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After spending his rookie season as a backup quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers, Trey Lance could find himself in a similar role in 2023.
Per Michael Silver from the San Francisco Chronicle, two people with knowledge of the 49ers’ plans confirmed that Brock Purdy will be the starting quarterback against Lance next season.
Lance was San Francisco’s 2022 starter, but a broken ankle sustained in a Week 2 win against the Seattle Seahawks ended his season. He had follow-up surgery in December to remove some of the stabilizing hardware in his ankle that was irritating a tendon.
He is expected to make a full recovery and be ready to go when the 49ers begin organized team activities in the spring.
Purdy, who was the last pick in the 2022 NFL draft, became the backup quarterback behind Jimmy Garoppolo after Lance went down. The 23-year-old made the list from training camp after beating Nate Sudfeld for the No. 3 quarterback berth.
After throwing a handful of snaps in a few blowout games earlier in the season, Purdy was called into action when Garoppolo suffered a broken foot in Week 13 against the Miami Dolphins. He responded by playing remarkably well in five starts with 1,098 passing yards, 11 touchdowns and a 68.6 percent completion rate to end the regular season.
In San Francisco’s playoff opener against the Seattle Seahawks, Purdy overcame a shaky start to finish the game on 18 of 30 for 332 yards and four total touchdowns in a 41-23 win at Levi’s Stadium.
The 49ers have scored at least 37 points in each of their last four games.
While the jury is far from deciding on Lance, the 49ers paid a heavy price to select him for the 2021 NFL draft. They traded four picks to the Dolphins, including first-rounders in 2022 and 2023, to earn the No. 3 pick for Lance.
Lance has become an unfortunate victim of bad luck. The 22-year-old has not played consistently since the 2019 season at North Dakota State. He only played one game in 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The 49ers drafted Lance with the idea of letting him sit behind Garoppolo for a year before taking over as a starter. He made two starts as a rookie when Garoppolo was injured.
It’s hard to argue that Purdy shouldn’t be the starter based on his and the team’s success. Lance could still get a chance to run for the job in training camp and preseason, or the 49ers could try to win back some draft picks if they decide to explore trading opportunities for the young signal-caller.