but after eschewing Tom Brady that offseason, at least the Niners knew Jimmy Garoppolo was their starter.
But despite Purdy’s play, any chance at certainty went out the window — along with the Niners’ chance of going to the Super Bowl — with Hasson Reddick’s hit in the NFC Championship Game.
Now, when Purdy returns to the fold, this conundrum might become simple: Mr. Irrelevant is the man, Lance is his backup, and Darnold is around for emergencies.
Or maybe Lance’s summer trip to George Kittle’s Tight End U camp will inspire the 6-foot-5 quarterback to change positions.
And perhaps all that Darnold hype emanating from Tasman Drive is just the groundwork for a Darnold trade.
This doesn’t have to be a mess.
But in May, it is.
And all things considered, that seems like a good thing for the Niners.
