49ers’ QB situation a ‘carnival ride’ entering 2023 | You Pod To Win The Game
Yahoo Sports senior NFL reporters Charles Robinson and Jori Epstein discuss San Francisco’s triangle of signal callers and the questions facing each heading into the summer. Hear the full conversation on “You Pod To Win The Game” - and subscribe on Apple, Spotify, Stitcher or wherever you get your podcasts.
Video Transcript
CHARLES ROBINSON: The San Francisco 49ers quarterback situation, which to me is still unbelievably interesting because we don't know what's going to happen with Brock Purdy coming off of the elbow surgery. You spoke to Brock Purdy himself. And he was being logical and saying, you know, who knows? We just got to wait and see how this all develops.
Trey Lance didn't get traded. To me clearly was on the block in the respect that the 49ers let it be known that they were receiving quote unquote receiving calls on him, which is a cute way of saying, yeah, we're willing to take calls on him. And then you have Sam Darnold, who goes over there on a one year, maybe Kyle Shanahan resurrects him in some way, shape, or form. I said it before I'll say it again. I've never seen a team that feels so championship ready with such just complete carnival ride at quarterback.
JORI EPSTEIN: I would say that this is one of the storylines that we will know the most about this summer. Because as mentioned in previous podcasts, I talked to Brock Purdy and he, after three months, is allowed to throw again. So he's already got that brace off. But come June 10th or so, that's right when he hits that 12 weeks mark, he's going to be allowed to throw.
And based on how quickly things progressed from there, that's when they'll actually start to have a real timeline for him. And I think we're not going to see him likely-- he's not going to be taking the reps in OTAs. But that will dictate how much he's taken the reps in training camp. So I think that'll be interesting.
But I'll also say I talked to Nick Bosa this week. It was just kind of funny when I was talking to him about, hey, how much is your defense going to change under Steve Wilks now that Tamika Ryans is the Texans head coach? And he's like, I mean not a whole lot. Like, we're the best defense in the league. It's working.
And it's such a good point because when you think of the offensive skills that set that they have and the insane defensive power, both individually and collectively, you feel like this team has just been so good for so long. And yet they have not won a Super Bowl. And I know it's so hard to win a Super Bowl.
But it's wild to think about all of the pieces in play, their GM, head coach, offense, defense, so much has gone right. But because their quarterback has been such a question, it's really hard to get over that final hump without an elite quarterback.
CHARLES ROBINSON: There's a reality here too. No matter how fast Brock Purdy thinks he's going to get back, he's not going to be there for OTAs doing stuff. He's not going to be there for full squad minis doing stuff, which means--
JORI EPSTEIN: Training camp he could be.
CHARLES ROBINSON: OK, training camp. But I'm talking about-- we're talking about now. We're talking about now to camp, right? That's the period we're focusing on.
JORI EPSTEIN: Sam Darnold has a chance to prove some things, yeah.
CHARLES ROBINSON: Sam Darnold is basically out there. He's John Wayne in the saddle with the 49ers trying to-- if I was him I'd be talking [BLEEP] to Kyle Shanahan. I'd be doing anything I could to make it look like I have recaptured any swagger that I had. Here's the skill set. Go watch my last couple of games at Carolina last year. I still got it.