The San Francisco 49ers are only one game into the playoffs, with a divisional-round battle against their old rivals, the Dallas Cowboys, set for Sunday.
There is still the question of who will start at QB for the 49ers next season, and the conventional wisdom has been that incumbent Brock Purdy needs to lead the team to two or three playoff wins right now while continuing to play well to secure the starting spot for 2023.
But according to one San Francisco Chronicle columnist, Purdy has already sewn up the QB1 job moving forward over Trey Lance.
"On Thursday, I talked to two people with knowledge of the organization’s plans, and they confirmed what is already semi-obvious: The battle is over, and Purdy has won." https://t.co/UWQBI5dtcL
— Michael Silver (@MikeSilver) January 20, 2023
Coming into this season, Lance, the third overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft, was the starter, while veteran Jimmy Garoppolo was the backup and Purdy, the last player taken in the 2022 draft, was the third-stringer.
But Lance suffered a season-ending ankle injury in Week 2, and Garoppolo sustained a foot injury in Week 13 that opened up the opportunity of a lifetime for the Iowa State University product.
Purdy has played consistently well, and despite a subpar first half in last weekend’s wild-card contest against the Seattle Seahawks, he threw three touchdown passes and run in for a fourth in San Francisco’s 41-23 win.
The big test for him will come on Sunday, as the Cowboys are a solid defensive team and feature first-team All-Pro pass rusher Micah Parsons.
If Purdy has another great or at least solid performance while notching another win, it will become even more clear that he is becoming the Niners’ franchise signal-caller.
Given the team’s rich championship tradition, the final measure of how worthy he is of owning the keys to its fortunes will come through the remaining of these playoffs.
NEXT: Has The Brock Purdy Hype Gone Too Far?