Getty San Francisco 49ers quarterback Sam Darnold, then with the Carolina Panthers.
After heading into the 2022 season with Trey Lance locked in as the team’s starting quarterback, the San Francisco 49ers are expected to have a true competition in 2023 to decide on which quarterback, Lance or Sam Darnold, will start under center should the injured Brock Purdy not be available to play in Week 1.
On March 29, NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport said Darnold “more likely than not” would start if Purdy was not recovered from elbow surgery. Six weeks later, Rapoport suggested that the 49ers refuted his statement.
“I said there’s a really good chance that Sam Darnold will be the starter Week 1, and I got a lot of pushback from people there who were, like, ‘Oh, why would you discount Trey Lance?’” Rapoport said on the May 8 episode of “The Pat McAfee Show.” “And I’m like, ‘I get it.’ But, like, Trey Lance is not — we haven’t seen Trey Lance in that seat. Whatever Trey Lance is going to be, we have not seen it.”
Trey Lance, a former No. 1 pick of the 49ers, went down with a season-ending injury in Week 2 last season. To date, he has only eight appearances (four starts) in his two-year career. Meanwhile, Darnold has four seasons (55 starts) with the New York Jets and Carolina Panthers under his belt.
Rapoport’s comments appeared to state the obvious: No one, not even the 49ers, knows where Lance is at this point in his career until he actually plays.
Ian Rapoport Suggests Sam Darnold as a Stopgap Option
In his March 29 on appearance on NFL Network’s “NFL Now,” Rapoport did not compare the talents of Lance and Darnold, suggesting only that Arnold’s experience could benefit the 49ers in the short term as they wait for the return of Purdy and Lance.
“We do not know what Trey Lance is going to be if he continues the trajectory that he’s been on,” Rapoport said, via 49ers Webzone. “And I think, certainly, it seems Sam Darnold will more likely than not be the starter going into the season.”
Rapoport kept open the possibility that Lance, who has 5 touchdowns against 3 interceptions and a 54.9% completion rate in only 102 career attempts, could yet emerge as San Francisco’s best option to start the season at quarterback.
“But there is an opportunity for someone to step in there and start [the] first couple of games of the regular season for the 49ers,” he said.
Maiocco Praised More San Francisco 49ers Than Just Darnold
Darnold received high praise this offseason from NBC Sports Bay Area’s Mike Maiocco.
“He might be — can I say this — the most talented thrower of the football that the 49ers have ever had,” Maiocco said during his May 4 appearance on KNBR’s “Murph & Mac” show. “Let’s just put him in the very high echelon of guys who can just drop back in the pocket and throw the football. I think that he hasn’t really had any chance to succeed since his college days are over. I think he’s had four head coaches in five years, five offensive coordinators in five years. He’s a talented guy.
“And how this whole thing shakes out nobody knows, but he does things better than Brock Purdy,” Maiocco said. “He does things better than Trey Lance. But also, Brock Purdy and Trey Lance do things better than him. … All things being equal, Brock Purdy would be the starting quarterback Week 1 for the 49ers; however, all things aren’t equal.”
A day later, Maiocco clarified his comments about Darnold’s place on the 49ers depth chart while appearing to double down on his comments about Darnold’s prowess.
There is no guarantee Darnold will ever get on the field with the 49ers. And nobody knows how he will play if he does appear in any regular-season games,” Maiocco wrote in a column published May 5. “But the statement that Darnold is physically gifted should not be considered the least bit controversial.”