The San Francisco head coach Kyle Shanahan could be facing one of the toughest decisions ahead of the upcoming NFL as he has to choose the starting quarterback among Trey Lance, Sam Darnold, and Brock Purdy. Specifically, Sam and Lance would likely be seen battling for the QB1 position as Purdy is still recovering from the offseason UCL surgery.
After taking the 49ers to the NFC title game as a rookie, the team is still banking on the 23-year-old QB. Nevertheless, amid ongoing discussion of the battle between Sam and Trey to become QB1 donning San Francisco’s jersey, the 6-3, 225-pound football star Darnold has something to convey to his competitor regarding the situation.
Sam Darnold’s Take on Starting QB Position
Before heading to the summer vacation, the San Francisco 49ers wrapped up their 2023 minicamp a month earlier. The former third overall picks Sam completed a higher percentage of his attempts (38-53) than Trey (35-55) and he is optimistic to become the lead of the team in the upcoming season following a satisfactory minicamp session,
“It’s been a work in progress. I thought I got better throughout (mini) camp and just got more comfortable with the system.”
During the full team sessions, both Darnold and Lance finished with almost the same completion percentages. Darnold completed 11 of 19 attempts and Lance completed 12 of 21. The former Carolina Panthers star thinks he still has a lot of things to learn and expressed his excitement to deal with the challenges coming on the way to becoming the 49ers’ Week 1 starter at quarterback,
“So I still got to study and go through the process of continuing to learn the system. But I’m excited for it, and it’s been really fun so far.”
Sam Darnold and Trey Lance stat comparison
Following being drafted by the New York Jets in 2019 and later being traded to the Panthers, Darnold completed 59.5% of his passes for 3,670 yards, 16 touchdowns as well as 16 interceptions along with 328 rushing yards throughout his two years tenure in Carolina.
Lance was selected with the third overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft and became the 49ers’ starter heading into last season, albeit he couldn’t show his worth fully on the field after being plagued by a season-ending injury in Week 2.
The North Dakota State QB showcased a 54.9% completion percentage with 797 passing yards, five passing touchdowns as well as three interceptions along with 235 rushing yards throughout his first two seasons in the league.
Trey has not started three consecutive NFL games and Sam was also looking to be the starter heading into the season with the Panthers but didn’t get the chance. Now it remains to be seen who between these two will be successful in the battle to become Shanahan’s next signal-caller.
Who do you think has more potential between these two promising quarterbacks? You can share your thoughts with us in the comments.
