Why the 49ers’ backup QB battle is an underrated training camp story originally appeared in NBC Sports Bay Area
SANTA CLARA – How 49ers training camp begins, there is no controversy surrounding San Francisco’s starting quarterback job in late July for the first time in years – but the backup spot is a completely different story
After Sam Darnold’s free agency exit for the Minnesota Vikings, the indeterminate hierarchy of quarterbacks beyond Brock Purdy sets up a critical storyline ahead of the team’s first training camp practice on Wednesday.
Joshua Dobbs and Brandon Allen – two veteran signal-callers with considerable NFL experience, enter the field competing to be San Francisco’s Most Vital Lifeline in the event Purdy is forced to miss at any point during the 2024 season.
“They’re going to continue to split those reps to compete for both spots,” 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan said Tuesday.
Given away how Purdy stood out Since stepping onto an NFL field, the rest of San Francisco’s QB room is an afterthought on the surface. A side dish overshadowed by the main dish that nearly took the 49ers to the promised land in his first full season under center.
However, given recent history, San Francisco cannot afford to ignore the harsh reality that befalls NFL franchises when their starting quarterback is removed from the picture mid-season.
The 49ers learned this lesson the hard way in 2020, with poor play from backup quarterbacks offsetting a heroic effort from San Francisco’s defense despite dealing with a catastrophic series of injuries on both sides of the ball.
Since that brutal 2020 season, the 49ers have done everything they can to isolate their quarterback room, which proved to be a franchise-changing decision when Purdy was drafted as a third-string quarterback during his 2022 rookie season.
That trend continued in 2023, with Darnold signing a one-year deal, and 2024 is shaping up to offer a similar level of insurance in the form of Dobbs and/or Allen.
Dobbs made waves during the 2023 NFL season, starting 12 games between the Arizona Cardinals and Minnesota Vikings, including an impressive audition for his future employer in a Week 4 appearance at Levi’s Stadium. While the 49ers blew the Cardinals out of the water, Dobbs fought valiantly to the end, posting beyond-respectable numbers in a game in which his team was completely outmatched from the start.
The 29-year-old completed 27 of 41 passes for 265 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions in that loss to the 49ers, adding an additional 48 yards on the ground.
Although Dobbs’ production cooled off as the season progressed, he demonstrated more than enough skill to be the kind of quarterback who can keep an NFL team in a football game — exactly the kind of return on investment you wait in a reservation.
Dobbs also possesses something that immediately raises the stock of any backup quarterback – a rushing floor.
Which means Dobbs’ ability to extend plays, steal cheap yards, and even create explosive plays with his legs immediately offers the 49ers offensive hope in the event they have to tread water without Purdy. Dobbs has averaged 5.47 yards per carry on 77 rushing attempts in 2023, on par with dynamic dual-threat talents like Arizona Cardinals QB Kyler Murray (5.5) and Indianapolis Colts QB Anthony Richardson (5.4 ).
The looming threat offered by Dobbs is significant, as it theoretically makes it more difficult for opposing defenses to drop back into coverage and take advantage of the passing disparity with a backup on the field in place of a starter.
Given Dobbs’ recent performance as a starter, it’s easy to overlook Allen, although it may not be wise to exclude the 31-year-old from the QB2 competition. After spending a year in the San Francisco system Behind Purdy and Darnold, Allen has the edge over Dobbs when it comes to experience in Shanahan’s intricate offense.
Allen has yet to take a regular-season snap for the 49ers, but has shown flashes of promise during the 2023 pre-season this indicates that he is more than capable of distributing the ball to San Francisco’s stable of potent offensive weapons.
Despite suffering a torn UCL, Purdy has never missed the start of the regular season during his NFL career, and in an ideal world, that trend continues unabated. However, football is chaos, and while you can never plan it perfectly, you can certainly try.
The 49ers are loaded across the board. If Purdy is forced to miss time during the season, they don’t necessarily need a quarterback to step in and win games – they just need a guy who won’t miss them. They currently have two viable candidates who meet this requirement.
