The San Francisco 49ers face significant injury-based setbacks after the season-opening 17-13 win against the Seattle Seahawks. Tight end George Kittle sustained a hamstring injury that could sideline him for weeks, and quarterback Brock Purdy‘s injury status is questionable.

Head coach Kyle Shanahan announced Monday that Kittle will “sit out for a few weeks” and be placed on injury reserve. The announcement doesn’t come as a surprise, as Kittle was sitting on the sidelines for most of the game because of the hamstring injury.

Kittle finished Sunday’s game with four catches for 25 yards and a single touchdown. Reports predict Kittle will be out for three to five weeks, projecting his return to be the Week 6 game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

“When they tell me a few weeks, it’s always a possibility,” Shanahan told reporters. “I mean, in order to do that, it’s got to be a four-week injury, so I don’t think we’ve decided that yet.”

Kittle isn’t the only player Shanahan is worried about losing. Purdy suffered two injuries during the opening game.

The quarterback suffered a shoulder injury during an incomplete pass to wide receiver Ricky Pearsall in the first half of the game. Purdy also injured his toe during the game, and Shanahan considered it more serious.

The 49ers don’t know yet if Purdy will be available to play Sunday’s game against the New Orleans Saints. Purdy finished 26 of his 35 attempted passes for 277 yards, resulting in two touchdowns and two interceptions.

Without the star tight end, Kittle, the team will rely heavily on backup tight end Jake Tonges during Kittle’s recovery. Tight end Luke Farrell and fullback Kyle Juszczyk will fill in the offensive depth. Veteran Mac Jones would get his start with the 49ers on Sunday if Purdy cannot play.

Shanahan emphasized the team depth despite the challenges presented in Week 1. The 49ers will play the Saints on Sept. 14 and play through the early-season adversity.

The 49ers had a challenging 2024 season marked by injuries on both sides of the ball. Players, including running back Christian McCaffrey, wide receiver Brandon Aiyuk, left tackle Trent Williams and even quarterback Brock Purdy, missed several games throughout the season. San Francisco would end up going 6-11 and miss the playoffs for the first time since 2020. The team had a huge “Super Bowl hangover” and really needed to reload in the offseason.

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The biggest move of the offseason was bringing back defensive coordinator Robert Saleh, who had been fired by the Jets. Saleh was with the 49ers from 2017 to 2020 and was part of the team when they reached the Super Bowl before leaving to become the head coach of the Jets. Saleh was a huge part of that team’s success and is hopefully going to be able to revitalize the defense, which struggled last season. The 49ers also extended their star players, including linebacker Fred Warner, tight end George Kittle and Purdy.

The 49ers also added several new faces to the team, signing quarterback Mac Jones, cornerback Tre Brown, wide receiver Demarcus Robinson, tight end Luke Farrell and safety Jason Pinnock. The 49ers, however, lost numerous players as well, including the trade of wide receiver Deebo Samuel to the Commanders. They also let guard Aaron Banks, linebacker Dre Greenlaw, safety Talanoa Hufanga, cornerback Charvarius Ward, edge rusher Leonard Floyd, running back Elijah Mitchell and defensive tackle Maliek Collins all walk in free agency.

The 49ers went into the NFL draft with the 11th overall pick and selected defensive end Mykell Williams out of Georgia. Williams will pair up with Nick Bosa on the defensive line to help improve a unit that was elite under Saleh before he left. The other notable picks from the 49ers were defensive tackle Alfred Collins, linebacker Nick Martin, cornerback Upton Stout and wide receiver Jordan Watkins.

The 49ers will be back for revenge this season and will hope to make it back to the playoffs despite missing them last season. The 49ers have the easiest schedule in the NFL, according to Fox Sports, next season, and will have an easier path to the playoffs than all other teams. The 49ers start their season vs the Seahawks in a big divisional game before heading to New Orleans to face the Saints in week two. The hardest games for the 49ers will be vs the Rams, Buccaneers, Texans and Falcons.

SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS SCHEDULE & TICKET DEALS

• Week 1: Sept. 7 at Seattle Seahawks
• Week 2: Sept. 14 at New Orleans Saints
• Week 3: Sept. 21 vs Arizona Cardinals
• Week 4: Sept. 28 vs Jacksonville Jaguars
• Week 5: Oct. 2 at Los Angeles Rams (Thursday Night Football)
• Week 6: Oct. 12 at Tampa Bay Buccaneers
• Week 7: Oct. 19 vs Atlanta Falcons (Sunday Night Football)
• Week 8: Oct. 26 at Houston Texans
• Week 9: Nov. 2 at New York Giants
• Week 10: Nov. 9 vs Los Angeles Rams
• Week 11: Nov. 16 at Arizona Cardinals
• Week 12: Nov. 24 vs Carolina Panthers (Monday Night Football)
• Week 13: Nov. 30 at Cleveland Browns
• Week 14: Bye Week
• Week 15: Dec. 14 vs Tennessee Titans
• Week 16: Dec. 22 at Indianapolis Colts (Monday Night Football)
• Week 17: Dec. 28 vs Chicago Bears (Sunday Night Football)
• Week 18: Jan. 3 or 4 vs Seattle Seahawks

San Francisco 49ers Season/Game Odds

The 49ers start the season with +2000 odds of winning the Super Bowl and +900 odds of winning the NFC championship, which they won in 2023. The 49ers kick off the season in Seattle as -1.5 point favorites vs the Seahawks.

