There’s a position battle playing out in 49ers training camp that may fly under the radar, but is extremely important nonetheless.
San Francisco’s backup quarterback position can’t be overlooked given the team’s recent history of needing multiple signal callers in a season. While the 49ers have their starting QB situation hammered out, the backup spot will be a preseason-long battle between Josh Dobbs and Brandon Allen.
Head coach Kyle Shanahan on Tuesday in a press conference indicated the pair will split the second-team reps. In Wednesday’s practice it was Allen who got all the second-team reps according to ESPN’s Nick Wagoner.
Via Wagoner on Twitter:
Brandon Allen got the work with the No. 2 offense while Josh Dobbs worked with the third team. Allen hit a couple of nice throws to WR Jauan Jennings but also was nearly intercepted on a check down to RB Jordan Mason late in practice. Dobbs had less success, including an interception on an under thrown deep ball intended for open WR Danny Gray.
It’s not a huge surprise Allen got the first day of second-team reps. He was with the 49ers all of last season and they re-signed him in the offseason knowing he’d have a shot to be the backup.
Dobbs might be a more talented player overall, but San Francisco’s backup will be the player they’re most confident will go in and operate the offense.
It’s still early in camp so we can’t take too much away from Allen over Dobbs on Day 1. The two are close enough contenders that this battle should wind up taking the entirety of the preseason to figure out. Wednesday was just a signal that the battle is underway.
