The San Francisco 49ers have a quarterback conundrum. Heading into the 2023 offseason, they don’t have a clear-cut idea of who will be their starter for the upcoming season.
Brock Purdy, who entered the season as the third-stringer, did enough to certainly stake a claim as the long-term starter. However, an elbow injury suffered during the NFC Championship Game against the Philadelphia Eagles puts his availability in jeopardy.
Purdy replaced Jimmy Garoppolo after he injured his foot in Week 13. 49ers’ head coach Kyle Shanahan has already stated that Garoppolo will not be back with the team, leaving the door open once again for Trey Lance.
Lance, the No. 3 overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, was the starter at the onset of the 2022 season. He took all of the first-team reps in the offseason to prepare him for the job. But, an ankle injury knocked him out of the lineup.
He is likely in line to start, but it would be shocking if the 49ers didn’t make at least one addition to the quarterback room this offseason. That is exactly what Seth Trachtman of YardBarker believes is going to happen in the coming weeks.
Trachtman thinks that the 49ers are going to bring in a veteran to compete with Lance for the starting job. He mentioned Taylor Heinicke and Marcus Mariota as two options.
Heinicke has spent the last three seasons with the Washington Commanders, starting 24 games and going 12-11-1. Mariota spent last season with the Atlanta Falcons and started the first 13 games of the season before giving way to rookie Desmond Ridder.
Both would be strong additions to the 49ers as they are more than capable backups. Should the need arise, they can step into the starting lineup and keep the team afloat. San Francisco is deep and talented across the board, so they would only need the veterans to keep things on track, not go above and beyond to win games.
Skill set-wise, both also fit in an offense that will be tailored to Lance’s skill set. Heinicke and Mariota both have some athleticism, with Mariota being a truly gifted rusher. It would be a much easier transition plugging one of them into the lineup than it was when the 49ers went back to Garoppolo after Lance’s injury.