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San Francisco 49ers star quarterback Brock Purdy signed a contract extension earlier this month to make him the seventh-highest-paid quarterback in the league on a yearly basis. His lucrative contract agreement ended up being a five-year, $256 million agreement to stay in San Francisco. Purdy explained in his media availability that he did not want to take “every penny for myself” in the contract negotiations.

Purdy’s deal includes $181 million in total guaranteed money, with $165 million of that coming in the first three years. He secured $100 million fully guaranteed at signing.

“We want to make sure that we’re working together with our organization and setting everybody up for success,” Purdy said. “It’s not just for me to get all the money, as much as I can, but also let’s surround yourself with a great team and players and a great locker room. All those things matter.”

Concerns from outside the 49ers organization around Purdy’s massive extension were due to his individual talent. Purdy has outperformed expectations as the 2022 NFL Draft’s “Mr. Irrelevant.” It remains to be seen how much he can accomplish with the 49ers without an elite supporting cast that features Christian McCaffrey, George Kittle and other stars.

“For me, it’s all about football now,” Purdy said. “However, they use the cap space and all that kind of stuff, that’s not my job. My job is to now go and win games and lead this team. But I’m extremely happy and grateful.”

The 49ers have lost key pieces to both the offense and the defense, including wide receiver Deebo Samuel was traded to the Washington Commanders, defensive tackle Javon Hargrave was released by the 49ers and now plays for the Minnesota Vikings and key defensive players like Dre Greenlaw, Charvarius Ward, and Talanoa Hufanga found new homes in free agency.

Purdy is one of three players to get contract extensions in the offseason, joining Kittle and star middle linebacker Fred Warner.

After deciding to say goodbye to 17 players in the offseason through free agency, trade or release, San Francisco 49ers owner Jed York has said that his offseason philosophy is tied to a payday coming for 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy.

2024 was a disappointing season for Purdy and the 49ers, finishing 6-11 after entering the year with the highest over/under win total at 11.5. Injuries and inconsistency led to a dip in production from Purdy. Despite the drop, York has remained adamant that Purdy is the future of the 49ers, telling reporters on Tuesday that he believes Purdy is a top-10 quarterback.

“I think he is,” York said. “I think he’s great. Especially when you combine him with Kyle [Juszczyk] and you combine him with what we have, he’s a heck of a quarterback. We want him to be here for a long, long time.”

The 49ers have lost several key starters in anticipation of paying Purdy. Dre Greenlaw, Charvarius Ward and Deebo Samuel are among the key pieces for the 49ers who have found new homes.

Many fans online believe York’s approach to the offseason has been “cheap,” despite the 49ers being toward the top of the NFL in spending for the past five years. San Francisco has the highest amount of dead money in the NFL, with over $80 million going to players who are no longer on the team’s roster.

While there is nothing finalized yet, York told ESPN that “conversations with Brock have been great.” York did not put a timeline on when he expects the deal with Purdy to be finalized.

When a deal with Purdy is eventually signed, he will likely become one of the highest-paid quarterbacks in the NFL in 49ers history.

The Dallas Cowboys declined to pick up a fifth-year option for quarterback Trey Lance, putting the former 49ers first-rounder’s future beyond the 2024 season in jeopardy. Though the Cowboys reportedly may still support Lance as a backup passer, they saved $22.4 million by declining the option to extend the player.

Drafted by San Francisco with the third overall pick in 2021, Lance spent most of his rookie season behind quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo but was named the 2022 starter in his second season. However, he played in just two games before suffering a season-ending ankle injury. Brock Purdy eventually replaced him and led the team to the NFC Championship and Super Bowl in his first two seasons.

With Purdy slowly taking complete control of the starting quarterback role, the 49ers traded Lance to the Cowboys during the 2023 season. Declining his fifth-year option now is merely a formality, as Dallas is firmly behind quarterback Dak Prescott. Owner Jerry Jones said last month that Lance was trending in the right direction, but there are no plans to prepare him for the starting role in the future.

