The 49ers quarterback conundrum

Mandatory mini-camp for the 49ers is now over, and for yet another year, San Francisco is a team embroiled in another quarterback crisis.

As last season’s ‘Mr. Irrelevant’ sensation Brock Purdy recovers from a torn UCL suffered in the first quarter of the NFC Championship game, Trey Lance, is in an open competition with free agent acquisition Sam Darnold, attempting to clarify who will be the teams’ second-string quarterback, or the starter in the event that Purdy isn’t able to suit up for Week One.

This isn’t unventured territory for the 49ers, or for Lance (and Darnold for that matter), as he was in a so-called QB competition last off-season with Jimmy Garoppolo, where the former third overall pick failed to separate himself from the veteran, but was ultimately given the start. Unlike last off-season, where he battled a proven winner, Lance was expected to create clear separation between himself and Darnold in practice.

In the two days of mini-camp on show to the media, Lance and Darnold shared first and second-team reps, in 7v7 and 11v11 formats. Due to the restrictions on off-season practice, these drills were low-contact, with no hands on the QB and no threat of being sacked or stripped by defenders.

This obviously gives advantage to the quarterback, especially Sam Darnold who has a reputation for being erratic when put under pressure by opposing pass rushers. Many star players on both sides of the ball sat out of the 7v7 and 11v11 drills, or skipped the mini-camp entirely, as starters that competed in these drills included Christian McCaffery, Brandon Aiyuk and George Kittle on offense, with Arik Armstead and Talanoa Hufanga being the stand-outs on defense.

Besides his former Panthers teammate, Christian McCaffery, who ranked 12th on the ‘offGrid Top 50 Players’, Darnold was throwing to completely new teammates, in a new scheme which is renowned for its complexity. These are problems that Trey Lance didn’t face, as he had been throwing to many of the 49ers’ weapons for multiple years, however, Darnold possesses a wealth of experience in the NFL, featuring in over 60 games, for two different organisations. This would offer the two a level playing field.

As it happened, ‘level’ is what they were. Sam Darnold completed 18 of his 27 passing attempts (67 completion%), with four touchdowns, and had two potential interceptions dropped by defenders. Meanwhile, Trey Lance completed 17 of 26 pass attempts (65 completion%), with five touchdowns and one interception, which would have been a pick-six in a game. Per Grant Cohn, Trey Lance had a greater average depth of pass, but both quarterbacks threw a 50+ yard touchdown.

The truth, and the harsh reality is that the early winner of the quarterback competition was in fact,  nobody. The worst case scenario, in the battle to decide who has the keys to the franchise, is that there is no clear winner, and no clear direction if Brock Purdy doesn’t recover in time. Sam Darnold looks like the same Darnold who was beaten down and forced out of the Jets, and the same Darnold who was benched for Baker Mayfield in Carolina.

The scarier reality is that the quarterback you invested three first-round picks into in 2021, who has spent three years in the scheme, wasn’t able to elevate himself clearly above the journeyman you brought in as a last resort.

The 49ers can’t rely on his durability and clearly aren’t too excited about the prospect of him being the Week 1 starter. It was reported that the 49ers had shopped Lance around the league earlier in the off-season, per Matt Maiocco.

Kyle Shanahan was asked about Brock Purdy’s recovery and timeline on Wednesday and said he expects the Iowa State signal-caller to be ready to go for Week One in Pittsburgh. When asked, Purdy didn’t display the same urgency as his head coach but said everything was going according to plan and that he was taking it one day at a time.

The 49ers should hope Purdy keeps on making positive steps in his recovery, and that he is able to play at the same level he did in his record-breaking rookie year. The truth is, nobody knows if Purdy will be able to play at the same level upon his return. His arm was weak, relative to quarterbacks around the league, before it received significant trauma, and he will have no off-season to get into a rhythm, and simply might not be the same player we saw last season.

We will get a better picture when we get to training camp in July, but for now, the 49ers are faced with more questions than answers, and may once again waste a Super Bowl-calibre roster due to quarterbacking deficiencies.