San Francisco 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan raised eyebrows with his comments at the Dwight Clark Legacy Series in San Jose, contending that he’s plenty comfortable with the team’s quarterback room, endorsing all three of his signal-callers as potential franchise building blocks.
That includes newcomer Sam Darnold, former first-round pick Trey Lance and incumbent Brock Purdy, the latter recovering from elbow surgery following an injury that rendered him unable to throw in last year’s NFC Championship loss to Philadelphia.
Anchored by Pro Bowlers Christian McCaffrey, George Kittle, Deebo Samuel, and Brandon Aiyuk, you’d be hard-pressed to find a more talented group than the skill corps the Niners have meticulously assembled in San Francisco. Despite their overwhelming offensive weaponry, detractors would say the Niners’ ceiling is capped by their lack of a star quarterback, leaving them with less margin for error than teams like Kansas City (Patrick Mahomes), Cincinnati (Joe Burrow), and Buffalo (Josh Allen).
Purdy may have the strongest case based on his overall body of work, though his claim to the 49ers’ QB throne is complicated by his relative lack of pedigree (he was famously taken with the very last pick in last year’s draft) and lingering injury concerns. Lance, meanwhile, remains something of a blank canvas, an elite athlete who looks the part but is running out of time to prove himself, at risk of squandering an ocean of untapped potential. A turnover-prone draft bust who flamed out of New York, only to experience the same outcome in Carolina, many would dismiss Darnold as a journeyman veteran fighting for his NFL life. But if the 25-year-old were to reinvent himself a la Geno Smith, this would be the place to do it, armed with a potent offense and a brilliant coach who was able to mask most of Jimmy Garoppolo’s shortcomings.
An out-of-context quote like this, especially at this early juncture in the offseason, means next to nothing, though that didn’t stop the Twitter peanut gallery from piling on, raking Shanahan over the coals for his characterization of what many would consider the Niners’ Achilles’ heel.
Shanahan also thought a 28-3 lead was safe… https://t.co/jtltDCfknt
— Federline Jones (@YokesSledsDeads) May 11, 2023
Translation: We have zero “franchise-like” QBs https://t.co/bUsdS6uFTP
— Thor Nystrom (@thorku) May 11, 2023
Finish the saying: If you have 3 good quarterbacks, you really have ____ https://t.co/U8HGGCZYrq
— Connor Hrabchak (@ConnorHrabchak1) May 11, 2023
Whether it’s Purdy, Darnold, Lance, or a late entrant we might not know about yet, where there’s a will, the Niners will find a way, just as they did last season, riding a third-string quarterback all the way to the NFC title game.