The San Francisco 49ers announced that Sam Darnold will be second on the quarterback depth chart to begin the 2023 season, winning the job over Trey Lance, per NFL insider Ian Rapoport. Meanwhile, Brock Purdy will be the starting QB.
The decision is fairly surprising. Lance was expected to be the starting QB in 2022, but his season came to an early end following an injury. Still, the 49ers seemingly believed in his future. But Purdy made them reconsider everything with his impressive performance after taking over for Jimmy Garoppolo this past season.
Rapoport notes that Lance's future may be in doubt after falling to third on the 49ers' QB depth chart. Perhaps San Francisco will consider moving on from the young quarterback. If not, it is uncertain when Lance will receive an opportunity to play again.
49ers: Trey Lance's future
Lance has received some criticism during the NFL preseason. He's struggled during the preseason which already placed his future in question. Lance previously addressed his frustrations on the field.
“I mean, it doesn't feel good to go three-and-out, especially to start the game,” Lance said about his preseason debut via Myles Simmons of Pro Football Talk. “So that was definitely frustrating, but I obviously put it on myself to continue to be better, make sure the guys around me are ready to go, I'm ready to go. It starts with me, so I put that on myself.”
It needs to be remembered that Lance is coming off of an injury-plagued season. Some rust was to be expected. There is still a chance that Lance ends up putting everything together down the road. For now, he will focus on performing as well as he can amid the circumstances.
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