National Football League

Can Brock Purdy be 49ers' franchise quarterback?

Updated Dec. 17, 2022 4:49 p.m. ET

Is Brock Purdy playing his way into being the San Francisco 49ers' franchise quarterback?

The final pick of the 2022 NFL Draft, Purdy has helped orchestrate three consecutive wins for the 49ers. He's also been virtually mistake-free in those contests, including Thursday's 21-13 win over the Seattle Seahawks to clinch the NFC West.

Regardless of what happens next this season, his emergence should make for an interesting offseason in San Francisco, which figures to delegate reps between Purdy and 2021 No. 3 overall pick Trey Lance.

On Friday's edition of "Undisputed," cohost Shannon Sharpe expressed doubt over Purdy being QB1 long term for the Niners.

"I don't believe that they're going to give up on Trey Lance just this quick considering that they gave up two first-rounders, and they gave up a lot in order to get him," Sharpe said. "Now, Brock Purdy is playing unbelievable. They're playing complementary football because they're not asking him to do a whole lot. He made a big-time run on third down to basically seal the ballgame, but I haven't seen enough [from Purdy]."

Sharpe also cites the 49ers likely being unable to recoup the draft capital they surrendered to get Lance (the No. 12 pick, two future first-rounders and a third-rounder) if they reversed course and looked to trade him.

On the other hand, Skip Bayless thinks that the 49ers have the guts to stick with Purdy if they feel he's their best option, arguing that his previous experience in the Big 12 conference is helping him succeed in the present.

"When you get to start 48 college football games, and you get to go to Norman, Oklahoma and you get to go to Austin, Texas and you get to go to Stillwater and Waco, you just gain experience on what it feels like before a rowdy, raucous, hostile crowd," Bayless said of Purdy. "You know what it feels like, and he was always pretty good at Iowa State. I got to tell you, I'm eye-testing this, he has played better all three times now that I have watched him play as a 49er than I ever saw him in any single game at Iowa State. That's the God's [honest] truth.

"Should I honor Kyle Shanahan? Should I just say ‘I got to give him his credit for this?’ Okay, maybe, but you want to talk about some rookie poise? He just looks like he's been playing forever, and he has been at Iowa State."

Purdy already has about as many NFL snaps as Lance, as well. And he's been markedly better over the small sample size. In the past three weeks, Purdy has registered six touchdowns and one interception with a 108.8 passer rating while completing 69.1% of his throws. That's all come against a trio of playoff contenders — the Miami Dolphins, Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Seahawks.

It's the type of experience Lance, who made just two starts as a rookie last year while serving as Jimmy Garoppolo's backup and made it through less than five quarters in 2022 before breaking his foot, simply hasn't gotten in the NFL. And that's after limited participation in college.

"Trey Lance played a very small body of work of games because he only started for one year and then the pandemic came at North Dakota State," Bayless said. "It's North Dakota State. He didn't get to go to Norman or Austin or play before these 90,000 hostile crowds."

The competition on the 49ers' practice field between their quarterbacks could be just as fierce.

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