Though Lance is a victim of poor luck, he is still a contributing member of a notoriously weak 2021 draft class of quarterbacks. Of the five quarterbacks taken in the first round that year, first-overall pick Trevor Lawrence is the only one still on the team he was drafted by. Lance, Zach Wilson, Justin Fields and Mac Jones have all been traded away, showing small flashes of ability during their careers but never enough to earn sustained success.

Of that underperforming quintet, Lance is the only one who has yet to get an extended opportunity as a starting quarterback, as his only real chance in 2022 was cut extremely short by injury. If Prescott suffers a setback in the next year, Lance could get another chance if he can beat out veteran quarterback Cooper Rush for the backup position this offseason.

Brock Purdy and the San Francisco 49ers could only score 12 points in the second half and overtime of the Super Bowl. At one point they had a 10-point lead over the Chiefs but struggled to score as the game went on, ultimately leading to the loss.

In a year full of doubters, Purdy led the NFL in total QBR at 72.8 through the regular season, but couldn’t respond against the defending champion Chiefs as the Niners’ lead slowly devolved last  Sunday.

“When you have a good offense like the Chiefs do and what [Patrick] Mahomes can do, for us, it’s like, all right, we have to score touchdowns,” Purdy said following the loss. “And we had opportunities to do so, I think… So, at the end of the day, I think we have the team, the offense to score touchdowns, and I think I failed to put our team in position to do that.”

Purdy made 23 of his 38 passes for 255 yards and a touchdown as well as collecting 12 rushing yards in Super Bowl LVIII. His lone touchdown pass came early in the fourth quarter to Jauan Jennings, the only Niners touchdown of the second half. Though he and San Fransisco fell short, Purdy showed his talent and dedication simply in the fact of helping the team reach the Super Bowl just a year after tearing his UCL in the 2022 NFC Championship game.

“It’ll be nice to sort of work on my craft, get a real legit offseason in,” Purdy said on Tuesday. “Obviously last year, the season ended, surgery, rehab, trying to get back for the season, so it was just all so fast and going a million miles an hour.”

Though he had the help of some of the best offensive talents in the league in the form of Christian McCaffrey, Deebo Samuel, Brandon Aiyuk and George Kittle, Purdy was still a key factor in the Niners success this season.

He helped lead the team to second in the NFL in passing yards per game at 257.9 and third in points scored per game at 28.9 in the regular season. Being the last pick in the 2022 NFL Draft, Purdy became the first “Mr. Irrelevant” to start at quarterback in a Super Bowl, and was very close to being the first to win one.

San Fransisco fell just short, but they still have one of the best all-around rosters in the league and will no doubt be in contention next year. Also good news for the Niners is that Purdy will still have two years left on his 4-year $3.7 million rookie contract, allowing the team more financial room to improve elsewhere.

San Fransisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan told quarterback Brock Purdy that the team would pursue Tom Brady as a year-long replacement while Purdy healed from an elbow injury sustained in last year’s NFC Championship game.

The 49ers have cycled through multiple quarterbacks in the form of Jimmy Garropolo and Trey Lance in recent years along with Purdy, but signing the seven-time Super Bowl winner would be one of the biggest moves in recent NFL history.

“I actually thought it was giving Brock the biggest compliment,” Shanahan said. “I let him know he’s our guy long-term. No question. And if Tom Brady wanted to come here and start for one year, that’s the only way you’re not starting when you’re healthy this year. That’s pretty cool. I wanted to assure him, ‘Don’t worry. You’re our guy. But how cool would it be if Tom Brady would be the quarterback here for one season? How cool would it be for you to learn from him?'”

Brady retired from football for the second time with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in February of 2023 following an 8-9 season and a first-round loss to the Dallas Cowboys, one year after his initial retirement announcement. Just like in 2023, the 49ers also expressed interest in Brady when he left the Patriots in 2020. Brady reportedly told his hometown team that he would be interested in returning for one final year.

Brady, obviously, never accepted the offer, but the 49ers didn’t end up having issues at quarterback this season. The team signed Sam Darnold as a backup, but Purdy started all but one game this year, finishing with 4,280 yards and 31 touchdowns with the league’s highest passer rating. Purdy, who was the last pick in the 2022 NFL Draft, has fans divided on whether the team’s success is coming from his skill or the other All-Pro players around him like Christian McCaffrey, Deebo Samuel and Trent Williams.

“John [Lynch] and I, we took Purdy — and thank God we did,” Shanahan said, recalling the 2022 Draft and whether they thought they could pick up Purdy as a free agent. “I’m also getting the feeling we’re not getting Purdy as a free agent because there are so many other teams who are going to try to sign him… I said in the room, ‘Let’s not risk it. This guy’s too good.'”

A win for Purdy would no doubt cement him as the 49ers starting quarterback for the next few years. But while he and the 49ers prepare for their matchup against the Chiefs in the Super Bowl, Brady looks to continue other business ventures outside of playing football. The 46-year-old is still yet to begin his ten-year $375 million contract with Fox to be the network’s leading color analyst for NFL games.

