Getty Jerry Rice before the NFC title game in Philadelphia on January 29, 2023.
The legend Jerry Rice has spoken on the eve of 2023 NFL training camp: The San Francisco 49ers must give the starting quarterback reins to the one he thinks is most deserving.
The iconic wide receiver believes its Brock Purdy.
“I think the thing is, with Brock, he deserves to be the starter,” Rice told Matt Maiocco of NBC Sports Bay Area while speaking on the “49ers Talk” podcast. “Look what he did last year and what he was able to accomplish. That injury that happened in Philadelphia, if that injury hadn’t happened, I felt like we were going to win the whole thing last year.”
Is the four-time Super Bowl champion with the 49ers ruling out the original 2022 starter though?
“He [Purdy] got that starting position, but just in case something happens to him, Trey Lance has got to be ready to go,” Rice said.
Rice Weighs in on Lance’s 2023 Offseason Work
While Rice sounds like he’s on “Team Purdy,” he has taken a liking to how Lance has attacked his offseason following his devastating broken ankle from Week 2.
“Trey Lance, I heard he made significant progress during the offseason,” Rice explained. “I saw him doing stuff with Patrick Mahomes and doing all that. It’s great competition.”
Will that mean Lance will do enough to hold off the newcomer to the 49ers’ signal-caller room.
Rice: “But I think the third [QB] is going to be Sam Darnold.”
Darnold will be heading to his third NFL stop since being selected third overall in the 2018 draft. However, this is a Golden State return for him after starring at USC and growing up in Orange County. And the last time he was in the Bay Area, he was playing against Cal and Stanford.
Still, Rice is a believer the final pick of the 2022 draft should be QB1 for his team.
What Rice Hopes to See Out of the 49ers QB Play
Rice is all too familiar with what the Niners are facing at QB. After all, he ended up being around the Joe Montana/Steve Young QB chatter. He even played with a future starter in Steve Bono and Elvis Grbac.
Rice still put up Pro Bowl numbers regardless of who was behind center for the 49ers. But he shared with the longtime Bay Area columnist what he hopes to see out of the QB play for the 2023 Niners.
“What I would like to see play out is that whoever starts the season finishes the season,” Rice said of his expectations for the quarterback position to Maiocco. “That’s my main thing right now. I don’t want this quarterback carousel and stuff like that. Brock is the guy that, with [head coach] Kyle Shanahan and also [general manager] John Lynch, they said he’s the legitimate starter.”
Rice adds: “So the other guys are going to have to compete. But I feel like we got a great legitimate third quarterback now, just in case we go through some adversity, some injuries, and stuff like that.”
The legendary wide receiver sounds confident in the ’23 QB room for the 49ers. But again, he’s on board with Purdy leading the charge.
The 49ers’ first official practice in Santa Clara is on Wednesday, July 26.