Rookie quarterback Brock Purdy has taken over as the 49ers’ starter at the most important time of the season.
And there, really, is no safety net.
After injuries to Trey Lance and Jimmy Garoppolo, the top two quarterbacks on the 49ers’ depth chart, Purdy has stepped in and stepped up.
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In his first two games, he looked as if he belongs, that’s for sure. He is making believers out of everyone.
And that’s how we open this edition of 49ers overreactions with fan-submitted statements from our followers on Facebook:
"Shanahan is more confident with Purdy than any time with Jimmy and limited sample with Lance." Anthony Dobbs
Overreaction? No.
San Francisco 49ers
Well, at least that’s certainly the way it appeared on Sunday in Purdy’s first NFL start.
The end-of-half sequence was fascinating, and it demonstrated just how much confidence coach Kyle Shanahan has in his young quarterback.
The 49ers were up 21-0 in the closing seconds of the half against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. It seems in those situations, the 49ers often have played it safe. Shanahan does what’s best for the team and what he believes places his quarterback in the best situation to succeed.
With Purdy, that meant dialing up a variation of a play that was not practiced during the week.
Shanahan saw something that prompted him to change receiver Brandon Aiyuk’s designed curl route to a curl-and-go, which would require Purdy to make a pump-fake.
Purdy and Aiyuk executed the play perfectly, and the 32-yard touchdown pass gave the 49ers a 28-0 lead at halftime.
We don’t know how Shanahan would have handled the same situation with Jimmy Garoppolo or Trey Lance. But we know that he showed a great deal of confidence in Purdy, and that spoke volumes.
"2 weeks ago Jimmy coming back seemed like a possibility. Now it seems like a definite impossibility. All because of the play of Brock Purdy." Vanessa Love
Overreaction? No and yes.
It’s not an overreaction to say that Garoppolo’s return is an “impossibility,” though we’ve learned to never close the door on a 49ers-Garoppolo union. But we think it has more to do with Garoppolo sustaining another injury than anything Purdy has done in the past two games.
The main reason the 49ers gave for their decision to ultimately move on from Garoppolo was his history of injuries. Those statements were made in the 2021 offseason.
In the two seasons since then, Garoppolo has sustained injuries that have greatly impacted both seasons.
He was ineffective last season in the playoffs after thumb and shoulder injuries. And, of course, this season is likely to be over for him after he suffered a broken foot in Week 13 against the Miami Dolphins.
So, if the decision was made to get another quarterback because Garoppolo could not stay healthy, it makes no sense to bring him back after the 49ers’ postseason plans were torn apart in back-to-back seasons due to more injuries.
"Tom Brady to the Niners is looking more and more realistic next season." Bradley Lodge
Overreaction? Yes … no … heck, no telling
First off, does Tom Brady want to continue to play beyond this season?
That is a question only he can answer.
Of course, Brady was hoping the 49ers wanted him in 2000. Instead, they drafted Giovanni Carmazzi. The word is that Brady wanted to sign with the 49ers in 2020, but the organization opted to stick with Garoppolo. There is no way that Brady is going to put himself out there to allow the 49ers to tell him, “No,” for a third time.
If the 49ers want him, they’re going to have to go get him.
Right now, the odds are that Lance will be the 49ers’ starting quarterback for 2023. But they are back to where they were when this season began with Lance. They still really don’t know what they have in Lance after the first two seasons of his NFL career.
Which quarterback gives the 49ers the best chance at winning next season? Lance? Purdy? Brady? Garoppolo?
That is the question Shanahan and general manager John Lynch is going to have to answer. How they answer that question will determine how the 49ers approach this offseason.
"It was not an 'inside' run play ! Deebo is PAID as a hybrid player!" Jeff Bibb
Overreaction? No.
It was not an overreaction to get frustrated and upset at seeing Deebo Samuel injured on Sunday.
Hall of Famer Jerry Rice was probably like a lot of other 49ers fans in that moment.
But what makes Samuel one of the league’s most dangerous offensive players is his ability to execute any kind of running play while also being a very good wide receiver.
If all Samuel did was run plays to the outside, he would be a lot easier to defend. But his strength is that he can run between the tackles, too.
All that said, on this particular play, that was not the design of the play. Samuel cut the play back inside.
And Shanahan tried to call a timeout before the snap because he recognized the Bucs’ defensive alignment was going to make the play difficult to succeed.
"Losing to the Bears, Broncos and Falcons was motivation for signing McCaffrey and made way for the 49ers to rediscover their identity." Kristian Fruensgaard Iversen
Overreaction? No.
The 49ers have to overcome the injury to Samuel for this game, for sure, and perhaps another couple of games.
The presence of running back Christian McCaffrey gives the 49ers a Deebo-like player that makes it easier to compensate for the loss of Samuel.
RELATED: Two plays, bad and good, stand out from Purdy's first start
Regardless of their early-season struggles, the 49ers would have been interested in acquiring McCaffrey. But would the 49ers have sent second-, third-, fourth- and fifth-round draft picks to the Carolina Panthers in order to obtain McCaffrey?
That trade is looking very good right now.