Trailing 17 points in the locker room in the NFC Championship game, San Fransisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy had no worries with their season in jeopardy.

“No one was freaking out,” Purdy said after the 49ers’ 34-31 win. “It’s football, there’s a lot of experienced guys on this team, veterans who have been in crazy situations, so everyone was like, ‘We’ve just got to do our job, straight up.’ We kept it simple. We went out, we all knew what we had to do, the season was on the line, we were down by 17, so everyone stepped up and we played complementary football.”

The 49ers did play extremely well to get themselves back in the game, starting the second half with 17 unanswered points to tie the game 24-24. They would go on to narrowly win the fourth quarter 10-7, clinching their spot in Super Bowl LVIII, which is expected to be an even closer game against the Kansas City Chiefs and Patrick Mahomes.

The 49ers and Chiefs matched up in the Super Bowl just four years ago in Super Bowl LIV, where the Chiefs won 31-20 after scoring three key touchdowns in the fourth quarter to emerge from a 20-20 tie and securing Mahomes first Super Bowl ring.

Purdy and Mahomes will be the players to watch during the Super Bowl, but despite both playing quarterback, they are expected to play very different roles.

49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan has used Purdy to get the ball in the hands of their stars, including George Kittle, Deebo Samuel, Brandon Aiyuk and Christian McCaffrey, who all play in elite-skill positions. No matter how many plays these stars can make, Shanahan and the 49ers will have to rely on Purdy to make key plays to get them the ball.

Chiefs head coach Andy Reid, on the other hand, has relied solely on the combination of Mahomes and Travis Kelce for offensive production throughout the playoffs, with help from an emerging rookie wide receiver in Rashee Rice. 

If the Chiefs win the game, it will be hard for anyone but Mahomes to be the Super Bowl MVP. If the 49ers win, the MVP will almost certainly be anyone but Purdy.

This isn’t their first rodeo. In 2020, the San Fransisco 49ers and Kansas City Chiefs played for the Lombardi trophy at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, Florida. Next weekend, they’ll face off at 6:30 p.m. EST on Sunday, February 11, at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Few teams have been as closely associated with the Super Bowl as the Chiefs and 49ers. It’s no surprise that they’ve matched up again. In fact, both teams have the same head coach as four years ago. Both general managers haven’t changed. Even the quarterback schemes are the same, even if one was swapped out for a certain ‘Mr. Irrelevant’ a couple of years ago.

So will Super Bowl LVIII just be more of the same as Super Bowl LIV?

Not exactly.

Let’s start with the 49ers.

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Better known as ‘Mr. Irrelevant,’ 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy came into the league with low expectations as the last pick in the draft. Now, in his second year in the league, he’ll lead his team in the Super Bowl. Similar to former 49ers quarterback in 2020, Jimmy Garoppolo, Purdy isn’t the best player on the 49ers offense. They’ve got stars in every skill position. The combination of running back Christian McCaffrey, tight end George Kittle and wide receivers Deebo Samuel and Brandon Aiyuk will be difficult to contain for the Chiefs’ defense. If head coach Kyle Shanahan can get the ball in his star’s hands, there’s just no telling how much they’ll be able to produce. On defense, Shanahan will have an opportunity to get through the Chiefs’ offensive line with their starting tackle Joe Thuney working through an injury.

And in Kansas City, Patrick Mahomes has done it again. Many NFL experts doubted the Chiefs when they hit their mid-season slump, losing key games to the Eagles, Packers, Bills and Raiders. They didn’t look the same. Then, they came back and clinched a division title, locking in their position as the number three seed in the AFC. With tight postseason wins against the Miami Dolphins, Buffalo Bills and number one-seeded Baltimore Ravens, the Chiefs proved their ability to perform on the road in the playoffs. Except for Travis Kelce, Mahomes doesn’t have the same quality in the skill positions as Purdy. Kelce also struggled at points throughout the season but seems to have summoned a different level in his game for the playoffs. Many experts believe that the Chiefs’ chances in this game will come down to the production between Mahomes and Kelce, and looking at their past playoff performances, it’s hard to tell them that they’re wrong.

“You’ve got a little David vs. Goliath here, with the Niners being Goliath,” one AFC executive said. “But maybe Mahomes is Goliath.”

Will “Mr.Irrelevant” finally become relevant? Or will Mahomes build on his GOAT status and earn his second Super Bowl ring in a row and third altogether? Find out on Sunday.

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San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy has been named the NFC’s starting quarterback in the Pro Bowl after receiving more votes than any other NFL player. Purdy is one of eight 49ers players selected for the game.

