San Francisco

49ers

Purdy’s rehab from offseason UCL surgery continues to trend in the right direction. All signs from the 49ers front office and staff indicate he will be ready by Week 1 or close to it. Once healthy, Purdy is expected to resume his role as the team’s QB1 after leading the team to an appearance in the NFC Championship Game last season but could be on a short leash if Trey Lance or Sam Darnold show anything significant in camp. If all goes well for Purdy over the next several weeks, it’s possible he’ll be ready to add to his workload heading into training camp.

Speaking on The Pat McAfee Show, Schefter was confident Brock Purdy is the team’s starting quarterback when healthy. All of this was simply his speculation, but it echoes the positive statements from Kyle Shanahan and John Lynch about Purdy this offseason. Lance has struggled in his very limited NFL experience while Darnold started to turn the corner in 2022. Lance has more upside as a dual-threat without many reps to his name, but Darnold is a safer bet as a bridge to Purdy’s eventual return. The true test will come in training camp, but it’s hard to push the button on any of these quarterbacks in fantasy drafts because of the uncertainty.

Maiocco lists three primary reasons that hint at the possibility of a more aggressive unit in 2023 including a full offseason with running back Christian McCaffrey, the team’s trust in quarterback Brock Purdy, and the offseason departure of veteran kicker Robbie Gould. Considering San Francisco converted just seven of 17 fourth-and-short attempts in 2022, due in part to the accuracy of Gould, the bold hypothesis could come to fruition with the team moving forward with a rookie place kicker. The other two reasonings provided would also theoretically support a more aggressive offensive unit, but the history of head coach Kyle Shanahan suggests short yardage decisions are more based on game environment than on a desire to optimize every offensive possession. Using that reasoning, it is much more likely to require a dip in defensive performance to ignite a more aggressive offense, something that may or may not change in the new season after the 49ers ranked first in defensive DVOA and points allowed per drive in 2022.

This could all change with an Elijah Mitchell injury -- something that seems pretty common -- but if Davis-Price is RB4 on this depth chart behind Christian McCaffrey, Mitchell, and Mason, he’s tough to roster even in dynasty leagues. If you’re still holding Davis-Price in a deep dynasty, it might be worth moving on to a different lottery ticket.

Samuel, whose production fell off across the board last year following his excellent 2021 season, implied he wasn’t in the best shape headed into the 2022 season. He held out of some offseason activities last year in protracted negotiations over his contract. “Just going through the tape, it was, ‘Look how sluggish and, like, how bad you look on tape,’” Samuel said after the 49ers’ first minicamp practice. “Like I said, what happened last offseason kind of played a big role in that. I’ll never put nothing on tape like that again.” The Athletic’s Matt Barrows said Deebo “doesn’t appear to be in peak condition” during spring practices. Samuel fought through hamstring, ankle, and knee injuries to post 632 yards on 56 receptions and 232 yards on 42 rushes in 2022. The dual-threat wideout scored five touchdowns and saw his yards per reception drop from 18.2 in 2021 to 11.3 in 2022. The presence of Christian McCaffrey is certainly a problem for Deebo, who had been the focal point of the Niners offense before the team acquired CMC. Samuel could be under-drafted in redraft formats after a disappointing 2022 campaign.

In an article titled “Why Signs Point to Purdy Opening Season as 49ers’ Starter,” Maiocco highlights the latest developments in Purdy’s offseason saga. Since suffering a torn UCL in the NFC Championship game, Purdy has undergone offseason surgery on his elbow and began throwing last week. 49ers GM John Lynch noted that the team is “incredibly encouraged” by Purdy’s recovery thus far and suggested he was the “leader in the clubhouse” to be the starter when healthy. While Purdy appears to be trending in a positive direction, Maiocco also believes “there virtually will be no way” Trey Lance or Sam Darnold will unseat Purdy in practices when you consider what he’s shown in-game. It’s still hard to imagine the 49ers giving up on Lance, who has started just four games since the team selected him No. 3 overall in 2021, but Purdy’s hot start to last season appears to have captivated the team heading into 2023.

Lynch also referred to Purdy as the “leader in the clubhouse” once again. It’s clear that Purdy has the inside track to the starting job once healthy. Both Lynch and Kyle Shanahan have talked glowingly about him when given the chance. Purdy resumed throwing this week and is expected back by training camp, though that could be an optimistic timeline for his return. He underwent surgery in March to repair the torn UCL he suffered in the NFC Championship game. If he is forced to sit for a few weeks during the season, San Francisco will be forced to go back to Trey Lance or give Sam Darnold a shot under center. Their camp battle will be one of the most important ones of the summer, even if it only decides a handful of starts.

The test, which is administered to nearly 800 draft prospects each year, is designed to test an athlete’s cognitive processing abilities. It aims to measure how quickly and accurately an athlete can process information and top quarterbacks have historically performed in the upper echelon. For comparison, Purdy’s results mirror that of former Chargers and Saints quarterback Drew Brees. Head coach Kyle Shanahan continues to insist that Purdy is the team’s starting quarterback when healthy, a position seemingly rationalized through the newly revealed test results.

Mitchell was on the field for the 49ers’ first open practice on Tuesday. The third-year back is on track to be fully healthy after missing 12 games to injury last season. Mitchell will open 2023 as the 49ers’ RB2 and the top hedge to Christian McCaffrey.

This should put Purdy on track to return for training camp, and Shanahan said they are hoping for a Week 1 return. After avoiding Tommy John surgery in favor of an internal brace, Purdy will presumably enter camp as the starting quarterback for the 49ers based on all available Shanahan/John Lynch rhetoric. He’ll be looking to build on his 1,374/13/4 rookie line in five starts, and should be considered a QB2 for fantasy purposes.