The NFL’s Biggest Drama is Back For a New Season.

The NFL’s most interesting reality show that makes you sit at the edge of your seat every year has been renewed for a new season. No, it’s not Hard Knocks. It’s Kyle Shanahan’s ever-changing and most perplexing quarterback room that has never seemed to find a permanent star, instead relying on a revolving door of cast members all taking their shots at becoming the central character.

San Francisco (y’all need to stop calling it “San Fran” because it’s insulting) has been searching for a starter ever since Kyle Shanahan took over all the way back in 2017. Shanahan and General Manager John Lynch drafted C.J. Beathard in the 3rd Round of their first NFL draft and signed veteran Brian Hoyer via free agency in the same year. With the 3rd pick in that draft, the 49ers drafted defensive end Soloman Thomas. The 2 QBs that were selected in the same round after Thomas? Patrick Mahomes and Deshaun Watson.

Kyle Shanahan, Director.

Yes. Shanahan went from looking like Harry Styles to George Clooney in a span of 6 years. And who can blame him? When your team is constantly going to the brink of football heaven, only to be defeated every year because you don’t have a quarterback.

But then again. Why can’t we blame him? He had the opportunity to draft Mahomes or Watson in 2017 and then Lamar Jackson in 2018. He had the opportunity to sign Tom Brady in 2020, only for him to sign with Tampa Bay and lead them to a Super Bowl the following season. He also had the opportunity to acquire Matthew Stafford in 2021, only for him to go to the Rams and lead them to a Super Bowl the following season.

If one were to take a look at all of Shanahan’s starters in San Francisco, they would see a very common theme and one very interesting outlier. Brain Hoyer, C.J. Beathard, Jimmy Garoppolo, Nick Mullens, Trey Lance, and lastly Brock Purdy. Shanahan’s infatuations and intense relationships with average-to-bad quarterbacks and average-to-noodle arms who have no running ability is on par with the relationship between Prince Henry and Alex Diaz.

Lance is the only outlier here, as he possesses all the stereotypical QB strengths with his rocket arm and scrambling abilities. But he, like most of the quarterbacks on this list, has not worked out up until this point.

Jimmy Garoppolo, The Original.

Out of the all QBs on that list, only Mr. Perfect Jawline himself (totally not jealous of that face), Jimmy Garoppolo, has been seen as truly successful. Garoppolo was part of 49ers teams that reached 2 NFC Championships and 1 Super Bowl. He was 39-18 as a starter with the 49ers, even breaking records held by Joe Montana and Steve Young during his tenure in the Bay Area.

So why was he replaced? It was apparent that the 49ers’ success had nothing to do with Jimmy at all. In fact, when he didn’t throw a touchdown, Garoppolo has the HIGHEST QB win percentage of ALL-TIME. Let me repeat. When Jimmy Garoppolo didn’t throw a SINGLE touchdown pass, he was statistically the winningest quarterback in NFL HISTORY. I think that statistic speaks for itself.

Garoppolo is statistically one of the worst postseason QBs of all time, and even at one point held a lower playoff passer rating than Brock Osweiler. Another issue with Jimmy G is his injury issues. He had become just too unreliable to bank on as a starting QB of a team that was competing to win championships.

All of this led to the 49ers investing 3 first-round draft picks in Trey Lance, a rookie quarterback with all the prototypical size, speed, and arm strength of an NFL QB, who they believed would take them over the hump.

Trey Lance, The Sequel.

After years of Garoppolo as his QB, Shanahan decided to take a shot in the dark in the form of Trey Lance. Lance was overflowing with talent and just needed to play so that he could develop and get things together. Unfortunately, the 49ers were not the right team to offer him that playing time because of their so-called “win-now” window. They stuck with Garoppolo as the starter while Lance sat on the bench and learned.

Influential 49ers content creators such as Sports Illustrated’s Grant Cohn called for Shanahan to have Lance start right away so that he could develop into the QB the 49ers needed him to become. In true Garoppolo fashion, he missed multiple games that season and Lance got opportunities to play in his rookie season. In those opportunities, Lance played as well as Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson acts and made it clear why Shanahan decided to stick with Jimmy G for that season.

There was a lot of excitement for Lance’s sophomore campaign, where he was named the unquestioned QB 1 for the 49ers. And then, in his Palpatine moment, somehow Jimmy Garoppolo returned. By the end of the 2021 season, Jimmy G was as good as cut or traded. And then he took a pay cut to return to the team as the highest-paid backup quarterback in the entire NFL.

Lance’s season ended in week 2 when he broke his ankle during a game against the Seattle Seahawks. Garoppolo re-took the reigns to the team, propelling the 49ers to a few wins due to his veteran presence and familiarity but also some ugly losses due to him… being Jimmy Garoppolo. Then, in week 13, Jimmy G broke his foot which ended his season, meaning a rookie 7th-round pick was the new starter of a Super Bowl contending team. Enter Mr. Irrelevant himself, Brock Purdy.

Brock Purdy, The Spinoff.

Brock Purdy was one of the NFL’s best stories last season after he went from Peter Parker to Spider-Man overnight. After taking over for Garoppolo, Purdy seemingly took an average 49ers offense to supersonic heights to the tune of an 8-0 run in which the 49ers offense averaged 32.63 points a game compared to just 22.64 points a game before Purdy took over.

Purdy’s accomplishments in San Francisco took the NFL world by storm and shocked everybody, fans and pundits alike. All of that came to a crashing halt in the NFC Title Game, where Purdy was hit in the elbow by Eagles star pass rusher Hassan Reddick and tore his UCL.

Purdy’s injury raised a lot of questions for a 49ers quarterback room that was just longing for some stability. Many thought that due to Purdy’s injury, the 49ers should go ahead with Trey Lance to start the 2023 season. Others think that Purdy has solidified his spot as the 49ers’ starting QB for years to come.

There are also people, including some of our very own writers here at The Official Sports Place, who believe that the 49ers should bank on Lance’s intangibles over Purdy’s natural limitations for maximum success in the future. But this begs the question? Who is the better answer for the present?

Purdy or Lance?

If the 49ers believe that they are competing for a Super Bowl this season, the answer is very obviously Brock Purdy, even though he has struggled mightily thus far during the 49ers’ training camp. Purdy showed everything that the 49ers needed to see last season, and Shanahan has said as much in his recent press conferences and interviews. The poise in the pocket under pressure, the ability to hit the gimme throws required in a Shanahan offense, great intuition in the play action, and at times, even hitting the deep ball a couple of times a game.

However, if they want to develop the best quarterback for the future, the correct answer might be Trey Lance just because of his natural abilities.

But either way, the 49ers may face a dark reality. A year or 2 from now, they look up and realize that neither Purdy nor Lance are their answers. And that they wasted an all-time great team which includes Christian McCaffery, Trent Williams, Deebo Samuel, Brandon Aiyuk, and George Kittle on offense along with Fred Warner, Nick Bosa, Dre Greenlaw, Javon Hargrave, Arik Armstead, (in previous years) DeForest Bucker, Richard Sherman, Kwon Alexander, Dee Ford, Joe Staley, and many more.

And that their and Kyle Shanahan’s legacy will always be one of the best rosters and defenses in league history year after year, but just could not figure out the game’s most important position.