Purdy rose to prominence last year when he stepped into the starting role in San Francisco after two injuries ahead of him on the depth chart. The last overall pick in the 2022 NFL Draft, “Mr. Irrelevant” led the team capably all the way to the NFC Championship game. He suffered an elbow injury early on in that contest, effectively ending the 49ers’ season.

In 2023, Purdy recovered rapidly from injury and managed to start the season at quarterback. In 16 starts, he threw for 4,280 yards and 31 touchdowns, leading the 49ers to a 13-3 record and No. 1 seed in the NFC for the playoffs. There was extensive speculation that he could be named the league MVP, though that talk died down after a poor performance against Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens.

Purdy is one of eight 49ers players who have been named to the Pro Bowl. He will be joined by teammates Christian McCaffrey (running back), George Kittle (tight end), Kyle Juszczyk (full back), Trent Williams (tackle), Nick Bosa (defensive lineman), Javon Hargrove (defensive lineman), Fred Warner (linebacker) and Charvarius Ward (cornerback).

Purdy and McCaffrey dominated fan voting, receiving the first and second most votes, respectively. Purdy was also the first 49ers quarterback to make a Pro Bowl since Jeff Garcia in 2002.

Because San Francisco clinched the first seed in the NFC last weekend, Purdy will not play in Week 18. The quarterback receives an extra week to recover from two stinger injuries that have hindered him slightly toward the end of the season.

“Brock is the only guy I know for sure I don’t plan on playing,” 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan said. “You can rest seven guys if nobody is hurt if you get two practice squad guys up. We have at least six guys injured right now, so I only know for sure we can rest one. I went with our starting quarterback.”

San Francisco 49ers quarterback Brock Purdy will miss Week 8 after experiencing concussion symptoms on the trip back from Minnesota last week. Backup quarterback Sam Darnold will step in to lead one of the league’s strongest offenses in a game against the Cincinnati Bengals.

When reporters asked if Purdy suffered the concussion on a sneak attempt in the fourth quarter, 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan said that he and his staff reviewed game footage and could not definitively identify when the quarterback might have sustained the injury.

“Possibly, we don’t know for sure, ’cause he didn’t start getting [symptoms] until the plane, ” Shanahan said about the sneak. “I don’t know exactly, but I’d probably guess that.”

Compared to his recent form, Purdy performed poorly against the Vikings in Week 8, particularly in the fourth quarter, as San Francisco was looking to make a last-second comeback. He ended the night with 272 passing yards, one touchdown and two interceptions.

With Purdy missing significant time for the first time since the NFC Championship last year, Darnold will assume duties under center this week, nearly ten months since his last start for the Carolina Panthers. Once expected to be the everyday starter in Carolina when the team signed him in 2021, Darnold lost the job the following preseason to Baker Mayfield. He later regained the job as the team was limping through the end of a mediocre season, making six starts and leading the team to four wins.

Darnold signed with the 49ers in March as a backup option to Purdy and Trey Lance, who was once considered as the starter before Purdy began to show signs of a swift recovery from surgery. With Purdy named as the starter in the preseason, Darnold eventually beat Lance for the backup role.

Though some question the former first-round pick’s ability to pilot the 49ers’ offense, others see this as a profound opportunity for Darnold, who infamously struggled in inefficient offenses on the Jets and Panthers. ESPN’s Dan Orlovsky said on NFL Live Wednesday that he wasn’t worried at all about Darnold’s competence.

“If he (Purdy) doesn’t play, I do not expect them to skip a beat,” Orlovsky said. “I think they will be just fine with Sam Darnold. I have constantly believed that if Sam Darnold was placed on a team that was similar to San Francisco, he would play worthy of that top draft pick. This young man has been weathered. He’s mentally been through it all. He’s the most talented quarterback, physically, that Kyle Shanahan has had in that offense, at least since Matt Ryan.”

When Purdy took over the 49ers’ offense last season, the former third-string quarterback and 2022 last overall pick thrived with the help of offensive stars like Christian McCaffrey, George Kittle, Brandon Aiyuk and Deebo Samuel. The system surrounding Darnold has never been stronger in his career, giving him ample opportunity to succeed in Purdy’s absence.

The San Francisco 49ers listed quarterback Trey Lance as the third-string option Wednesday, behind starter Brock Purdy and new backup Sam Darnold. Lance and Darnold reportedly fought for the backup position throughout the preseason, but head coach Kyle Shanahan confirmed that the team reached a verdict earlier this month.

“We gave (Lance) a big chance to win that 2-spot this year… it was a very tough fight, but in the long run, Sam ended up winning it,” Shanahan said, according to The Athletic.

In the 2021 NFL Draft, the 49ers gave the Miami Dolphins three first-round picks in order to move up to the third overall pick and draft Lance, a largely inexperienced passer with just one full college season at North Dakota State. In two seasons since, Lance has only appeared in eight NFL games and began the 2022 season as the starter before sustaining a season-ending ankle injury in Week 2.

