Analyzing Day 18 of the 2023 49ers QB Competition

SANTA CLARA -- Here's what Brock Purdy, Sam Darnold and Trey Lance did on Day 18 of 49ers training camp.

BROCK PURDY

Christian McCaffrey had the day off, which was bad news for Purdy. Suddenly, his safety blanket was gone, and so he completed just 12 of 22 passes. And three of those completions were screens, so he was just 9 of 19 when throwing past the line of scrimmage. Not good. To be fair, he threw a beautiful 20-yard touchdown pass to Deebo Samuel up the left sideline, plus two more short touchdown passes in the red zone, so he made some good throws, almost all of which went to his left, his favorite area of the field. But he also fumbled and threw a pass that nearly got intercepted by Javon Kinlaw, who tipped the ball in the air to himself but bobbled it and dropped it. Purdy also underthrew a deep pass to Samuel when he was open running up the right sideline. When McCaffrey is out, Purdy's limitations are painfully obvious. The 49ers need McCaffrey to play every game this season.

SAM DARNOLD

Took every second-team rep even though Kyle Shanahan hasn't officially named him the No. 2 quarterback, and had a typical Sam Darnold day -- 5 of 9 with a couple nice throws, no touchdowns and an interception. I have no idea what Darnold ever did to make Shanahan such a believer in him. I have a feeling Darnold is Shanahan's favorite quarterback on the team. I also have a feeling that no one in the world thinks as highly of Darnold as Shanahan does. It's the strangest thing. Sure, Darnold makes some nice throws every once in a while. But then he makes terrible plays that almost outweigh his good ones. If he ever has to start more than a couple games for the 49ers, they're in trouble.

TREY LANCE

Took all the reps with the third-team offense, and had a typical Trey Lance day -- he missed his first four throws, then hit his final four to finish the day 4 of 8. He also ran for a touchdown in the red zone. Which means he didn't play well in a very small sample size, although he started heating up. The more reps he gets, the more he improves, which is why the 49ers go out of their way to limit Lance's playing time even in practice. You have to admire their commitment to not developing him. As it stands, none of the 49ers quarterbacks look ready for the start of the season. Nice.