NFL Training Camp: 10 most intriguing battles in 2023
With training camps in full swing for all 32 NFL teams now, it's time to take a look at some of the battles for starting positions and certain roles across the league.
I’ll present the candidates with some numbers for context, explain what will be asked of them in their respective systems and then make a case for who should win out.
Let's get started:
#1, San Francisco 49ers – Quarterback
Candidates: Brock Purdy, Trey Lance & Sam Darnold
Brock Purdy seems to be the favorite across the 49ers organization after what he was able to do once he took over in Week 12 (following Jimmy Garoppolo breaking his thumb against the Dolphins after he was already the number two option to Trey Lance originally).
Everybody by now knows the story of Mr. Irrelevant and how crazy his ascent was, but Purdy actually led all QBs in the NFL who attempted at least 50 throws with a passer rating of 107.3. That actually increased ever so slightly in the playoffs, before he had his throwing elbow injured in the NFC Championship game and the Niners couldn’t withstand another injury.
We can argue if he would’ve been able to beat this Philly defense, but up to that point he had performed with a ton of poise and confidence.
Now, I still don’t believe he has the type of physical attributes typically associated with an NFL starting QB, but he didn’t leave any opportunities off the table that Kyle Shanahan created. There was a little more passing outside the numbers than with Jimmy G and Purdy added that slipperiness to get himself out of muddy pockets and create secondary plays. That’s why I liked him as a long-term backup with the potential to start for certain stretches doing his college evaluation.
With Lance, I don’t understand how people have completely written him off. He had two emergency starts as a rookie, then was part of that monsoon in the season-opener at Chicago last year (based on which fans came away thinking Justin Fields can’t throw the damn ball), and then completed two of three passes against the Seahawks the following week, before he fractured his ankle.
The Niners didn’t trade three first-round picks to just see what they have in this guy.
The raw arm strength, size &and athleticism made him a highly intriguing prospect coming out of North Dakota State. There, he actually ran a pro-style under center offense, in which he was very familiar with bootlegs, those deep play-action concepts and also was heavily included in the QB run game.
The issue for him is that over the last three-and-a-half years, he’s attempted a total of 132 passes. It seems that he’s worked on what used to be a rather floppy release and he’s had time now to really immerse himself into Shanahan’s extensive playbook, but while he may have studied it conceptually, the time on task and ability to decipher information in real-time is missing.
And then there’s Sam Darnold – another former third-overall pick back from 2018 with the Jets. Everyone had high expectations for him coming out of USC, considering the arm talent, toughness and knack for the game, where he regularly made plays happen in sub-optimal circumstances.
Well, the situation around him has been even less positive for a young QB to develop. Looking at his time under head coach Adam Gase in New York, they couldn’t provide the O-line or schematic advantages to protect him. He was traded to Carolina, where he didn’t have Christian McCaffrey a whole lot, the O-line once again was a mess when he got there and defensive coordinators starting to be all over Joe Brady’s play-designs.
With that being said, Darnold certainly didn’t show the ability to elevate those settings, as the NFL game always seemed too fast for him. He forced plays and lacked a certain situational awareness. However, what we saw over the final six weeks got some people excited again.
The Panthers started to operate through the run game and reduced the number of true dropbacks for Darnold, simplifying reads, while getting him involved with his legs, accounting for nine TDs compared to three INTs across that month-and-a-half, including 100 rushing yards.
That kind of sounds familiar, as Shanahan has earned the reputation for being able to elevate his signal-callers with clever play designs and setting up their skill-position guys for run-after-catch opportunities. We’ve heard comments already about how special an arm Darnold has, while there has been very little noise around Lance.
Considering the resources they’ve invested into the latter, I would typically say he’s ultimately going to be their long-term plan, but this is a weird situation.
I think the problem here is the changed expectations and timeline that have come along with making the move for Lance. The 49ers realized they had hit the ceiling of where they could go with just a trigger-man like Jimmy G - especially with some of the bad plays he’s had, to throw a wrench into this well-run machinery.
However, when they realized that roster was good enough that (even as they go through three QBs) if that guy under center can just be available and execute the offense, they’d rather go with the guy who’s facilitated the most effective versions of that offense we’ve seen.
So if Purdy’s recovery stays on schedule and his arm is ready to go in Week 1, I believe he’ll be their choice and I wouldn’t be shocked if Darnold ultimately is the primary backup. But I could see some packages with Trey as a runner and if they see what he can provide again for an extended stretch, with what this situation has looked like, I don’t believe the door’s closed on him yet.