While Lance recovered from surgery, the 49ers turned to Jimmy Garoppolo and then Purdy, the rookie third-string quarterback who only went in after two injuries at his position. Purdy made an immediate impact, leading the team into the postseason and all the way to the NFC Championship before going down with an injury himself. Shanahan said that his late-season performance secured him the starting job early on in the offseason.

“I mean this isn’t a thing where we’re giving up on Trey,” Shanahan said in a local radio interview Wednesday. “This is more of how Brock played in his seven games and that was decided before the season started, and how Sam’s looked. They’ve both looked good but we have to make a decision here. You only get so many reps at it. We feel, starting about 10 days ago, Sam really separated himself, and we’ve got to keep it real in that way.”

Before arriving in San Francisco, Darnold played three seasons for the Jets and two for the Panthers, never making a convincing case as a franchise quarterback for either team. The USC product will return to California and provide a capable safety net if Purdy struggles or goes down again.

Back in March 2021, the San Francisco 49ers traded up from the twelfth pick in the NFL draft all the way up to pick number three. After witnessing such a blockbuster trade, it was no secret what position the 49ers were targeting at this spot. They wanted their franchise quarterback.

The entire fanbase was kept on their toes for the rest of the weeks leading up to the NFL draft. The first two picks in that year’s draft were as much as a sure thing as you can get. However, no one knew who the 49ers were going to select at number three.

Mock drafts galore came out and predicted they would go with Alabama’s Mac Jones, who was arguably the safest choice out of the three quarterbacks who were likely to remain on the board at three overall. However, there were many fans who felt that the 49ers should go a different route in pursuing dual-threat Justin Fields as their quarterback of the future.

Then, of course, there were those who believed that NDSU’s dual-threat quarterback Trey Lance was clearly the best option available. In the end, the San Francisco 49ers wound up selecting Lance with the third overall pick in the NFL Draft, a prospect who many considered to be the most raw quarterback in the draft class having only played one full season in college, but one that arguably offered even higher upside than the number one overall selection in that year’s draft class, Trevor Lawrence.

Fast forward to the 2021 regular season. Jimmy Garoppolo is named starting quarterback, as the 49ers stated that they wanted to develop Lance and get him acclimated to the NFL in the right way.

Lance is asked to come in for a couple of plays here and there throughout the first few games of the season and even gets the opportunity to start a couple of games against teams like the Arizona Cardinals in week 5 and the Houston Texans in week 17, the latter being his first career win as a niner.

It was much later revealed that Lance had been “severely limited” all season long by a hairline fracture on his right index finger which he suffered during the preseason that “did not heal properly.” Kyle Shanahan, head coach of the San Francisco 49ers spoke about how Lance went “a whole year throwing without a bent finger, which changed everything and shows the toughness of the kid that he never complained about it. He tried to adjust so he could be out there.”

The injury forced Lance to completely adjust his grip on the football, as well as his throwing motion. With Lance already being considered a project coming into the draft, this was a massive hurdle he had to quickly overcome. In the end, Lance continued to battle through, even after having sustained a small knee injury in week 5 against Arizona.

The 49ers went on to make it to the NFC championship game that year, led by their starting quarterback Garoppolo. They wound up losing in heartbreaking fashion, as Garoppolo and the offense were unable to get anything done in the final minutes of the game.

Fast forward once more to the 2022 regular season. Shanahan publicly announced that this is “Trey Lance’s team.” The first game of the regular season is against the Chicago Bears, an ugly game in which both teams were forced to play, despite the torrential downpour. The rain only appeared to get worse and worse as the game went on, as the television screen even became blurry at a certain point due to the horrific weather conditions.

The 49ers ended up losing that game but looked to bounce back that next week against their divisional rival, the Seattle Seahawks.

Unfortunately, Lance suffered a season-ending ankle injury on a designed run early in the game, as now backup quarterback Garoppolo was forced to take the reins. The 49ers took a while getting into their groove but ultimately played well with Garoppoloat the helm. In fact, after a sluggish 3-4 start, they started catching fire and won four straight games with Garoppololeading the way.

However, in week 13 against the Miami Dolphins, Garoppolo suffered a broken foot that would require season-ending surgery.

The 49ers, an NFL team with Super Bowl aspirations, were now in a heap of trouble. Their season was in mere shambles. The only quarterback healthy on the roster was a rookie whom they had selected with the very last pick in the 2022 NFL draft, Mr. Irrelevant himself, Brock Purdy.

The 49ers ended up winning that game, as Shanahan, who is also the 49ers offensive play-caller, completely flipped the game script in order to implement more rookie quarterback-friendly plays into the game, as they managed to come away with a 33-17 victory. After the game concluded, however, is when the real mayhem in San Fran had begun.

