Why 49ers’ backup QB battle is underrated training camp storyline

Why 49ers’ backup QB battle is underrated training camp storyline originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

SANTA CLARA — As 49ers training camp begins, there’s no controversy surrounding San Francisco‘s starting quarterback job in late July for the first time in years — but the backup spot is an entirely different story.

After Sam Darnold’s free agency departure to the Minnesota Vikings, the undetermined quarterback heirarchy beyond Brock Purdy creates a critical storyline heading into the team’s first training camp practice on Wednesday.

Joshua Dobbs and Brandon Allen — two veteran signal-callers with considerable NFL experience, enter camp competing to be San Francisco’s most vital lifeline in the event Purdy is forced to miss any time during the 2024 season.

“They’ll keep splitting those reps to compete for the two spot,” 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan said Tuesday.

Given how Purdy has excelled since stepping on an NFL field, the remainder of San Francisco’s QB room is an afterthought on the surface. A side dish outshined by the main course that nearly took the 49ers to the promised land in his first full season under center.

However, due to recent history, San Francisco doesn’t have the luxury of ignoring the harsh reality that befalls NFL franchises when their starting quarterback is taken out of the picture mid-season.

The 49ers learned this lesson the hard way in 2020, with poor play from backup quarterbacks offsetting a heroic effort from San Francisco’s defense despite dealing with a catastrophic string of injuries on both sides of the ball.

Ever since that brutal 2020 season, the 49ers have gone above and beyond to insulate their quarterback room, which proved to be a franchise-altering decision when Purdy was rostered as the third-string quarterback during his rookie season in 2022.

That trend continued in 2023 with Darnold signing a one-year contract, and 2024 is shaping up to offer a similar level of insurance in the form of Dobbs and/or Allen.

Dobbs made waves during the 2023 NFL season, starting 12 games between the Arizona Cardinals and Vikings, including an impressive audition for his future employer in a Week 4 appearance at Levi’s Stadium. While the 49ers blew the Cardinals out of the water, Dobbs valiantly fought until the end, posting beyond respectable numbers in a game where his team was thoroughly outclassed from the jump.

The 29-year-old completed 27 of 41 passes for 265 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions in that loss to the 49ers, adding an additional 48 yards on the ground.

Despite Dobbs’ production cooling down as the season progressed, he demonstrated more than enough ability to be the kind of quarterback that can keep an NFL team in a football game — exactly the kind of return on investment you hope for in a backup.

Dobbs also posesses something that immediately boosts the stock of any backup quarterback — a rushing floor.

Meaning Dobbs’ ability to extend plays, steal cheap yardage, and even create explosive plays with his legs immediately offers the 49ers’ offense hope in the event it must tread water without Purdy. Dobbs averaged 5.47 yards per carry on 77 rushing attempts in 2023, on par with dynamic dual-threat talents like Cardinals QB Kyler Murray (5.5) and Indianapolis Colts QB Anthony Richardson (5.4).

The rushing threat offered by Dobbs is significant, as it theoretically makes it harder for opposing defenses to sit back in coverage and take advantage of the pass-game disparity with a backup on the field in place of a starter.

Given Dobbs’ recent run in the spotlight as a starter, it’s easy to overlook Allen, although it might not be wise to count the 31-year-old out of the QB2 competition. After spending a year in San Francisco’s system behind Purdy and Darnold, Allen has a leg up on Dobbs when it comes to experience in Shanahan’s intricate offense.

Allen has yet to take a regular-season snap for the 49ers, but showed promising flashes during the 2023 preseason that indicate he’s more than capable of distributing the ball to San Francisco’s stable of potent offensive weapons.

Despite suffering a torn UCL, Purdy has never missed a regular-season start during his NFL career, and in an ideal world that trend continues uninterrupted. However, football is chaos, and while you can’t ever perfectly plan for it, you certainly can try.

The 49ers are loaded across the board. Should Purdy be forced to miss time during the season, they don’t necessarily need a quarterback to step in and win them games — they just need a guy who’s not going to lose them. Right now, they have two viable candidates who meet that requirement.

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