NFL insider says everything is trending towards Brock Purdy being ready for Week 1

One of the biggest questions heading into the upcoming NFL season is who’s going to start at quarterback for the San Fransisco 49ers. The 49ers parted ways with Jimmy Garoppolo this offseason and added Sam Darnold to their quarterback room, as Trey Lance and Brock Purdy continue to rehab and return from injuries sustained last season.

Purdy took over the reins of the offense in Week 13 after Garoppolo suffered an ankle injury, thriving before suffering a serious injury in the NFC Championship game where he completely tore his UCL. But according to NFL insider Tom Pelissero, Purdy could still be ready to go as early as Week 1 this upcoming season for San Fransisco.

“Everything is trending right now Rich for Brock Purdy being ready for the regular season,” Pelissero said on ‘The Rich Eisen Show’. “The question is just going to become how comfortable are the 49ers with putting him out there, and that’s going to depend in part on how he looks during the course of training camp and how much he can handle.”

Pelissero detailed Purdy’s progress, revealing that his trajectory is positive as he heads toward not only just fully recovering from his elbow injury, but preparing his arm for the season.

“So he started throwing roughly a month ago and he’s been ramping it up since. He just got out to Jacksonville to work with Will Hewlett and Tom Gormely yesterday and those guys they worked with Brock before the draft, they ran Anthony Richardson‘s pre draft prep year,” Pelissero said. “It’s not just about continuing his rehab, but also working on his mechanics as he moves forward here. You wouldn’t be doing that, you wouldn’t be putting a two-week throwing program in late June and early July if you didn’t feel really good about the direction things are going.:

San Francisco 49ers head coach Kyle Shanahan also seems optimistic about Purdy’s return. And even though his offensive scheme is tabbed as quarterback friendly, it’s hard to deny how impressive Purdy was last season under center for the 49ers.

“And Kyle Shanahan said recently the last time he was asked about it that yes, he believes right now there’s optimism that Brock Purdy is ready to go.” Pelissero said. “You can go back and look at what Brock Purdy did last year, the numbers, it’s unbelievable. I want to say he had 16 touchdowns passes, only four picks, he was 7-0 until he hurt the elbow in the NFC Championship game. He played at a really really high level on a 49ers team that doesn’t entirely have to rely upon the quarterback to carry them.”

Lance was selected with the third overall pick in the 2021 NFL Draft by San Fransisco, but has only started in four total games for the 49ers with a 2-2 record.

Sam Darnold signed with the team on a one-year deal in March, and while he does enter his sixth season in the NFL, he’s never won a game in a 49ers uniform.

With all that being said, if Purdy is ready to go when the 49ers season opener kicks off in September, Pelissero believes it will hard not to start Mr.Irrelevant given his impressive track record in the Bay Area.

“As Kyle Shanahan said recently talking about the quarterback room with Sam Darnold and Trey Lance, they like all those guys, but there’s one guy who they know can do it and that’s Brock Purdy. Mr. Irrelevant, who made himself very relevant by playing down the stretch after the injuries last season, performing at a really high level and putting himself in a position to where if he’s healthy, and if the 49ers are comfortable from a medical perspective, I absolutely expect him to be the Week 1 starter,” Pelissero concluded.