The 49er faithful were completely torn on what to do regarding their latest quarterback fiasco. People were calling for quarterback Baker Mayfield to play for San Francisco, while some remained hopeful that perhaps there was a small chance Lance could make an early return, however, it was quickly made clear that his recovery timeline hadn’t changed. The 49ers ultimately decided to roll with Purdy for that next game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, a game in which Purdy dismantled the Buccaneers’ defense, making himself look like a seasoned veteran with a total of three touchdowns on the day, including an impressive rushing score.

The 49ers organization was feeling much better about their quarterback situation after this game, as Purdy ended up taking this squad on a hot winning streak, finishing the season off with an inspiring 13-4 record.

Although there were several awkward moments with Purdy at quarterback, the 49er’s offense was able to pick up right where they left off with Garoppolo and then some.

They went on to beat the Seattle Seahawks and Dallas Cowboys in the playoffs, Purdy remaining undefeated as the 49ers starting quarterback. Then, came the NFC championship game against the Philadelphia Eagles, a hotly anticipated matchup between two teams featuring ferocious defensive lines and high flying offenses.

The Eagles were the first to get on the board, scoring the first touchdown of the game, as they forced the 49ers to match. Just as the offense was looking to get things started, however, Purdy’s arm got hit hard by an Eagles defensive lineman, ultimately shattering the UCL in his right elbow. The 49ers ended up losing that game in a truly devastating fashion, as triple backup quarterback Josh Johnson ended up being ruled out for the game as well after an injury he sustained a little later on.

Now fast forward for the very last time to the 2023 offseason. When the 49ers selected Purdy with the two-hundred sixty-second pick in the NFL draft, no one expected the 49ers to actually consider him as their franchise quarterback for the start of the very next season. Yet, here we are.

In a recent interview with general manager John Lynch, Mr. Irrelevant has been named ‘leader in the clubhouse’ for the San Francisco 49ers. However, that doesn’t necessarily mean that the starting job will remain his by the start of week one.

As a result of his devastating injury, Lance underwent two successful surgeries in order to repair his fibula fracture and ligament disruption. In April of this year, Lance was seen working out with two-time Super Bowl MVP Patrick Mahomes and quarterback coach Jeff Christensen. He is now one hundred percent healthy again, as Shanahan has stated that “I think Trey is the best that we’ve (seen) him right now” after reportedly making a drastic adjustment to his throwing motion, which he corrected during the offseason.

Regarding Purdy, he is currently in the process of recovering from his injury and remains on track to be ready for the start of the regular season after having successful surgery on his elbow in March.

In a recent interview, Shanahan refused to rule out Lance as the starting quarterback of this team. “We did expect Trey Lance (to be our franchise quarterback for a long time) and I think that he still can be. You also don’t expect the last pick in the draft to come in and play at that level.”

Throughout the offseason, there have been numerous reports about the 49ers fielding calls to trade their potential quarterback of the future, Lance. Since he first got drafted with the third overall pick in the 2021 NFL draft, there has been a mountain of pressure on this young man’s shoulders. When the 49ers traded up to get Lance, it sure cost them a pretty penny, and fans are always going to remember what they had to sacrifice in order to get him. The 49ers ended up parting ways with that year’s twelfth overall pick, two future first-round picks in the 2022 and 2023 NFL drafts, as well as a third-round pick in the 2022 NFL draft, giving all that draft capital to the Miami Dolphins in exchange for the third overall pick.

The 49ers have an intriguing decision to make at the beginning of the 2023 regular season. They chose to part ways with Garoppolo after the injury he sustained against Miami, due to his inability to take the 49ers to the Super Bowl and win. They also signed former third overall draft pick Sam Darnold for more depth at the quarterback position in order to ensure that their season doesn’t fall by the wayside if one or two of their quarterbacks end up sustaining yet another brutal injury.

While there have been several reports claiming that Darnold has an opportunity to start week one, it seems highly unlikely this will be the case. Even if Purdy isn’t ready to go by week one, it remains highly doubtful that the 49ers won’t give the keys to Lance.

The real question becomes what the 49ers do, assuming Purdy is healthy. We already heard from Shanahan how Lance is looking better and feeling healthier than they’ve ever seen, but no one knows exactly how Purdy will look following his recovery from the tear in his right elbow.

The thing the 49ers have to consider is that even if Purdy looks exactly the same, is that enough for him not to lose his starting job? The fact of the matter is that the 49ers are an extremely talented roster, absolutely loaded on both sides of the football. They are in “win now” mode, and no one knows exactly how long their Super Bowl window will remain open.

Purdy is certainly the safest option they have when healthy. However, the 49ers traded their future away in order to secure a quarterback with a massive amount of potential to dominate in this league. While many fans will argue that Purdy has already proven what he can do on the field, the bottom line is that he hasn’t proven that he can carry this team farther than Garoppolo has. He hasn’t yet proven he can be elite.

