John Lynch Says Brock Purdy has "Earned the Right" to be the 49ers Starting Quarterback
PHOENIX -- On Monday at the NFL's Annual Meetings, I asked John Lynch who the 49ers starting quarterback is. Here's what Lynch said.
ME: "When Brock Purdy is ready to play, will he be your starting quarterback?"
LYNCH: "I think Brock has earned the right with the way he played that he's probably the leader in the clubhouse. I'll let Kyle (Shanahan) make those kinds of decisions, but I know when we talked, Brock probably has earned that right to be the guy. If we were to line up, he probably would take that first snap. Really excited about where Trey (Lance) is at with his progress from his injury. He has been working really hard. And I love the opportunity to bring in Sam Darnold and his skillset -- we think it's a really good fit. We like that room a lot."
Q: How should people take this news? You said Brock is the leader in the clubhouse, but you did trade a lot of draft capital to get Trey. You've always spoken highly of him and said he just needs to play. So how should people take that after eight games, the last pick in the draft has leapfrogged the No. 3 pick in the draft?
LYNCH: "That's a good question. We've always said we don't care where you were drafted or if you were drafted. That's always been our stance. It's what we believe in. We're still very excited about Trey, but I think the way Brock played, he has earned that right to be the guy, but it's certainly a competition -- we'll always have that."
Q: Where does Sam Darnold figure in?
LYNCH: "He's competing as well. The one nice thing for Sam and Trey is that there are going to be a lot of snaps out there in the offseason program, and so those two will get the opportunity to go out there and show what they can do."
ME: You've said that Trey needs to play. If he can't get that opportunity here, would you consider trading him?
LYNCH: "We like Trey on our team right now. Kyle and I always joke that we'd trade each other if someone gave us a good enough deal, so we listen to anything, but we like Trey on our team and we're very excited about the way he's progressing, about his opportunity. I think he's champing at the bit to get out there and get back under center and be healthy again."
Q: We've seen quarterbacks be successful for a short period of time, and then the league figures them out. What makes you think Brock has sustainability?
LYNCH: "Just the way he played, the way he processed, the way he led -- it was very impressive. Yes, you're right -- he has done it for part of one year, but the way he did it gave a lot of confidence to everybody in our building. He earned that. And there are some things that surprised me. We thought he was a seasoned guy, we knew he processed really well, but I had no idea he was that good of an athlete. His escapability -- I knew he was a good athlete, knew he had a 10-yard split, but there's always that projection. How is it going to translate? It really surprised us how adept he was at being elusive and extending playing but also playing within the system. He kind of did everything well. Is there room for growth? Absolutely, but he has left us all with a lot of confidence that he's a real guy. We're excited about that."