Sam Darnold has earned a ringing endorsement from 49ers Hall of Fame quarterback Steve Young.
Young joined NBC Sports Bay Area's Matt Maiocco on the latest episode of the "49ers Talk" podcast from the American Century Championship golf tournament, where he discussed the 49ers' new veteran quarterback and why he still has confidence in Darnold's ability under center.
"I'm a Sam Darnold fan. My instinct tells me that he was able to do something really hard, which was be dealt a really lousy hand and send up flares to tell me that 'I'm OK. I'm figuring this out," Young told Maiocco. "Doesn't look like much right now. In fact, it looks lousy. But don't leave me behind.' And so because he's able to do that in New York and Carolina, and the Carolina system was just terrible for quarterbacks, I thought he showed me signs that … give me something to work with, give me some clay and I'll make you look great."
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Young believes Darnold is one of the more talented quarterbacks in the league and that the 49ers have three unique signal-callers who each bring something different to the table.
"So, do not sleep on Sam Darnold," Young added. "And that's the unique thing we have going right now. Sam is as talented as anybody in the league in doing the things we do, the outward things, the arm strength, the mobility and all that stuff. He's going to have to show that he has the force. I think we have three really unique individualized… the Venn diagram is not much intersected.
"There's Trey [Lance]. There's Brock [Purdy] trying to get healthy and there's Sam trying to figure out how to get on the field. But anywhere you'd want them to be is right here. If there's anyone I want them to be coached by, it's Kyle. I want them to be right here. We get to watch it play out."
The 49ers signed Darnold to a one-year, $4.5 million contract with $3.5 million in guaranteed money. If Purdy is ready for Week 1 of the 2023 NFL season against the Pittsburgh Steelers after undergoing surgery this offseason to repair a torn UCL, Darnold likely will compete for the backup job with Lance.
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However, if Purdy -- the presumed starter -- is not ready to go, Darnold could have a chance at the starting job if he were to out-perform Lance in training camp.
If the 26-year-old Darnold received the keys to coach Kyle Shanahan's offense, there is little doubt in Young's mind that he wouldn't make the most of his opportunity.