Brock Purdy was always the 49ers’ top choice for the position after he completely recovered from offseason elbow surgery.

Brock Purdy was always the 49ers’ top choice for the position after he completely recovered from offseason elbow surgery.

Head coach Kyle Shanahan told Purdy as much, but there was one exception, according to ESPN’s Nick Wagoner’s story.

There was never true competition for the starting position, even though Purdy was at camp and might have faced opposition from Sam Darnold and Trey Lance. Purdy was just getting ready to be the starter while Darnold and Lance were fighting for the position of QB2.

Shanahan assured Purdy that he would start and that the only player who would challenge him was a retired Hall of Famer.

Purdy told Wagoner this story:

Purdy remarked, “That meant so much to me.” “I recall him telling us that we would try to get Tom Brady if we could. Yes, he’s the greatest of all time, I thought. I understand. However, I secretly felt like, “Dude, I just proved to you that I can function well in this system.” And the Super Bowl was just one game away. More than anything, I thought, “All right, let’s head out.”

The much-discussed Brady comeback with his childhood squad, which was expected to happen whenever the seven-time Super Bowl champion was available, never materialized. Purdy continued to be San Francisco’s starting pitcher, and he stayed retired.

The fact that Purdy was informed he would be starting the position isn’t really shocking. at his brief tenure as the starter in 2022, he was too good to drop to a reserve position, and neither Lance nor Darnold, nor Brandon Allen, were able to dislodge him at camp.

It turns out that moving forward with Purdy was the right choice. Brady might have been even more effective for the 49ers this season, but Purdy has led his team to two Super Bowls and one of their most productive QB seasons in franchise history. Though Purdy has made the Brady situation seem like a distant memory, it may have been very real this offseason.

 


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