What Christian McCaffrey Thinks of the Tossup the 49ers Face at Quarterback
Brock Purdy is the penciled in starter for the San Francisco 49ers.
His eight-game starting stretch where he was a part of a run at the NFC Championship left a lasting imprint on the 49ers. Because of that, Purdy will be the starter despite being on the mend from an elbow injury that is causing him to miss OTAs.
Until his return, Trey Lance and Sam Darnold will supposedly duke it out to see who the starter in the meantime can be. Some players might already have a preference, at least internally. Last year, Lance was hardly given a chance by his teammates with reports surfacing that players on the 49ers prefer Jimmy Garoppolo to start over him. So, there is definitely going to be preferences with the players on the team. With the way it is going now, it is really a tossup on who will end up as the starter.
Christian McCaffrey was recently asked on The Rich Eisen show about his thoughts on the tossup the 49ers face at quarterback.
"For me, no matter who the quarterback is, I have to get open," said McCaffrey (h/t Peter Panacy of Niner Noise). "I'm not thinking about the quarterback. I'm thinking about getting open, hitting the right holes, doing my job. Otherwise, it doesn't matter. And I think everybody has that mentality. It's do your job, do it at the highest level. I'm not a quarterback evaluator. People ask me all the time, how's the quarterback? I have no idea. I don't know mechanics. I have no idea how to evaluate quarterbacks. But what I do know is all three of them are amazing.
"I talk about Brock and what he did last year, and not just how he played, but the way he carried himself, he's built to be a quarterback in this league. I didn't get to play with Trey last year, but from what I've seen so far, Trey has been great. He's been awesome. And obviously, I've played with Sam, and I know what Sam can do, and seeing all the things that he's been doing this OTAs, too. I think, for us, it's nice knowing that we have three great options. Like I said, I don't know who the quarterback is going to be. And frankly, my job is just to be as ready to go as I can for whoever it is. But I just know that we're in good hands no matter what."
I think McCaffrey is being truly genuine here. He knows that he is on an elite team and that the 49ers will be a playoff contender this year. Much of the 49ers' success this year relies on McCaffrey's ability, this includes availability. So, for him, he knows he will make it easier on any potential starting quarterback if he can be impactful. When you consider the team's, he has been on, he definitely has to feel fortunate even with the tossup at starting quarterback.
