The San Francisco 49ers will likely leave it until the very last minute before they name a starting quarterback for the 2023 NFL season, Albert Breer has hinted.
The San Francisco 49ers are at some point this offseason going to have to make a pretty big decision, who is there starring quarterback going to be? Last season they had a pretty similar situation, but this one is set to be even more complicated as there is another name to throw into the mix.
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It could be Trey Lance, who whenever he has been on the field he hasn’t exactly set the world alight. It might be Sam Darnold, a man who isn’t exactly Joe Montana, but has far more experience and marginally better looking numbers than Lance. Then you have to throw Brock Purdy into the mix who was their starter for the back end of last season, but is currently recovering from UCL surgery.
With the schedule being released in full tomorrow and offseason workouts on the horizon, it is starting to come to the time when the 49ers have to make a decision on who their starter for 2023 is going to be. But according to Albert Breer, they aren’t in any sort of rush to come down on one side or the other.
San Francisco 49ers set to take it slow
Writing for SI.com, Breer hinted at what the plan for the 49ers could be during the coming months, pointing out that it might be good for the two men that are remaining to have a competition to see which one of them deserves a spot rather than naming a starter and a backup at the earliest possible opportunity:
The 49ers, believe it or not, have the flexibility to wait to name a starting quarterback. So, yeah, there’s every reason for Kyle Shanahan to swing the doors open to a competition at the position while Brock Purdy rehabs (the Niners are still about a month out from getting a more concrete timeline on his recovery).
Maybe Sam Darnold will prove himself to have been a victim of circumstance. Maybe Trey Lance will break through. Either way, it makes all the sense in the world for the Niners to pull both levers for now—and I expect they will.
Could uncertainty unsettle San Francisco?
This is something that could end up going both ways for the 49ers. On one hand a little bit of competition could bring the best out of eachother in an ‘iron sharpens iron’ kind of situation and could see both players develop into the best forms of themselves.
But at the same time if they are having to split reps between the 1st team and 2nd team players between them and neither of them can really develop that relationship between a particular set as they go back and forth, then when the action really starts they could find themselves on the back foot and getting off to a slow start to the season.
So it’s certainly something that Kyle Shanahan is going to have to take extra care with as the preseason draws ever nearer.