Analyzing Day 16 of the 2023 49ers QB Competition

SANTA CLARA -- Here's what Brock Purdy, Sam Darnold and Trey Lance did on Day 16 of 49ers training camp.

TREY LANCE

Completed every throw he attempted. Unfortunately for Lance, he attempted only three throws and played just five snaps all morning, because the 49ers seem to think Sam Darnold is better (more on him in a minute). In three practices this week, Lance completed 11 of 14 pass attempts and threw zero passes that were intercepted or nearly intercepted. He was confident, decisive and accurate. And yet, the 49ers don't seem to notice or care. It feels like they wrote him off the minute he broke his ankle. They don't seem to look at him as a dual-threat quarterback anymore, as they almost never call runs for him this year. And now that they view him as a traditional quarterback, they seem to think he's the worst one on the roster. They're wrong.

SAM DARNOLD

The worst quarterback on the roster. Yesterday I wrote that he might be having the best training camp of the quarterbacks on the team. So of course, today Darnold completed a whopping one pass out of seven attempts. Thanks for making me look stupid. He is way too old and experienced to play this poorly. If Lance were 1 for 7 in a practice, he'd be national news. But no one other than the 49ers seems to care about Darnold. And I have no idea what the 49ers see in him. He's an inconsistent quarterback you can't trust -- nothing more. And yet, he threw more than twice as many passes as Lance today. Darnold shouldn't even be on the team. All of his reps should have gone to Lance this offseason. What a waste.

BROCK PURDY

Completed 13 of 17 pass attempts with one touchdown and two dropped interceptions, which is a great day for him. The first dropped interception flew right through Talanoa Hufanga's hands in the back of the end zone -- there was no receiver close to the play. The second dropped pick was a telegraphed throw to Brandon Aiyuk, when Isaiah Oliver dove for the ball and dropped it. If Purdy keeps this up, he could be among the league leaders in interceptions this season. He now has thrown 19 interceptable passes in 13 practices -- almost two per day. And his interception percentage is well above 5. To be fair, he didn't have George Kittle or Christian McCaffrey today. Still, he hasn't had to face Nick Bosa at all this offseason, and Purdy still is struggling. The 49ers can hand him the starting job if they want, but that doesn't mean he'll hold onto it.