Brock Purdy, the starting quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers, was one of the NFL’s best feel-good stories in quite some time.
He was the last player chosen in last year’s draft, and he started the season as the team’s third-string QB.
But an injury to starter Trey Lance in Week 2 and another one to Jimmy Garoppolo in Week 13 forced Purdy to run the team, and he did so admirably, getting to the NFC Championship Game before suffering a torn UCL in his throwing elbow early in that contest.
The Athletic’s David Lombardi pointed out the fact that the pick the 49ers received as compensation for losing former QB C.J. Beathard was the pick they used to take Purdy.
Fun fact of the day: The comp pick that the 49ers received for losing C.J. Beathard (who just re-signed with Jacksonville) was #262 of the 2022 draft.
SF used that pick on Brock Purdy
— David Lombardi (@LombardiHimself) February 24, 2023
It seems to bring the story full circle, as Beathard was San Francisco’s starter right before Garoppolo arrived in a midseason trade during the 2017 campaign.
At the time, the team was mired in a rebuilding process, but Garoppolo seriously shortened that process.
The Niners won each of his first five games as a starter, and it would only be two more seasons before they returned to the Super Bowl.
2017 also happened to be the year the organization cleaned house by firing general manager Trent Baalke and head coach Chip Kelly and replaced them with John Lynch and Kyle Shanahan, respectively.
Purdy is set to undergo elbow surgery, and although there is a good chance he’ll be ready for Week 1 of next season, it isn’t a certainty right now.
That will open up an opportunity for Lance to perhaps earn the QB1 spot over Purdy by the start of the 2023 campaign.
