San Francisco 49ers Need Insurance At Quarterback With Brock Purdy’s Uncertain Timeline

Much of the discourse ahead of the 2023 NFL Draft may surround the identity of the next Brock Purdy, and the team that drafted him could well be forced to join the search given the uncertainty the San Francisco 49ers now face at the quarterback position.

Purdy’s rise from Mr. Irrelevant gave the Niners, in the words of head coach Kyle Shanahan “two starting quarterbacks we believe we can win with”, however, the latest updates surrounding his recovery from a torn Ulnar Collateral Ligament (UCL) indicate he perhaps may not be ready for the start of the 2023 season.

Reporting that a UCL repair that was supposed to take place this week had been pushed back until at least March because of inflammation, NFL Media’s Mike Garafolo said the hope is Purdy will still be on track to play in Week 1 of next season.

There is unlikely to be a clear idea of Purdy’s timeline until he undergoes the surgery, but his readiness for the start of the regular season is clearly far from a sure thing.

Should he undergo a UCL repair in early March, Purdy could potentially be full go in time for the start of the regular season in early September, but would not have the benefit of reps in training camp in preseason.

As such, the delay to Purdy’s surgery means two things. The first is that Trey Lance, the man the 49ers hoped would make the starting job his own after trading three first-round picks to make him the third overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, is clearly in the box seat to start for San Francisco in 2023.

The second is that, with Lance having started four games in his NFL career, the 49ers are clearly in need of more insurance at the quarterback position considering Purdy’s uncertain injury status.

That insurance could take the form of an affordable veteran free agent — the likes of Jacoby Brissett and Andy Dalton are set to hit unrestricted free agency — or another late-round rookie.

Stetson Bennett and Max Duggan, the two quarterbacks who contested the National Championship Game, figure to both be available in the later rounds of the draft, while Fresno State’s Jake Haener, a potential mid-round pick out of Fresno State, was earmarked as a potential selection by The Athletic’s Matt Barrows and David Lombardi.

Expecting the 49ers to repeat in nailing a day-three quarterback pick as they did when they took Purdy with the final selection of last year’s draft is extremely ambitious. In reality, the safer bet for the Niners is to put their faith in Lance and settle on a veteran on whom they can depend.

But a viable quarterback on a rookie contract is the biggest asset a team can have in the modern NFL, so San Francisco adding another on top of Lance and Purdy cannot be ruled out as the 49ers look to make sure a Super Bowl-calibre roster is in the best position possible to go all the way in 2023.