5 significant questions for 49ers at quarterback in 2023

Jimmy Garoppolo might no longer be walking in and out of the San Francisco 49ers quarterback room, but that doesn't change the fact there is still drama at the most important of positions for head coach Kyle Shanahan's squad heading into the 2023 season.

Garoppolo was supposed to be replaced by now by the quarterback for whom the Niners aggressively moved up and took at No. 3 overall in the 2021 NFL Draft, Trey Lance. Yet Lance is now often seen as the third option on San Francisco's quarterbacking depth chart behind Brock Purdy and Sam Darnold.

Lance might have the highest ceiling out of all three, but two frustrating and incomplete years from the youthful signal-caller have led to an uncertain future.

That uncertainty, however, spreads further than just where Lance ends up on the depth chart.

Purdy is coming off a torn UCL. He might not be ready by Week 1. Darnold, meanwhile, could end up seizing the QB1 role to begin the season, which would absolutely demolish what remaining value Lance has to any team.

What then?

Those kinds of questions are the ones Shanahan and Co. will have to have answered between now and the regular season, and we evaluate five pressing ones of the sort right here.

Significant 49ers question No. 1: What if Brock Purdy isn't ready by Week 1?

Right now, all signs are pointing to Purdy's post-UCL surgery putting him on track for a full recovery by the start of the regular season.

Great news.

Purdy deserves to start as QB1, too. After all, going 5-0 down the stretch of the regular season and helping the 49ers offense average nearly 30 points per game during that timeframe is pretty remarkable, especially when it netted the Niners another trip to the NFC Championship game where Purdy suffered his injury.

Without getting too deep into the medical side, though, what happens if Purdy suffers some sort of setback? What if he's physically cleared, but his already-questionable arm strength needs weeks or even months to get back to 100 percent?

Even though the Niners have two other starting-caliber quarterbacks on the roster, being without Purdy to start the season would be a significant blow.

And it would create more questions, too.

Significant 49ers question No. 2: Who starts at quarterback if Brock Purdy is still hurt?

Despite the optimistic news, there is still a very real chance that Brock Purdy starts the year sidelined and isn't ready to go for a week, two or even longer.

Should that be the case, would Trey Lance get his starter's job back? Or would it be another former third-overall draft pick, Sam Darnold?

San Francisco liked Darnold prior to the New York Jets drafting him at No. 3 overall in 2018, and the 49ers also were reportedly in on Darnold prior to Gang Green trading him to the Carolina Panthers in 2021.

Now, the Niners have their guy. And there are plenty of NFL insiders, including ESPN's Adam Schefter, who believe Darnold will beat out Lance on the depth chart during training camp and the preseason.

Darnold, who owns a 21-34 record as a starter, has never been on as good a team as the one with which he now finds himself. And there's stability at head coach, too, under Kyle Shanahan.

Does that make Darnold a better quarterback, though? Or is Lance truly falling by the wayside in the most embarrassing fashion?

Significant 49ers question No. 3: What if Trey Lance winds up being a third-string QB?

Despite speculation, San Francisco did not trade Trey Lance during last April's NFL Draft. Apparently, according to reports from both then and now, there wasn't a trade market anyway.

As NFL Network's Ian Rapoport reported at the time, the 49ers weren't making phone calls either, although Rapoport suggested the Niners could wait until later this summer to trade Lance when his value could potentially be higher, particularly if another team lost its starting quarterback to injury or something along those lines.

The premise of Rapoport's argument? Well, Lance being a QB3 on the depth chart would be pretty "awkward." From a financial perspective, San Francisco can keep all three quarterbacks, Lance, Sam Darnold and Brock Purdy. The combined salaries are worth less than $17 million, which is cheaper than the yearly cost of a below-average starter.

That said, would the 49ers get a little more desperate and try to trade Lance despite their previous lofty investment from 2021? Or would they hold onto him regardless with the understanding that his failure to win the starting job over Purdy or Darnold would effectively tank his dwindling value to almost nothing?

It's not an easy choice.

Significant 49ers question No. 4: What if Trey Lance resurges back in a big way?

There's the polar side of things in terms of evaluating Trey Lance's future, too.

What would happen if Lance absolutely dominated the competition over Sam Darnold during training camp and into the preseason, essentially winning the QB1 role?

Holding that thought for a second, even tight end George Kittle didn't hold back praise for the 2023 version of Lance:

Lance just turned 23 years old, after all, and he's only now finding himself filling into an NFL-type form. And while the previous two years have been frustrating, with some newfound pressure and motivation, Lance could finally live up to all the reasons why the Niners were so enamored with him two years ago.

If Lance wins the job, however, then what? Is Brock Purdy suddenly relegated back to backup status despite what he did a year ago? If Lance is rolling to begin the regular season amid Purdy's recovery, the former can't be benched if Purdy is again healthy by Week 4 or so, right?

And what would be the case for Darnold and his $4.5 million salary for 2023, $3.5 million of which is fully guaranteed?

That's not QB3 money.

Significant 49ers question No. 5: What if Brock Purdy isn't the guy?

Circling back to Brock Purdy to close things out, many a fan won't hesitate to point out he was "Mr. Irrelevant," the final pick of the NFL Draft who became quite relevant at the end of his rookie season because of what he helped San Francisco do en route to the penultimate game of the year.

That said, Purdy was also pegged as a potential first-round prospect early during his collegiate tenure at Iowa State, too, so it illustrates just how volatile a quarterback's stock value can be at any given time.

For the most part, Purdy proved he's far more adept and capable than the bulk of signal-callers drafted on day three, let alone just in Round 7. From the stats, analytics and the film, there are plenty of positive examples that suggest he's "the real deal."

But, what if he's not?

Perhaps it's the result of his NFC Championship injury. Or, perhaps the negative reasons why Purdy slipped into Round 7 wind up surfacing again.

But, if the 49ers conclude that Purdy is their No. 1 guy moving forward, only to see him flame out, that'd be the biggest question-raising issue of them all.

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