49ers may have under-the-radar position battle materialize at QB during training camp

USA Today

3 days ago

The San Francisco managed to get through their offseason without any major quarterback drama.
Without a battle for the starting QB job, the only real chance for fireworks was eliminated when the club hammered out a long-term extension with Brock Purdy before mandatory minicamp in June. With Purdy locked in as the starting QB for the foreseeable future, the attention turns to the rest of the depth chart where things are a little less certain.
Free agent signee Mac Jones figures to be the No. 2 signal caller with second-year undrafted free agent Tanner Mordecai behind him. Seventh-round pick Kurtis Rourke is also on the 90-man roster. His status for training camp and the 2025 season are both uncertain as he recovers from an ACL tear.
The backup job is Jones's to lose going into camp. He has 49 starts in 52 games across four seasons as a pro. He was also heavily tied to the 49ers in the lead up to the 2021 NFL draft when San Francisco held the No. 3 overall pick. Head coach Kyle Shanahan knows Jones well and presumably added him with the confidence that Jones will quickly be an effective backup for Purdy.
Given that Purdy, the final pick of the 2022 draft, came out of nowhere to win a roster spot as rookie, we can't rule out Mordecai as he begins his second season in the 49ers' system.
Mordecai was a UDFA signee out of Wisconsin after the 2024 draft. He spent his rookie year on San Francisco's practice squad. There are some things to like about Mordecai's game and he flashed a couple times in his first preseason. His athleticism makes him intriguing when considering his ability to back up Purdy. He's also not a developing player after playing in 46 games with 1,281 pass attempts across six years in college. Mordecai could conceivably be ready to step in and battle Jones for the No. 2 QB job.
While the notion isn't crazy, it's hard to imagine Jones losing out to a second-year UDFA.
When Purdy beat out Nate Sudfeld for the third QB spot, Sudfeld was a relatively unknown career backup. Jones is a former first-round pick who took a team to the postseason as a rookie while finishing second in the Offensive Player of the Year voting.
Jones has undeniably taken steps backward during his four-year NFL career, but he's entering San Francisco hoping to get on the Sam Darnold path from 49ers backup to another team's starter. The club signed him knowing as much. It would take a heroic effort from Mordecai in camp and a rough showing from Jones to get the second-year UDFA into the mix.
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