Standing tall at 6’4”, Lance undoubtedly has more upside than any quarterback on the 49ers roster. Playing in college for a full four seasons, Purdy undoubtedly has more game-time experience than Lance, who has only played one full college season due to Covid-19.

It should not be forgotten what rookie Purdy was able to do last season with an uber-talented 49ers squad. However, the truth is, Lance has not been offered the opportunity he deserves to shine in this league. In his first season as a rookie, he was forced to sit back and watch as Garoppolo took the reins. In his second year, Lance got injured on a designed run that had him sprinting straight up the middle of the field, which is not a play call that many fans, including 49ers legend Jerry Rice, agreed with.

Despite the rough start to his NFL career, however, Lance remains optimistic, commenting in a recent interview, “how blessed I am to be in this position. I mean, I say it every single day. I play in the NFL. Hopefully, obviously, the plan is for me to get on the field this year and really get this thing started.”

I can certainly respect all that Purdy did for San Francisco last season, but I do believe Lance has the ability to dethrone Purdyas the starter of this team, as he appears hungry for the opportunity to prove his doubters wrong.

Whether or not Lance impresses enough in practice to take over as ‘leader of the clubhouse’ remains to be seen, but I just don’t know how the 49ers could possibly be willing to give up on a quarterback they’ve traded the farm to acquire, without so much as giving him the opportunity he so rightfully deserves as a starting quarterback in this league. He hasn’t yet been able to showcase the tremendous abilities in which he flashed in college, and until he does, the world will never know what Lance is truly capable of.

49ers running back Christian McCaffrey believes that the NFL’s 2011 abolishment of the “emergency quarterback” rule cost his team a chance to go to the Super Bowl.

After losing both Brock Purdy and Josh Johnson to injuries during the NFC Championship game, San Francisco’s offense stagnated badly in a 31-7 loss to the Philadelphia Eagles.

“You don’t want to make excuses, but it just sucks, because we wish we had a healthy quarterback for a full game and just kind of see how the game would have panned out,” McCaffrey said on FanDuel TV’s Up and Adams. “It’s a really good team that we played, but it feels like something got stolen from you. Just wish it would have played out differently.”

Following an injury to Purdy on the first drive and another injury to Johnson early in the third quarter, McCaffrey was preparing to play quarterback himself before head coach Kyle Shanahan ultimately decided to put Purdy back in the game. The 49ers starter finished the game despite serious limitations in his throwing elbow. He could barely throw a forward pass.

Under NFL regulations from 1991 to 2011, every team had a third unrostered quarterback, known as an emergency quarterback, that could play when both quarterbacks on the depth chart were unavailable. The rule was scrapped when owners agreed to expand rosters from 45 to 46 players, giving teams the option to roster three quarterbacks without mandating it.

It’s obviously impossible to know how the rule could have changed the 49ers’ final result against the Eagles, who will play the Kansas City Chiefs in the Super Bowl this Sunday. But if it had been put in place, it would have at least given the team another option and given the team to protect Purdy, who will now require a year to recover from a UCL injury.

Once thought to be a season-ending injury, medical personnel have concluded that Jimmy Garoppolo’s broken left foot will not require surgery. The San Francisco 49ers quarterback could reportedly return to the field in seven to eight weeks.

Initial reports suggested that the quarterback had suffered a Lisfranc injury against the Dolphins Sunday, which would have required season-ending surgery. Those assessments were later rejected. Following Garoppolo’s injury update, the 49ers announced that they will not put him on injured reserve, a clear sign that they hope to start him again this season. But Head Coach Kyle Shanahan clarified in a press conference that he still considers it a slim chance.

“It is not a Lisfranc (injury). They don’t have to do surgery on it. So, it’ll be a big recovery, but much less than what we anticipated,” Shanahan said. “There’s that way outside chance late into the playoffs or something like that. But it’s just an outside chance. I’m not really real optimistic about that, but they didn’t rule it out.”

As Shanahan noted, the 49ers would have to make a deep run in the playoffs for Garoppolo to have a chance of seeing the field again this season. Considering the team’s improvement in recent weeks, that could still be possible. After a somewhat productive start in 2022, the 49ers became a serious Super Bowl contender as its offense found its footing.

Now 8-4, new trade acquisition Christian McCaffrey has joined a scheme that includes receivers Deebo Samuel and Brandon Aiyuk, as well as star tight end George Kittle. Garoppolo was leading the dynamic offense to great effect before his recent setback.

After Garoppolo’s injury, backup quarterback Brock Purdy stepped in and guided San Francisco to a 33-17 win over Miami. After a successful college career at Iowa State, Purdy was the 262nd and final pick in the 2022 NFL Draft. He is set to make the first start of his NFL career this week against Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.